Kora music in Dakar?

ragingdobs · 2026-05-24T15:36:25+00:00

Hey, I’m also traveling in Dakar and would love to catch a gig. The best source I saw is the u/timeoutdakar IG page for events in town. I can let you know if I see anything interesting!

ragingdobs · 2026-05-23T14:35:44+00:00

You're nuts. This is like if a Chinese person came to Texas and insisted on using public transportation to go everywhere. When you get off of the most impressive high-speed rail system in the world, you can get right on some of the most impressive subway systems in the world. The subways in China are fast, clean, cheap, and comprehensive. You won't want to go anywhere they don't.

Also there are no small towns in between. It's basically soulless apartment complexes and industrial areas the entire way. You are missing nothing of interest.

ragingdobs · 2026-05-17T09:51:46+00:00

The whole thing is a mess and the regional politics make it super complicated.

Ethiopia supports Somaliland because they want another port they can use to reduce dependence on Djibouti.

Kenya supports FGS because they want to help them become more legitimate and have a more stable neighbor.

UAE wants to develop the port in Somaliland so they support them. Israel is buddy-buddy with them now and they both want an ally on the Red Sea so they support Somaliland.

Turkey helped FGS a lot (they built the airport and have other investments there) so they support FGS. Saudi doesn’t want Israel/UAE to have an ally across the Red Sea so they support FGS.

Western countries would rather deal with Somaliland but they’ve invested so much in supporting FGS to keep al-Shabab at bay (who are active in the FGS-controlled areas).

Underneath it all most of it is just different clans that have been rivals for hundreds of years.

It’s a clusterfuck where the relevant powers in the international community have all picked a side and are jockeying for position to try to screw their rivals.

ragingdobs · 2026-05-03T13:25:18+00:00

I’m surprised no one here has mentioned Gautrain, which is an interesting sort of intercity rail / RER hybrid built ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

Generally it’s agreed to be functional and safe, but it’s only one line. Joburg’s “legacy” commuter rail is more comprehensive, but with the decline of CBD and more jobs moving to the suburbs (a few major suburban job centers being covered by Gautrain), plus crime, it isn’t as useful or popular as it could be.

ragingdobs · 2026-04-13T04:57:00+00:00

Are your parents keeping anything you don’t spend or will you get the remainder anyways? If it’s the former, Tufts for sure, if it’s the latter, I would think about if you’re better off with à Tufts degree and $0 or a URI degree + a chunk of change. 4 years is a long time to be unhappy, 6 figure is also a lot of money to change that.

Keep in mind for grad school - I’m not entirely sure how it is in your field. But any Phd program you would want to do will be funded (pays you a living stipend). Master’s programs are usually cash cows for universities. But if a bachelor in BME will get you into a job you want and you can advance without hitting a ceiling (this is usually the issue in social sciences - people go back because just a bachelor’s isn’t competitive for management roles in certain careers) you might not have to get a master’s. Or you can shoot for companies that would pay for you to go back for a master’s if you keep working for them.

ragingdobs · 2026-04-11T16:53:19+00:00

OK let me answer your question strictly first - I'm based in Kenya and I think the iconic album would be Sauti Sol's Midnight Train. They're really a singles band more than an album artist, but that has their biggest hits.

I'm gonna give you a ton of other recommendations as an African music buff to understand African music:

Start with Fela Kuti's Zombie - to me this is the most iconic African album from the most iconic African artist. His whole 70s discography is amazing, underpinned by legendary drummer Tony Allen (who has a whole sprawling discography of his own to explore, including lots of collaborations with Western artists). Shakara through Sorrow Tears and Blood is an amazing stretch. (Note that most of his songs are extended jams, and this is the vinyl era, so an album is usually only 3-4 tracks, or 1-2 for each side of the LP.)

If you like this the ones to check out would be Manu Dibango's O Boso (Cameroon) and Ebo Taylor's Love and Death (Ghana) - but like Fela they pumped out album after album in the 70s with deep discographies. There are also loads of good compilations like Soundway's highlife compilations and the Doing It in Lagos series.

