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Sights You Need to See When Touring West Africa
Things to See

Sights You Need to See When Touring West Africa

written by Mandi

Before we jump right to the mandatory sights to visit, we should possess some basic level knowledge of the countries we plan to tour. The westernmost sub region of Africa is West Africa and thus it is named as such. It is a rich region consisting of 18 countries (Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Gambia). The religions practiced in this region are Islam, Christianity, and Traditional African religions. The combined population of these 18 countries is approximately 349 million. Some unique features of West Africa are defined by factors such as a good number of plateaus and coastal plains, less dry and wetter environments, crops such as sorghum, peanuts, cotton, rice, coffee, cassava, and cocoa!

Gorée

Historic sights in itself have a captivating spell that provokes interest and awe in us. Hence, these sights will make you reminiscent for sure! Goree is a tiny island in Senegal. This Island is famous for its infamous and tragic history of slave trade market, which has been converted to museums. Fort d’Estrees is where the IFAN Historical Museum is to be found. This gives you insights into the past of Senegal. The Henriette Bathily Women’s Museum exhibits the roles that were played by women in the West African communities.

Lake Retba

Lake Retba, which means “Pink Lake” is situated in the north of Cap Vert peninsula of Senegal. The beauty of this lake lies in its exotic pink color which is caused by the presence of Dunaliella salina algae. The lake is buoyant allowing people to float easily. It is only a narrow dune apart from the Atlantic ocean. The samphire bushes have a magenta color and are visible in the white sand banks. The sand dunes have a terra-cotta-color. The eccentric beauty nature leads to this lake is worth experiencing.  Here is a look at Lake Retba.

Mole National Park

The National Park is home to a variety of animals. It is located in northern Ghana where it protects an area of savannah and forest. Leopards, birds, and elephants are few of the many animals you would find there. You could take panoramic views from The Konkori Escarpment. It overlooks water holes where animals are seen drinking from. There are breathtaking waterfalls that run along the Kparia and Polzen rivers. There’s also an ancient Sudanese-style mosque to the south. If you’re an animal person, this place has to be your list topper!

The Great Mosque of Djenne

The Great Mosque of Djenne is a unique site located in Mali. The Mosque of Djenne is viewed as by many architects as one of the greatest achievements of Sudano-Sahelian architect. Its exterior gives it a look of a large banco building. It reputed as a landmark of Mali. The essence of God’s home rekindles a lost spirituality in this century old mosque.

Lake Volta

The river of Volta flows in the region of Ghana. Its main three tributaries are the Black Volta, White Volta, and Red Volta. Lake Volta is a reservoir collected behind the Akosombo Dam. It is one of the largest man made lakes in the world and makes for a beautiful tourist location. There are more than 60 species of marine life in the Volta river.

These are only a few of the many places to visit in West Africa. It certainly requires multiple trips to this region to fully absorb all the fantastic views offered by it. Plan away your tourism now!

Sights You Need to See When Touring West Africa was last modified: July 25th, 2017 by Mandi
July 20, 2017 0 comment
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The Spices of West African Cuisine
Regional Cuisine

The Spices of West African Cuisine

written by Mandi

Ever since the 11th century Africa has enjoyed a blend of seasoned and vibrant spices. These spices have found their way into the daily lives of the common people, becoming part of their culture and tradition. Spices have not just added color to food in Africa, but also a distinct taste of pride in every meal. Though sparingly used, these spices serve functional purposes, not just for the enjoyment of a great meal, but also in order to maintain a healthy state.

West African Cuisine

West African countries have not been left behind. From the coastal shores of Sierra Leon and Liberia to the landlocked countries of Mali and Niger, these countries have held an unbreakable tradition of spicing their foods. Though they limit the use of spices in their cooking, it is apparent that they love chili spices. Backed by a popular belief that chili opens up your pores, many use chili peppers in their cooking, thus in the process air conditioning the skin in this exceptionally humid conditions. Moreover, the use of chili in their cooking preserves their food. It is for this and many other reasons that West Africans use the hottest of chili peppers in their cooking. This type of chili is so hot that tears will start to roll down your cheeks after the first bite.

