Uganda’s Jessica Nabongo is the first black woman to visit all 195 countries in the world. Only a hand few have visited all 195 countries and very few women are included on the list. No African woman or largely African has done it before. Jessica Nabongo will be the first.
Nabongo, whose Ugandan parents emigrated to the United States, was born in the Detroit City of Michigan state. She uses both her Ugandan and American passports.
Having started traveling at the age of six, Nabongo who is now 35, made history last year when she arrived in the last country on her list, Seychelles.
The traveling entrepreneur used her Instagram account to share her experience and tip her followers who have a desire to venture out of their comfort zones. Nabongo, who traveled to Seychelles with over 50 friends and family, took to social media to thank her community of followers.
‘‘So much to say but for now, I will just say thank you to this entire community for all of your support. This was our journey and thanks to all of you who came along for the ride!!’‘
Nabongo only decided to take on the goal of visiting all the countries in the world in 2017. At the time, she had traveled to 60 countries. She has consequently visited 135 countries in just two and a half years after.
Nabongo’s journey across the world has not been without awesome experiences on the African continent, from visiting her family in Uganda to experiencing unexpected kindness in South Africa, and a trip in Mali that started out as terrible and ended up being a fantastic experience.
The cultural ambassador who is changing the travel narrative was in Cameroon recently, where she had a “bite” of why the Central African nation is regarded “Africa in miniature.”
She, however, took to her social media account criticizing the impossible immigration procedure she was subjected to, describing it as “easily one of the worst experiences I’ve had with immigration.”
According to her, ‘Most countries weren’t hard to get into, as long as you find a local contact and get the visa. What I will say is that some regions are more challenging logistically, like the South Pacific.
It’s difficult to find flights to some of the smaller countries without circling back to Fiji or Australia.’
Jessica was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan to Ugandan parents and attended St. John’s University in New York, where she earned her undergraduate degree in English literature.
In just a few years after college, she started (and ended) a career in pharmaceutical sales, moved to Japan to teach English, and completed a graduate degree at the London School of Economics.
In 2015, she established Jet Black, a travel firm that focuses on tourism in Africa, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
Yes, you’re a real African a resistance species, a hand working woman.thank for making Africa proud. From Nigeria