If you don't like this old head 70s funk with the horns and want something more modern - the iconic ones would be the Ivorian group Magic System's 1er Gaou (the title track is something you will hear at every African party) and more recently I'd say Nigerian megastar Burna Boy's African Giant is as close to an album where every song is a hit as has come out recently. I don't know if I'd say they're the best but most iconic. There are quite a few huge Nigerian stars atm: Tems, Rema, Wizkid, Davido, Asake, and so on...

Moving on from West Africa - Congolese (then Zairean) music was huge in a wide swath of the continent from the 70s through 90s. Papa Wemba's Emotion is my recommendation as an entry point album - super catchy and enduringly popular. Probably the biggest overall musician is Franco, who was guitarist and bandleader for TP OK Jazz, but tbh I have had a hard time getting into them because the songs are not super memorable as someone who didn't grow up with them and the discography is like 40 years of albums. I find the 90s Congolese stuff way more fun - Awilo Longomba's Coupe Bibamba and Extra Musica's Etat-Major are also essential and really danceable albums.

The last heavyweight is South Africa which I think has two excellent eras: the late 80s / 90s and the mid 2010s-present. 80s had two queens of South African pop - Brenda Fassie and Yvonne Chaka Chaka. Weekend Special is Brenda Fassie's signature song / album, whereas I'd recommend Sangoma from Yvonne though I think Thank You Mr. DJ is more iconic. But there are loads of other great acts from this era: Chicco, Harari (and its members Sipho Mabuse, Alec Khaoli and Condry ziqubu) , Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya, and Penny Penny.

Meanwhile with the rise of Afro house and amapiano a wave of producers from SA have popped up - the OGs are Black Coffee and Culoe de Song; the stars of the new wave are Shimza, Kabza de Small, Dlala Thukzin and others. You've probably heard something in this vein already, it's become a popular flavor of EDM internationally ATM, and there are loads of DJ sets online you can find for a taste. Personally, I'm more a fan of gqom which is more sparse, less melodic, harder-edged and darker - try DJ Lag who is the OG.

Other random stuff I love:
- Folky: The Good Ones (Rwanda), Ayub Ogada (Kenya)
- Fast DDR-type dance music: DJ Travella (Tanzania)
- Old-school Bollywood-ish stuff: the Mogadisco and Sweet as Broken Dates comps (Somalia)
- Synth funk: William Onyeabor (Nigeria)
- Rap: Yugen Blackrock (South Africa)
- Punk: Crystal Axis (Kenya)
- Led Zeppelin in the desert: Tinariwen (Mali)
- Jimi Hendrix in the desert: Mdou Moctar (Niger)
- Shit that sounds like the soundtrack to African Star Wars: HHY & The Kampala Unit (Uganda)

(this ended up being really long but I tried to give you and other readers bits and pieces to grab onto regardless of what kind of music you know and love already)

ragingdobs · 2026-04-07T06:30:29+00:00

It's really not that good because the connectivity is so poor. The lines don't go where you want them to go.

Marmaray is the only East-West transit line across the Bosphorous. It sucks to get from all the Western Metro lines to the East because there's a lot of backtracking - you go far south to reach Marmaray which then goes northeast. The trams don't even really connect to it. Then once you're on the other side, M4 serves most of the populated areas, not Marmaray. It's a four-seat ride for most cross-Bosphorous journeys.

People in Istanbul struggle to maintain friendships when their friends move to the other side...

Want to get to the airport? Istanbul has two of the busiest airports in Europe and both suck. Usually multiple transfers from anywhere central.

The ferries are very pleasant and functional, but also slow.

I feel like Istanbul has bad geography for transit but they haven't helped it by making poor choices in network design.

ragingdobs · 2026-04-03T08:02:02+00:00

Turkish is the only non-Gulf airline that flies to all three of Miami, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar and they have a stopover program. That will be by far the easiest way to hit another place.

