Oct 2011, Dakar Senegal

Dakar:  a walk by the the 9-hole golf course , with a breath-taking view of the Atlantic Ocean 

My favorite time spent in Dakar aside from woooooooooooooooork, which is evidences here;),  was my hotel  Le Meridien President Hotel, by the Atlantic Ocean, swimming daily, hanging out by the club with my colleagues from work, waking about the famous golf course near the Hotel with my local friends in Senegal as they were playing golf, and trying some of the trendy restaurants around town and picking out great seafood.   Indeed Dakar was memorable.

wooooooooooooooooooo

what one calls a great walk

shot of fast moving lizard,so pretty to look at

they say golf is a great walk spoiled!

Had to share the golf course view 

Swim/relax looking out the Atlantic- such magic

Ocean view from my room

Senegalese Beauty who is also Miss.africa!

Club House at Hotel is the best

Master Senegalis Chef at the Meridian

Daily swim at 7am was a must!

December 2011, Malindi, Kenya - Happy New Year!

December 31, 2011: (Click on pics to enlarge)
I decided to write this post few minutes before I has my New Year's Dinner Party after reflecting and looking at my last post which was in December 2010.

Nearby Che Shale Beach Resort -Very blue water,white sand,
& perfect humidity not make you not to wear no clothes;)

What a surprise it was for me that I did not even post anything since and finding out the year have flown by like a rocket into a sky.  This is impossible!   This is what my work at dotafrica has done to me.  What was possible however is that I took off sometime to enjoy a holiday.

Breakfast in-front of beach everyday!
w/my little finding "I love Malindi bag"

Karaoke nights at my hotel

@my hotel Ocean View Beach Resort & Spa, Malindi  

Returning to the US as I planned was nearly impossible for my state of mind & body, as taking yet another flight to anywhere especially on the holiday season where the human traffic is highest at airports, and worrying about luggage weight and airport security  etc . was causing me  unexpected hallucinations.   Therefore after consulting with the locals, I decided to take a drive down to a place called Malindi, a beach town 8rs Central Coast of Kenya.  With my driver Abdulla in the front, and me  taking the whole backseat, few pillows, my netbook, 2012 economist magazine I picked up in Nairobi, piles of summer cloths in a luggage with no worry on how much weight, picnic snacks, packs of water, and our Land-rover 4 wheel drive, it was exactly what I needed.

On the road to Malindi wit my driver, taking comfort 
in the back seat, yes wifi-works

With Town Popular MamaLisa, also the owner of my
Hotel who adapted me on New Year's eve!

@ Scorpio beach bar

@Papa Remo Beach,  in Watamu   

Vasco da Gama point

Some pic are posted here to share the scenery.. and what a scenery of blue water and white sand beaches... There are many resort hotels around the vicinity, all serving great seafood as well, other favorites aside from my hotel include, Che-Chale beach above (great sea food menu), Papa Roma beach (also called lover's beach, amazing view and seafood, see in pic!), Kilili Baharini Resort hotel (delicious menu & classic, well managed restaurant) and of course the famous Lion in the Sun owned by the famous Flavio, where I had my daily workout and an amazing

massage & health club services!  Don't forget to stop by, after having lunch at the "Old Man and the sea" an  old & famous restaurant, with an impressive menu ,although not kept up, yet a tradition at Melindi, and then go by the  Scorpio Hotel,  for a wonderful beach view and walk, & worth having a drink by the beach bar and buying the local music from the bartender who makes sure    you enjoy listening to it,

The restaurant Menu Story of the
Old Man & the Sea 

and also adjacent is the  Vasco Da Gama pillar,  Malindi's most famous monument,  erected by the Portuguese explorer as a navigational aid in 1498.   At any rate, my hotel Ocean View Resort &; Spa is the newest and I say will take home the price for 'a most relaxing, on-beach resort hotel and most responsive to guests, especially to high maintenance one's like me;)!  Grande Lavaro MamaLisa!   BTW, you have 2 book everything by personal connections as it was the holiday season, no joke.  My reflections - I  kept imagining what the colonials were fighting for long ago.   This one in particular is an Italian dominated place with lots of influence in culture and industry which is mostly tourism.
More story to post next year 2012, as my hotel is ringing bell for dinner.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

Washington 2010 - New York - Lobby Lobby Lobby

Washington DC: Always love to go there. Politics and wine come together as one roams around the city with one's agenda. And mine was to get the dotafrica name out there and to influence the influences to get it to the Washington agenda. It is time for Africa I spoke all around. To my surprise, all this week, the Black Caucus week, where we were invited as delegation from Africa, of course the Agenda was the African continent and how we can include AAfrica in the global digital agenda. And then I traveled to New york to the UN General assembly, I in fact took the fast train for the first time and got off at the Grand station, where I took a taxi to my Hotel at Waldorf, which I found out soon was full with the Presidents and his delegation staying there, so moved by a friend to Hilton. of course, I had no plans to come to NY, so did even expect to even get a hotel at this time? certainly knowing me,I was to going to stay a New Jersey or somewhere,so is always luck and timing with Sophia, I managed.

See everysay at the Waldorf, the Obamas come in and out, with the whole state asset following them including the paramedics was quite a vibrating scene, people taking pictures and videos, which i shared with you here an bit. The glossy motor cycles and dozens of black 4 wheels that park at the hotel shows the US presidential security at its best.
Of coursee may heads of states including the Nigerian delegation was staying at Waldorf. I call it the whole bureaucracy!!!  But I tell you , everyone comes with their glitzy suits and best of the best national dresses confirming it is a UN meeting. Fascinating.
Of course I was chasing presidents and also visiting the AU offices and meeting the who is who's and making sure my iphone is loaded with their contacts..."see u later"... as I know there is no time to make serious discussions now.
Yea the running machine you see is at my hotel as I watch the celebrity Obama make his speech at the UN. And yes, the campaign shoes was just that... what you see here. And this was from Lagos BTW and not New york, as you might think. Hence the price is the same! And the taxi u see above, ha is what I was using to get around to see people, as the regular taxi takes nearly 40min for 5 block drive. /tata

August 2010 - Kampala, Uganda

2Uganda, Kampala: My first trip, I could only think, land of the Idi Amin. I got picked up at the airport, VIP style and dropped at my Hotel. The road to town was nearly 50 min , so i get to see the land and its people all around. It was hot and I can see a c

Civilized culture buried in poverty, not as bad as some African countries ,but it was there. Then the city rises in front of us, all of a sudden and I see Kampala, with all it buzz and it industrious people. High rise hotels, Banks, shops and beautiful parks. The residential area is amazing, the types of homes, very elegant, ambassadorial type, quite neighbors and manicured gardens.

July 2010 - South Africa - World Cup

South Africa: The World cup event, was an amazing experience. Shutting between the two cities Capetown and Jo-Burg, despite accommodation issues here and there, I had a great time. Invited by the African leadership forum, I spoke on dotafrica, re-branding Africa theme.Many who is who of Africa figures were there. The Capetown leg at the was beautiful. 12 Apostles Hotel over the sea cliff. It seem nothing can go wrong when you stand over the balcony; with the exception the weather seem below 10 degrees.

After the speeches and dinners and networking, I went down with some friends to Soweto to see where Mandela was born and raised. it was an amazing experience. While one can see abject poverty and townships there, the city has also transformed into a great metropolis,with large modern shopping centers that which equals Joburg. Had great restaurants, where we has some lunch and the driver took us back to Hotel.