132 - Miss Antigua

Welcome to the third and final episode from Antigua in the Caribbean. Here you can join us on a so-called Triflexcursion. It's a small startup company run by Mark and Giles. TRIFLEXCUSION We're going on a 2-hour biking, hiking and kayaking tour. First, we ride 15 minutes through St. John's to a beautiful beach, where we get into a kayak – two people in each – and paddle through a mangrove reserve for 30 minutes. Then we get back on our bikes and ride a further 10 minutes to Fort James National Park. But before we go up there, we make a rest stop at the beach. I MET MISS ANTIGUA Here on the beach, there's a small restaurant in a shed. When I enter, there's an older woman with the back to me. She's singing, and I see her being on the phone. Somebody tells me that she's live on the local radio right now on a program is called "The Shut-in Show" – and that this is something she does every Sunday. Her name is Yvonne, and after she hangs up, I chat to her. She shows me a small picture of herself in an old book. The text beside the picture reads: "Former model turned restaurateur. Yvonne "Candy" Pilgrim has run the Candy Lane beach bar and restaurant since 1976. Located near the historic Fort James, the venue is popular with locals and tourists alike." She tells me that she was Miss Antigua in 1967. FORT JAMES WITH CANONS AND A DISCOTEQUE IN RUINS We finish the Triflexcursion up a hill at historical Fort James. It's a place where there are some old canons and a house that some years ago it was used as a discotheque. Now it's abandoned and in ruins. But an exciting place with a great view. And that was all from my fantastic trip to Antiqua. LISTENER RESPONSE I received an email from Daniel, a listener in Dubai: Hi Palle, I have just been listening on my earphones while out on my morning run. It was the Conakry Podcast, so the background traffic noises had me looking over my shoulder thinking it was errant motorcycle or taxi! Your podcasts are quite addictive and a great way to get a dose of vitamin 'travel' in between the two long stretches of the real thing for me. If you're ever in Dubai again let me know. I have met up with many , including Torbjørn Pedersen and Ric Gazarian on their travels passing through the city. Looking forward to your adventures around the world to come. Cheers, Daniel Whitfield Thank you, Daniel. I'll be coming to Dubai in December, so I hope I'll see you then. Daniel mentions Torbjørn Petersen and Ric Gazarion. Tor is an amazing traveler. A Dane who is traveling to every country in the world without flying in one single unbroken journey. You can follow his project on onceuponasaga.dk. And Ric is also a good friend of mine. We've met so far in three different continents. In fact, I met him in London just a few weeks ago. He does a podcast called Counting Countries - where I was a guest recently. He also does another podcast called The Nomad Mania Podcast, where he interviews some of the worlds most extreme travelers. Nomad Mania is a website that divides the world into regions. It's founded by the man that arguably has been to most places in the world, Harry Mitsidis. I guy I also met in London recently for a chat – and that's going to be the next interview here on The Radio Vagabond. Ric Gazarian has also been on The Radio Vagabond when I met him in Chicago. I called that episode: "Gaz is Global Country Counter." All the links are below. If you also want to drop me a line and tell me where you are and what you're doing right now, please use this special email address for this: listener@theradiovagabond.com [listener@theradiovagabond.com] You can also send me a voice message on WhatsApp. The number is +4540105105. NEXT: BACK IN AFRICA The episodes from Antigua was a bit of a detour from my journey. And in the next episode, we're back on track with my adventures in Africa. When I left you, I was in Conakry and about to leave western Africa after having visited Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Guinea. Traveling through these countries over three months was exciting, an adventure and very rewarding with all the exotic places and interesting people I met. I made so many interesting people, and both made a lot of friends. It was exciting but also rough. Physically and mentally challenges, especially when going from one place to another overland in small beat-up crammed minibusses or shared taxies on bad roads. So after three months, I decided that I wanted to get down to Cape Town, which has a very special place in my heart. I'll spend two months in Cape Town, my longest stop on the trip so far. But I still carry my microphone everywhere, so I have so many recordings that I'm going to be sorting through and sharing with you in several episodes. To name a few things: There's going to be a full episode only with Cape Town Uber drivers. I find out that Cape Town is the gin capital of the world and I speak to the young owner of one of the many a small distilleries. I go searching for Sugar – the owner of a legendary small vinyl store and the guy who found Rodrigues in the Oscar Winning documentary Searching for Sugarman. If you haven't seen this film yet, I suggest that you do before you listen to my episode with Sugar Segerman from Cape Town. After Cape Town, I rent a car and go on a road trip through the country. I drive on the Garden Route and make stops in many amazing places in South Africa. Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Port Elizabeth, Durban where I do the worlds highest swing over their football stadium, St Lucia where Hippos are roaming around in the streets at night. I also go to Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique before spending a few days driving around in Kruger National Park looking for The Big Five and end up in Pretoria and Johannesburg. But before that, I need to get down to Cape Town from Conakry in Guinea, and I had a bit of luck as to how to do that. I found a flight with Ethiopian Air that allowed me to have a small stopover in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. And this is where you'll find me in the next episode. Even though my stop was short, a lot of stuff happened here. I end up in the middle of a parade during their most religious event of the year. I made some new friends, I thought. Instead, I end up getting scammed. I promise you that I will share both my ups and downs from this trip. So I will also be brutally honest and share what went through my mind when I think I'm going to die and I have somewhat of a mental breakdown when I think I only had a few more months to live. That's when The Radio Vagabond continues in a few weeks. Produced by Radioguru.co.uk. My name is Palle Bo, and I gotta keep moving. See you. DISCLAIMER: The trip to Antigua was made possible by Antigua and Barbuda Tourism and Elite Island Resorts, but even though it was a sponsored trip, everything I've said is my genuine opinion. LINKS: Antigua and Barbuda Turism [http://VisitantiguaBarbuda.com] Verandah Resort & Spa [http://www.VerandahResortAndSpa.com] Triflexcusion [http://triflexcursion.com] Once Upon a Saga [http://www.OnceUponasaga.dk] Counting Countries [https://globalgaz.com/palle-bo-counting-countries/] The Nomad Mania Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nomad-mania-podcast/id1463172676] Rick Gazarion on The Radio Vagabond [https://www.theradiovagabond.com/073-global-gaz/] The Radio Vagabond is produced by RadioGuru [http://radioguru.co.uk/]. See pictures on TheRadioVagabond.com [http://theradiovagabond.com/] You can follow The Radio Vagabond on Facebook [http://facebook.com/palleradiovagabond], Twitter [https://twitter.com/radiovagabond], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/radiovagabond/] og YouTube [http://youtube.com/TheRadioVagabond].