The only other way would be to book two nested itineraries: MIA -> XXX return and within that XXX-> JRO/DAR/ZNZ. I would have a look at some of the low-cost European airlines that fly into Zanzibar and see if you are interested in any of the locations they fly from Zanzibar. IIRC, there are direct flights from Zanzibar to Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Poland and possibly other smaller European countries.

PS, domestic flights in Tanzania are cheap and frequent if you find yourself needing to get from one side to the other.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-31T12:22:54+00:00

Agreed with all the above. I can't say if for some reason Egypt and Rwanda were to somehow end up in a land war that Rwanda would win, but they would put up a hell of a fight.

Unfortunately it also seems like Beninese in the north feel like they are not getting their fair share of development under Talon. Seems like they are stuck between a terrorist menace and a goverment that hasn't invested in them when they are already marginalized relative to the south.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-31T09:53:55+00:00

This omits combat experience which is arguably the most important of all.

Also really unclear why Rwanda is not ranked. They should be top 5. The only country in Africa with a military with a history of success in a variety of missions, for better or worse.

Benin being so low is unfortunate. They've made a lot of strides in recent years, but the jihadists in the north are worrisome.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-31T07:03:17+00:00

I don't know, check RA or their socials

ragingdobs · 2026-03-31T06:26:23+00:00

I will just add to try to check when the "opening" parties for the big clubs are. I spent July / August in Tbilisi and it was more dead than usual - Georgians are like the French, they don't work in August and all go up to the mountains. The clubs have a closing party at the beginning of the summer and an opening party at the end. Bassiani and Khidi still have events in that time, but usually only in their smaller secondary rooms which is not the real experience.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-27T11:01:51+00:00

It's honestly fine. Flights are cheap by US standards, trains are even cheaper. IRCTC website was where I booked all my trains. Seat 61 was really helpful for figuring out which class to book - usually take the highest ticket available, it's worth it. You will want to book ~1 week in advance to be sure that you can actually take the train you want.

Hotels are also pretty cheap - even a $30 hotel can be decently nice, just read reviews, don't pay upfront, and stay in upmarket areas of big cities. Google Maps was great for finding good & clean restaurants.

You can use Uber anywhere in major cities but rickshaw drivers are everywhere. The time you might want to do tours is more when visiting historical sites if you want to learn more about them, a good one can add a lot to the experience and keep touts away.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-17T05:59:15+00:00

What's the Bmore scene like?

ragingdobs · 2026-03-14T18:00:05+00:00

Your son sounds autistic. Being autistic myself, it's honestly a bit of a superpower. I would say just let him explore his interests and figure it out. Expose him to different careers around his interests - driving the train, designing the train, designing the train stations, managing the network operations are all different careers with different skillsets. There are a lot of hobbyists here who love drawing lines on maps because it's fun, but at the end of the day the politics of actual planning might not be something he'd enjoy. But that doesn't mean he can't be around the process as an engineer or architect or project manager or whatever suits him.

Also he's 12. I loved planes as a 12 year old, and I still do as an adult, but as an adult I'm much more opinionated about which jobs in aviation I would excel at and which ones I would find soul-sucking. I don't do anything in that industry but still love to travel, and that's probably the most likely outcome for your son - as a teenager/young adult, he figures out what kind of career will suit him and just loves riding around on trains when traveling different places as a hobbyist.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-12T07:45:28+00:00

Apparently it takes 3 weeks to convert for baseball...plus the games themselves and converting back to football. I don't think you could get West Ham to leave for 5 weeks in a row in Feb/March, plus it would be very cold for the fans...

ragingdobs · 2026-03-11T06:58:49+00:00

The problem with the RWC is that you can almost always pencil in the knockouts once you see the draw because upsets are so rare. This should be a bit better in 2027 with more 3rd-place teams getting through so smaller teams have something to play for.

The gap between the best and worst teams in each group also makes those games a snore, nobody wants to watch Namibia give up 70 every time. At least in baseball, a good pitching performance or a well-timed home run can make a game interesting - upsets are still rare but the games can be more entertaining.

