Off to Africa (or, why my summer break was cooler than yours)

I always thought the country was called Gambia,
but apparently it's "The Gambia" to you

Welcome back to the blog. We've had a nice leave of absence but I'm figuring now that I'm out and about again, the blog could use a resurgence anyhow. In any case, I'm sure most people would like to hear about Africa rather than Provo.
I'm heading to Africa, if you haven't heard! I'll be gone for a little over 3 weeks and we are trekking through 12 different countries. My grandmother, Ann, is an avid human rights activist / relentless world traveler, and she is spearheading a documentary focusing on juxtaposing ancient and modern-day slavery. I'll be working as cameraman, and hopefully updating this blog from time to time. Check back for hotel reviews, savvy insights, biting social commentary, pictures, and maybe even some comics, dare I say? This should be great!

My first (of many) photos from the trip.
Shameless plug to follow me on Instagram 
with #outofafrica2k16, @isaacbing !

I got picked up from the train station last night (Saturday) by my grandfather Bing. After buying some El Pollo Loco, smoke began billowing out of the hood of his BMW. Turns out the coolant was out, probably because of some sort of hole, so the car was undriveable. Mormor (my grandmother, aka Ann) had to pick us up. It was an interesting experience, usually I don't experience travel difficulties until I'm at the airport.

That being said, we had a fairly smooth flight. Royal Dutch Airlines even provides mostly edible dinner and breakfast, so that was a nice plus. Currently I'm chilling in Amsterdam, allowing my legs to expand from their compacted airplane travel shape. More to come! Especially more pictures!

Oh yeah, my grandmother is always difficult to get a straight itinerary out of, but here's the schedule she dictated to me, more or less.

Arrive Monday may 2 in Lagos, Nigeria. Evening. 

Staying at the ibis hotel. 

May 3. City tour with arranged driver. Afternoon drive to badagri, staying in fams embassy suites. 

May the 4th. Interview with women's consortium of Nigeria. Tour the old-time slave relics. 

May 6. Drive to Benin. Meet tour guide for the week. Staying at the *hotel I can't spell or pronounce* 

Visit other old slave relics, museums. May 7. Drive through Togo. Go to Ghana. Check into the afia African village (a hotel). 

May 8. Go to church. Pick up grace form airport. Visit several museums in the area. Visit other sites in Accra. 

May 9. Long drive to the lake, assorted fishing villages. Spend night in village. 

May 10. Explore the fishing industry. Boy slave trade(?) drive back to Accra, Ghana. 

May 11. Drive along the coast. Stop at Elina slave castle. Cross border into Ivory Coast. Spend night in the capital city. 

May 12. Drive to a national park. Sightsee!!! 

May 13. Bus into Libera capital. 

May 14????

May 15. Arrive in Sierra Leone. Boat cruise to an island with a lot of slave relics. Dundee island?

May 16. Assorted other things in Sierra Leone. (This day is fluid because we may be lagging behind our schedule by this point.)

May 17. Fly over Guinea and Guinea Bissau. (Because they're scumholes). Land in Gambia. 

May 18. Meeting with Jacob Illskov's contact, has a bunch of connections. 

May 19. Arrive in Senegal. Meet up with driver. Few days here. Interviews with child beggars. (Schedule is a bit hazy here unfortunately, though I wil try to clarify as we approach this point.)

Mauritania. Interviews with former slaves. 

May 25. Fly out of Mauritania. Arrive in Paris. 

May 26. Home from Paris with love!