Guinea Pepper

The Guinea pepper is commonly used in West African cuisines. It’s seeds, which have been used for generations, are widely added to add flavor to foods considered bland, like the root vegetables. This precious commodity is highly acclaimed and sometimes is even called the ‘grains of paradise’.

Suombala

Another equally important spice is called the Soumbala, a flavoring often used in this part of the continent. This is a unique spice since because unlike other spices, it takes several days to prepare, all for the enjoyment of one dinner. West African women commonly use soybeans,mainly due to the lack of other native ingredients, to prepare this spice. It is thereafter kept for a few days to ferment, which in turn produces a savory flavor and a deep smell enjoyed by all.

Other spices include the African salt, commonly known as African Potash, which is an old tradition of making salt from wooden ashes. This salt is used to enhance the taste of the food and also preserve it.The spices of West African cuisine may be a mix of unusual chili peppers fermented spices and salt ashes, but it’s definitely a unique taste of African culture.

The Spices of West African Cuisine was last modified: July 25th, 2017 by Mandi
July 18, 2017 0 comment
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Blog

The Best Used Car Dealerships Toronto Has Are All Right by My Apartment

written by Mandi

I have realized that the best used car dealerships Toronto has to offer are all within a reasonable walking distance from my apartment. It’s possible that all the used cars in Toronto has are being sold by the kind of people I ran into. I mean, what are the chances that all of the good ones are near me, right? Maybe most of them are great.

What got me started on this is that I recently had an amazing experience with 2 of the used car dealerships by my home. I almost can’t believe this but one of the first places I went didn’t have the car I was looking for so they referred me to another dealership who did. They referred me to their competitor. Now, maybe they have some sort of finder’s fee deal worked out or something, I don’t know what they do to make their businesses work. But, as a customer, I was impressed.

I walked to the second dealership and they had the car pulled right up front for me when I got there. “We knew you were on your way!” the salesman said. The car was clean, it was fairly priced. What was the catch?

I asked if there was any way I could have my mechanic look at it and they were more than willing to help me set something up. I called my guy who said he could fit me in the next day around 10 am. Immediately, the salesman was like, “Great, be here at 9:30 for a test drive and you can take it to your guy’s garage.”

I was like, whoa. They’re okay with me doing this, this car must be legit. Next morning, I showed up and they let me drive the car over to my mechanic’s place. Get this: they let me go alone. I left a credit card for collateral and that was it.

I was not surprised to find out that the car needed minimal work. The brake pads were going to need changed soon and it needed 2 new tires. But all in all, it was a great experience. They knocked a little off the price, too, when I told them that I was going to need to put some money in it soon after buying it.

All in all, I was really impressed. It ended up being a lot less stressful than I imagined. I’m thankful I live in Toronto, my friend in Nova scotia had trouble finding a good car dealership, until he did.

The Best Used Car Dealerships Toronto Has Are All Right by My Apartment was last modified: November 24th, 2017 by Mandi
November 24, 2017 0 comment
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Blog

Who has the cheapest auto insurance? Deciding On Car Insurance

written by Mandi

Finding who has the cheapest auto insurance

When I was younger, I thought car insurance would be as easy as going ‘who has the cheapest auto insurance’ and then going with them. No one ever explained all the differences – deposits, deductibles, monthly premiums, third party or comprehensive coverage! To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure I understand it fully. But I’ve been looking for the cheapest deals for a while now, and there’s some questions I’m weighing up.

Firstly, do I want third party or comprehensive? Or an in between? My wife keeps pushing for comprehensive since even if I’m a decent driver, other people on the road aren’t. And third party only wouldn’t include damage done to me by others. She’s basically vetoed third party since it doesn’t cover theft, but we’re still trying to decide between a third party plus fire and theft policy and comprehensive cover. Depending on which we choose, who has the cheapest auto insurance will change and we’ll have to get a whole new range of quotes.

