Hi, Hope all you travellers out there are well. I’m now in Haiti! Country 124 on the UN official list. I met a nice couchsurfing couple living in north Haiti; Jonas and Soo. They went to Dominican Republic for the weekend. We managed to meet up in a town called Cabarete on Dominican Republic’s north coast and they helped me cross the border yesterday! Crossing into Haiti was crazy! As we arrived the border was closing and the immigration and border staff couldn’t decide whether to let us cross into Haiti or not. Soo, who speaks good Spanish, negotiated and, eventually, we were allowed through. But not through the normal gate, we had to walk across the river. I was carried across by piggyback on one of the Haitian guy’s backs! Was crazy. Every motorbike taxi arguing with us to take their taxi for an extortionate price! We walked on, over rubble and rough stones. Eventually, we came to a calmer area and got a cheaper motorbike taxi before taking a pick-up truck with other locals to a small town called Limonard. It’s near Capp-Haitien. I’m safe and having fun. Haiti is like being back in Africa. Rough streets, no pavements, unpaved roads. Markets, lots of motorbikes. People driving crazy! Joanas’ place is very simple, there’s a shared bathroom, a toilet to sit on, but no running water. He takes water from a well outside and we put water down the toilet after pooing! I throw water over my head from the bucket to shower. His room is extremely hot, like an oven, but he has a small fan! Been up since 6 am. Joanas starts work at 7 am. Had two boiled eggs and a tiny banana for breakfast from the open market. We got to his workplace on his tiny motorbike! I go back to Dominican Republic tomorrow, unfortunately. My flight departs Wednesday evening. Ok, keep reading and following, will try send more updates soon. Thanks for following and supporting, happy travels, Tony :). Now in country 124 :)!
Still in the Dominican Republic!
Continuously sweating and also being rained on occasionally! Spent my first three nights in Macao, a small beach town roughly 35 kilometres, 22 miles from Punta Cana airport. I stayed in a rustic hostel with very friendly people. I went ziplining on my second full day in the country. A friendly Colombian guy named Andres took me to the ziplining place on his motorbike. We sped up into the mountans and forest. At first, the company staff were unsure how to let a blind guy zipline due to possible safety concerns and the language barrier. However, Andres told the staff my story, how I’d travelled the world, visited 123 countries alone, bungee jumped 17 times, sky dived on three occasions, etc, etc. Eventually, they agreed and I went with the main instructor to zip along 12 different cables high above the trees! An adrenaline rush and great fun… Now I’m in santo domingo, capital of Dominican Republic. I walked around part of the historical zone of the city with a friendly guy I met in one of the touristic squares. He offered to show me around and took some photos. He did attempt to get some money from me, but I gave him a good tip and he showed me to a minibus for my attempt at getting back to my starting point. I must have taken a wrong bus, or the driver not understood my terrible Spanish. Anyway, I eventually found someone with a phone. Showed them a paper with my host’s address and phone number. The guy called my host, and he eventually collected me. I head to Jarabacoa tomorrow. a small town in the central mountains. Three hours north of the capital. Thanks for following. Warmest wishes, Tony :)
— Tony Giles blind solo traveller, author of Ebooks:
*Seeing The Americas My Way* An emotional journey (2016) Available from Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M14JY50 Kobo – store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/seeing-the-americas-my-way
*Seeing The World My Way* A totally blind and partially deaf guy’s global adventures (2010, repub 2016)
Second edition is available from all Ebook sites. Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NAMEO2B
Website: www.tonythetraveller.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/theblindbackpacker YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/TonyGilesTraveller
BBC Travel Show
For anyone who missed Tony’s fascinating BBC Travel Show documentary, watch it at the links below:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRZhaKFKoBM
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOCV1DxIGvI
Tony In the Indian Ocean!
Dear all, happy May-day. I’m good, relaxing in the small French island of Mayotte, located somewhere in the Indian Ocean! It’s another tropical and humid day here. I arrived from Reunion yesterday evening, only to be greted by warm, tropical rain – such is life for a traveller! I’m relaxing on a nice terrace in a delightful, peaceful Airbnb. No couchsurfers could or wanted to host me, so, Airbnb it is! I’m here until Sunday, when I fly to the Comoro Islands and country 122 on the UN list of nations. From Comoros I head home – back to the UK and wonderful Tatiana’s warm embrace :). Can’t wait! :). I’m doing nothing because in France, May-day means complete shutdown! Hoping to meet some locals at somepoint. We’ll see how it goes. Difficult to wander about here, no real public transport, only Bush (shared) taxis, and not easy for them to stop where I’m staying. No worries, there’s always the beach! :). Happy travels and thanks for supporting me. Remember: my two fascinating Ebooks are available from all Ebook websites. Seeing The World My Way Seeing The Americas My Way They support my travels. So anyone who hasn’t yet purchased and downloaded one, please do. Thank you all so much in advance. If you guys buy my ebooks and support my travels, I can continue to connect with more people around the world and inspire them to achieve their own goals and dreams – disabled or not. Have a wonderful day and week, warmest regards, Tony :).
Still travelling
I’ve just spent one of the most amazing weeks of my life, making a documentary with the BBC Travel Show team in magical Ethiopia. Two documentaries to be released sometime in July. I’ll keep everyone posted! So many emotional highlights! :). These are what travel Ebooks are about. Hoping to release my third Ebook in mid September, so watch out. You will need the first two, to enjoy this one – my first travels in Africa. Please find below links to a interview I did back in early January. Tony’s interview with HeartThreads, an American news story outlet. Here’s the link to the Facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/HeartThreadsDocs/videos/299962140903312/
Here’s a link to the web article, it may not work outside the US: www.wwltv.com/article/syndication/heartthreads/hes-blind-severely-deaf-and-traveling-alone-to-every-country-in-the-world/507-82756935-2784-4401-91cf-f49e90225503
Hope everyone can access it. Enjoy, have a great easter and thanks for following and supporting. Have a great one, Tony :) Ps, spending one night in Dubai before heading to Mauritius, country 121.