Algeria

After an overnight flight from Mali, I connected through Algiers and continued to Ghardaïa, an ancient desert city famous for its distinctive architecture and centuries-old fortified settlements. Not long after arriving, however, I began feeling unlike anything I had ever experienced before. At first it was dizziness and overwhelming fatigue. Within hours, I could barely move. Back at my hotel, I spent the next seventeen hours almost completely immobilized. I drifted in and out of sleep, shivering despite sweating profusely, and was too weak even to sit upright or reach the phone beside my bed. The following morning, I finally managed to call my guide, who rushed me to the local hospital. The doctors gave me an IV and ran several tests, but never determined exactly what had caused it. Their best guess was severe food poisoning from something I had eaten in Mali before flying over.

Although I should have rested longer, I was determined not to waste the opportunity to explore. I spent what little energy I had wandering through Ghardaïa’s historic sights, learning about the Mozabites, whose branch of Islam has remained largely isolated from the rest of the Muslim world for nearly a thousand years. One of the most striking sights was seeing women dressed in flowing white cloaks that covered everything except a single eye. It was unlike anything I had ever encountered.

From there, while still recovering, I continued to Constantine, often called the City of Bridges. The city is built across a series of massive cliffs, with huge bridges connecting one side to the other high above the gorges below. Looking out across the landscape, it almost felt like the city had been built in multiple dimensions.

I eventually made my way to Algiers. By coincidence, a group from NomadMania, the world’s largest community for extreme travelers, happened to be visiting at the same time. The group was led by Harry Mitsidis, widely regarded as one of the most traveled people in history, having visited virtually every region of every country on Earth. I joined them for part of their stay as we explored Algiers’ beautiful boulevards and rode the city’s surprisingly modern metro system, which I found more impressive and definitely cleaner than the one in New York City.

Afterward, I finished my trip with a visit to the remarkably preserved Roman ruins of Tipasa. Standing among the ancient temples, amphitheater, and columns overlooking the Mediterranean, it was incredible to think that this had once been part of an empire that stretched across three continents. Algeria ended up being everything I had hoped for and more. It remains, in my mind, one of the most mysterious countries in the world. But by the time I left, I felt like I had peeled back just one small layer of it.