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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   28786 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 29, 2023

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I hear Africa is still pretty wild

Yeah a friend lived in Madagaskar for a couple months and the stories were wild. Perhaps I should give it a try. I am personally not a big fan of places where there is a real threat to your personal safety or health. Forces you to be a lot more cautious and timid, and stick to the well beaten path. Definitely learned my lesson in this regard after some nights out in Brazilian cities that I tried to act as if I am still in Istanbul.

Try Botswana, especially if you enjoy nature tourism. Ghana has a lot going on too, from what I hear. Stay out of the Sahel and South Africa unless you have a guide/fixer.

There are very few places on earth that are more dangerous (as a tourist) than the most violent large Latin American cities. Most of Africa is much much safer as long as you stay out of conflict zones, for example (and I mean conflict zones specifically, not say ‘the Congo in general’, much of which is very safe).

I have travelled Latin America extensively and there is a very large disparity in safety between countries/cities/neighborhoods. Also some places are rife with crimes where only the gang members kill each other while in others randos on the street are also targeted. I have found Argentina/Chile/Peru to be very safe places for example. Brazil was overall horrible and Colombian cities seemed to have decent areas and very bad ones.

My advantage might have been that I am quite a Mediterranean looking guy so I don't stand out as a tourist. Most people by default assumed I was Brazilian or something. I am a bit apprehensive that in Africa I will be very noticeably a foreigner.

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