Status of The Unseen Africa Kickstarter Project
Press Release
Man Traveling Nonstop to All 54 African Countries Over 4 Years
The Unseen Africa TV Series Announced on Africa Day on Kickstarter
May 25, 2014 - Agadez, Niger - To celebrate Africa Day adventure travel writer Francis Tapon is announcing the production of a new TV series called The Unseen Africa.
Tapon, who is traveling nonstop to all 54 African countries over four years, will host the show. In addition to capturing Africa's unseen parts, he plans to summit the tallest mountain of every African country.
The Unseen Africa will move beyond the standard images of Africa (war, wildlife, poverty, and pyramids). Instead, it will capture the everyday life of Africans and also show how 21st century Africa is different than how most Westerners imagine it.
Tapon said, "Besides going to unseen parts in Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa, we will go to African countries that rarely appear on TV such as Benin, Guinea Bissau, and Comoros."
To make the show's pilot episode, Tapon has created The Unseen Africa Kickstarter project, which aims to raise $20,000. The campaign launches May 25 and lasts 30 days.
Tapon started his African journey in Morocco and has spent the last year in West Africa. He plans to finish in North Africa in 2017. He has walked across America four times, written two travel books, and has visited nearly 100 countries.
Contacts
Public Relations: Zorica Loncar
Creator/Host: Francis Tapon
http://TheUnseenAfrica.com | http://Facebook.com/FTapon
http://Twitter.com/FTapon | http://Google.com/+FrancisTapon
Press Coverage of The Unseen Africa Kickstarter Project
Below is a list of the bloggers who have written about the project or where I've written a guest post. If you'd like to get on this list, write about the project and we'll add a link to your page!
- In an epic guest post on Everything Everywhere, I compare Gary Arndt's cruise ship travels along West Africa with my inland journey in West Africa.
- I wrote about the 9 Myths we have about West African in Nomadic Samuel top 10 travel blog.
- I wrote about crowdfunding your travels at Go Backpacking
- Ryan Jordan of Backpacking Light interviewed me.
- Vagabundo Magazine reveals my low point in the last 10 years.
- FoxNomad share my 4 lessons from traveling in West Africa.
- E-Tramping wants to know if I will ever settle down.
- Keep Calm and Travel pledges and explains why.
- Tripoto profiles me and The Unseen Africa.
- Wimdu, a competitor to AirBnB, covers The Unseen Africa.
- Backpacking legend Chris Townsend endorsed the project.
- Keith Foskett is also an author and long distance backpacker. He poses profound questions in his interview.
- Journey Wonders reveals how much one month of rent cost me in Dassa, Benin.
- Mapping Megan asks me what parts of Africa are unsafe.
- One Weird Globe breaks down the real cost of producing the pilot episode.
- The Culturist picks its Top 4 Kickstarter projects and The Unseen Africa makes the list.
- True Nomads asks me about the challenges of getting visas for 54 African countries.
- EuroTribe features an interview and features the video and widget on their homepage.
- A Week at the Beach shares about how the media sides "The Other Side of Africa"
- Great Big Scary World wants to correct negative African stereotypes.
- Nomad is Beautiful interviewed me about how trip idea came about.
- Canon Footprints reviews my 10-year plan to travel the world.
- The Gift of Travel asks me 10 questions.
- I did an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit.
- Romar Travel celebrates on Africa Day!
- Nicole Labarge covered the project too.
- The World Is Not That Big pledged and endorsed the project.
- Crowdfunding PR covers the press release.
Video and Audio podcasts
Bernie Wild at Practical Backpacking interviewed me. There's as bonus audio available about how you can finance your adventures.
Script Magazine highlighted us by featuring a 45-min video podcast that talks about the unseen parts about The Unseen Africa.
The Amateur Traveler's popular podcast discusses the Western Sahara and my journey there:
Extra Pack of Peanuts podcast:
Unseen Africa with Francis Tapon - This Week in Travel #166
Answering Critics
Perhaps the most common criticism I expect to receive will be, "But that's not unseen!"
They will elaborate in one or two directions from there by adding:
- "I've seen it!" - Some critics will say that they've seen some or all of what I show. Yes, when I declare it's unseen, I know some adventurous people will have seen it themselves. My point is that most tourists don't see it and the media rarely shows it.
- "How can you say it's unseen when Africans have seen it." This is similar to the argument that people say that it's wrong to say that Columbus "discovered" America, since the Native Americans discovered it 10,000 years before him. Yes, I know that local Africans have seen what I'm labeling as "unseen." Quit being such a wise-ass.