That’s not just it though. We’ve then got to decide if we want to pay an upfront deposit. It’ll make the monthly payments cheaper, but requires the initial lump sum to be available. I’m in favour of it, since it’ll be out of the way, but my wife’s not as she’d rather keep a healthy savings fund – and I can see where she’s coming from. But then weighing up the monthly costs and the deductibles, I keep thinking it’s easier to have lower future payments if we know we have the money now. It’s a tricky one.

Then of course there’s the deductible – do I want to be paying more per month to avoid paying out of pocket if something happens? How likely is something to happen? My wife is more cautious than me and is happy to pay more if it means we don’t get stuck in a crisis, but even she isn’t sure exactly how much is worth looking at.

Basically, finding who has the cheapest auto insurance is a lot more work than I thought it would be! But we’re getting there – we’ve got a shortlist, and with another couple of conversations I think we’ll have reached a decision. Thankfully there’s lots of quote sites like www.autoinsurancemonkey.com or http://www.whohasthecheapestautoinsurance.com/, they’ve been a big help. I just didn’t realise there was so much to think about!

Who has the cheapest auto insurance? Deciding On Car Insurance was last modified: June 8th, 2018 by Mandi
July 25, 2017 0 comment
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Very cheap car insurance no deposit – Auto insurance on budget

written by Mandi

Budget Blog: Car Insurance Time

//Below is a personal blog post by me Mandi, Sorry guy’s I just had to vent.

I’ve been working on making a budget for the upcoming year recently, and one of the things I’ve been looking into is changing my car insurance. I’ve been with the same company for about six years and annoyingly, customer loyalty doesn’t really get rewards like it used to. I rang them first to see what I might be able to get and it was quite limited.

I’ve spent the past few weeks exploring alternatives, because there’s quite a lot of good first time customer offers that simply wouldn’t be available to me if I stayed. My ultimate goal is to get very cheap car insurance no deposit and a decent deductible.

I’ve already managed to reduce a lot of my car/travel costs – I downsized my car, which has cut down on fuel costs, and I’ve also bought a bike. It might have been an initial expense, but I’m trying to use it for shorter distances. It’s cheaper, and has the bonus effect of helping me lose weight.

One of the big things I’m weighing up is whether it’s worth insuring mine and my wife on the same policy, or as two separate ones. There are offers for going on as a couple, but she rarely drives so I’m wondering if she needs the same amount of coverage as I do. I’m going to chat to her about what she thinks, and might even see if we can negotiate a discount based on her habits. Luckily, our daughter isn’t quite old enough to drive yet, so we have a couple of years before we have to factor that into the cost!

Surprisingly, it’s actually not too tricky to find policies that don’t require a deposit, it just increases the costs elsewhere. Having looked over the plan I’ve drawn for the year, I think taking the deposit money I would spend and putting it into my savings is the more financially sound option, even if it does mean paying slightly more per month. One of the ongoing worries I have is not having a decent amount of savings in case of emergencies, so doing it this way round allows me to start building that account up.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with myself – I’ve managed to plan out what I want, get a decent amount of quotes, and now it’s just a matter of narrowing down. Sticking to this budgeting thing has been a challenge, but it’s one that I’m enjoying watching pay off. I found my quotes here if you’re it interested by the way: http://www.verycheapcarinsurancenodeposit.com/ , I also found http://verycheapcarinsurancenodeposit.net/ to be pretty good.

Very cheap car insurance no deposit – Auto insurance on budget was last modified: June 8th, 2018 by Mandi
July 25, 2017 0 comment
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Recent Posts

  • Sights You Need to See When Touring West Africa

    Sights You Need to See When Touring West Africa

    July 20, 2017
  • The Spices of West African Cuisine

    The Spices of West African Cuisine

    July 18, 2017
  • The Best Used Car Dealerships Toronto Has Are All Right by My Apartment

    November 24, 2017
  • Who has the cheapest auto insurance? Deciding On Car Insurance

    July 25, 2017
  • Very cheap car insurance no deposit – Auto insurance on budget

    July 25, 2017

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