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 :).

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.

I’m currently travelling around fascinating and wonderful Ethiopia with its ancient history and religious cultures, both Christian and Muslim. Before Ethiopia, I was in Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti. I crossed overland from Djibouti City to Harar in East Ethiopia, where I spent a couple days exploring the old, medieval Islamic walled town – the fourth most important destination in Muslim culture and history. Eventually, a loong 11 hour coach journey brought me to Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. This is my second visit to the capital, having brefily stayed during my first visit in December 2013. Fortunately, on this ocasion, I’ve had more time to explore and enjoy this huge city. , I’ve been eating tasty foods like Engera, a unique elastic bread-like substance that slightly resembles a pizza base, but not really. It is the base of nearly all Ethiopian meals. Sauces like Shero, made from grounded chickpea are mixed together with tomatoes, onions, and spices. It’s delicious; eaten by hand and shared with friends/family. You pull the Engera type bread apart and gather up the sauce and vegetables/meat, roll it into a small ball and feed each other. It is a sign of love, affection and respect between individuals. It’s not just a meal. This is Ethiopian culture and why it is so wonderful and the people so warm spirited and generous. I’m here in Ethiopia for a second time, making another fascinating and entertaining documentary with the BBC Travel Show. It’s going great. I was on Addis Ababa Breakfast radio show this morning and also had my hair cut by a local barber, great fun! Now the film crew and I are in a Rastafarian village called Shashamene, roughly 4 hours south of Addis. Next stop is Lalibela in the north. I should be there sometime on Thursday. The trip is full of positive energy, warm, kind people, tasty food, mixed weather and amazing naked scenery with bumps and bounces on every road and around every corner! I’m loving it and the film crew are wonderful. They treat me like a king! Together, the BBC Travel Show and I are showing people all over the world, what can be done and what people can achieve, disabled or not. It just takes a little bit of heart and a bit of help here and there. I’m so fortunate to be doing this. Keep following and watching. Check out BBC Travel Show social pages, they are posting photos of our adventures daily. I’ll let you all know when the documentary goes out. Happy travels and thanks for following and supporting. Tony :)

Tony, Tatiana now in Luxor for more ancient sites! This trip around Egypt has been interesting and fun, challenging and ever changing! Unable to discover or work out how to purchase train tickets to travel from Cairo to Luxor on, either the day train or overnight sleeper, we decided to travel the 7/8 hour journey by bus to Hurghada on Egypt’s Red Sea east coast. We departed Cairo around 7 pm, after going to a different bus terminal than the ‘Go Bus’ use. Nevertheless, some 8 bumpy hours later, with the time approaching 4 am, we arrived in the touristy beach town with its international airport. Once at the Sea Wave Hostel, we crashed. The following morning, I enjoyed fried eggs and bread with a cup of tea on the roothtop deck, whilst Tatiana relaxed in bed. Later we headed to the nearby beach, a 5/10 minute walk, first along a dusty and soft dirt track/road before turning right and descending a slight gradient trail containing several small rocks. At the first real road, we met a local gentleman who helped us cross the busy junction and took us onto the beach after a brief walk. Once on the sand, we were, naturally, guided to a beach café/bar and took seats. Tatiana enjoyed a coffee whilst I went and put my feet in the Red Sea! Wonderfully refreshing! The friendly locals looked after us, escorting us off the beach when we wished to depart. Once helped back across the wide road, we began searching for the upwards trail back to the hostel. After a few minutes walking, we met a lady with a car who turned out to originate from Slovenia, she offered us a ride and, even though it probably took longer than walking, we accepted, gratefully. Back at the hostel, we grabbed our bags, requested a taxi and 10 minutes later, were at the Hurghada bus station ready to depart for Luxor. However, there was one snag, the bus for Luxor didn’t leave for another 2.5 hours. Luckily there was a café nearby, so we quenched our fursts! Needless to say, we eventually made it to Luxor and, are, at this moment, quietly relaxing in the delightful New Everest hostel. Thanks for following. Don’t forget to check out my fun and fascinating travel Ebooks: Seeing The World My Way Seeing The Americas My Way Available to buy and download from all Ebook websites. Have a good one, 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)
Second edition is available from all Ebook sites.
Website: www.tonythetraveller.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/theblindbackpacker YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/TonyGilesTraveller