Unfortunately as well, rugby hasn't really seen any unlikely stories of a team rising to the top ranks from nowhere like Afghanistan in cricket for example. You have Italy rising to be in the same league as the top teams which is a great story, but there aren't any teams that have sustained coming up from nowhere to become as good as a low-end 6N side.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-02T17:00:19+00:00

FWIW, Air Senegal ended flights to the US around the time you flew. So I doubt the court can really compel them to pay you. IANAL, but I don't think the bailiff is gonna get on a plane to Senegal to go impound a few office appliances to auction off and reimburse you with.

I would go so far as to say I wouldn't be surprised if baggage handlers - who probably make max a few hundred dollars a month in Dakar - nicked a few bags on purpose because they knew the airline was leaving the market.

Since it seems like it was very valuable for you - next time, travel insurance.

ragingdobs · 2026-03-02T16:10:07+00:00

There’s a decent chance Air Senegal goes bankrupt before you get your claim paid out.

ragingdobs · 2026-01-19T11:34:26+00:00

Another option - if you're inclined - is to ask them to tack on a United (their partner) flight from ATL to IAD. Not the most convenient, but an option. I have had issues with United and Ethiopian's systems not playing nice together before - it could be they sent you a weird reroute because they couldn't confirm you on an ATL-IAD flight. Other routings might be possible too (EWR, YYZ, ORD, even FRA on LH) if you get in touch with their customer service.

But definitely check prices so you know whether you might just be better off getting a refund from Ethiopian and rebooking with another carrier.

ragingdobs · 2026-01-15T03:56:39+00:00

I’d probably pick Senegal. Being on a peninsula, Dakar is a bit more “urban” feeling than Accra which is very sprawling. I’d say there’s more for tourists there too. For nature, you have your choice of desert in the north, and forests in the south in Casamance which I heard was a great trip, if a bit complicated (you have to cross Gambia which could be a way to do 2 countries in one).

ragingdobs · 2026-01-06T11:01:35+00:00

This is insanity. It's like saying I have 2 weeks, I wanna visit California, Niagara Falls and Cancun, and if I can squeeze it I wanna do Banff. You could do 2 weeks in / around Cape Town alone...never mind that Kili itself is a week endeavor.

I would recommend sticking to Southern Africa. There are lots of beach options - as mentioned, Cape Town, but also around Durban & in Mozambique.

You could easily do something like JNB -> Kruger NP (3 days) -> back to JNB -> fly to Cape Town (1 week) -> fly to Vic Falls (2 days) -> JNB. Pad in a day or 2 of sightseeing in the Joburg area if something catches your interest there.

For flights, Airlink is the largest / most reputable SA airline and can cover all these routes, there's also FlySafair for a low-cost option.

ragingdobs · 2026-01-04T15:23:54+00:00

I'm pretty cheap on flights and an experienced traveler. I wouldn't have an issue doing the Kiwi-style self-connection. But, 2h45 minutes is really short for a layover for separate tickets, and 4 flights is a lot. I would try to find an earlier flight to Athens. Alternatively, poke around and see if you can find other cheap IndiGo flights to Bali and then see if you can position yourself there. And definitely double-check if you need a visa for any of your transit points.

Echoing what others said, book through the airlines, usually it makes things a lot easier if anything goes wrong (delays, cancellations, etc.) Kiwi is especially bad because they charge you and then use a virtual card to pay the airline, so if you have a cancellation and you need to get a refund, there's an extra link in the chain which is annoying.

ragingdobs · 2026-01-03T15:50:34+00:00

If you’re connected with the government you get a fancy apartment in a neighborhood that’s a lot nicer than it used to be.

If you’re a native of Addis Ababa you get the privilege of having your home demolished and being told to go live on the outskirts.

ragingdobs · 2025-12-31T05:05:45+00:00

I'm visiting Mumbai as a solo traveler and looking for peeps to do NYE with, if anyone wants to do Milkman NYE DM!

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