A few years ago, I did my first round through West Africa, visiting Senegal, Gambia, the Guineas, Cabo Verde, etc. It was a tough trip in many ways. I was in the process of starting a new remote job, was traveling with an idiot, and I was sick of being hassled. It took me a long time before I was willing to go for round two, but I’m glad I finally got the courage up to do it! 

The trip officially began in Chad, where I did a two-week camping trip in the Sahara, and then Nigeria, where I spent 10 days city-hopping between Lagos, Abuja, and Kano. They were completely different experiences, but wonderful in their own ways. (Blog posts to come, I promise!) In Lagos, I met up with a friend and we began the next leg of the trip together, embarking on an unforgettable border crossing that included 5 hours in a tiny canoe, lots of border guards, and way too much sun. 

Benin

We arrived in Porto Novo in the mid-afternoon from Lagos, hot, sweaty, and slightly miserable after a five-hour boat ride in a glorified canoe.  Our guide, JC, and one of our fellow travelers met us at the ferry port.  With the help of our guide, we discovered that there was no place to get our passports stamped. Our guide told us not to worry, there would be another place to do it on the way to Cotonou. We did a quick tour through town and then made our way up to the Black River, completely unaware of the drama that would ensue a few hours later. The river was nice and quiet, and after about 15 minutes of gliding along in a small canoe, we arrived at a tiny village where you could try palm oil wine and liquor. There was some other stuff to see but at that, I was getting a bit stressed about time and wanted to get to Cotonou as soon as possible.

As we drove along, it became more and more clear that we were running very, very late, despite what our guide kept telling us. I had a work call at 7 p.m. that night, and as the minutes went by, I started getting even more stressed out. We made it to the border,r where we were told that we could get stamped in and unsurprisingly, no one knew what to do with us. We were directed from one person to the next, wandering around in circles, trying to figure out what to do. We finally found the right place to get stamped in but, of course, they didn’t want to do it because we hadn’t left Nigeria at that same border crossing. More chaos ensued and I had no choice but to do a work call in the no-man’s land between Nigeria and Benin.  As I sat there talking to my clients about their digital marketing strategy, my fellow travelers were navigating through this sticky immigration situation on my behalf. We eventually were stamped out of Nigeria again and then stamped into Benin. 

This disorganization and chaos was just the first taste of what would happen over the next few days. Our tour guide was amazing and did his best to try and troubleshoot each situation that came up, but no matter what he did, West Africa would find a way to win again. 

Cotonou and Ganvie

We spent the next morning exploring Cotonou, a surprisingly modern city with some amazing street art, a gargantuan statue of an Amazon warrior, and a lovely string of embassies that make it seem like the perfect spot to snag a bunch of visas for anyone overlanding through West Africa. While we didn’t spend a huge amount of time there, I certainly liked it enough to want to return if flight paths/layovers ever allowed it.

During our stay there, we also spent a few hours in Ganvie, a fascinating little city built on stilts over Lake Nokoue. There, people make a living through agriculture and a thriving town full of shops, restaurants, bars, and more. It’s very touristy but gave a really interesting look into what life is like in a “water city”.

Ouidah 

From Cotonou, we drove to Ouidah, a charming little colonial town that happens to be home of the voodoo festival. I was expecting to see a few local ceremonies and traditions put on in different neighborhoods but what I found was a massive event full of sparkly signs and crowd control but included surprisingly few actual ceremonies or activities. The ones that were put on started very late, and although very interesting, didn’t seem worth the time and effort to get there. 

For me, the highlight of the festival was a concert at the beach where bands played Afrobeats to a chilled-out crowd. It was a very laid-back experience where everyone just seemed to be enjoying their time there. Unfortunately, when we went back the second night, there was very little music and only a group of dancers up on the stage that seemed like it was a million miles away. The crowd was enormous, especially in the food court and bar area. Of course, there was nothing to eat that didn’t have meat in it, and even when I asked for a cheese sandwich at the panini stand, they told me it wasn’t possible. (They were making cheese and chicken, cheese and ham, and cheese and beef paninis at the time, but apparently making one without meat was just mind-blowingly difficult). By the end of the night, I was hungry and grumpy and just wanted the day to end. 

Abomey

After two nights in Ouidah, we did a short day trip to Abomey. Known as the City of Kings, Abomey boasts an endless string of mudbrick palaces, each built by one of the city’s long list of past kings. It was interesting to see the palaces but we were all pretty exhausted by that point and not overly interested in hearing long explanations about the history of symbolism of the decor. We managed to cut our palace visits short and used the time to go to the Chameleon Temple. Hidden in a small village surrounded by forest, the temple was fittingly built in the shape of a giant chameleon. Inside, there is a worship/social area that kind of reminded me of a town hall.

Next to the Chameleon Temple, there was another voodoo temple that you entered through a giant jaguar mouth complete with fangs and a tongue. We made sure that we had plenty of time to take photos of these Insta-worthy spots before starting the two-hour drive back to Ouidah. There wasn’t much to see on the way besides some dusty villages, and most of us slept at least part of the way back.

When we arrived, our guide happily handed us off to a taxi driver who would be taking us to Grand Popo, a beach “town” located on the Togo border. In reality, it is a string of small buildings and a handful of beachfront hotels located on a long and slightly depressing stretch of road that leads to the border. When we arrived, the receptionist claimed that there was no reservation and tried to charge us 50% more per room. Even after showing her that the same price of room price that we had booked was still available on their website, she still refused to budge. Finally, we booked on Booking.com for a slightly higher rate and forced them to honor it. In true West African fashion, it took two hours to get dinner in the hotel restaurant that night, and when my cheese pizza finally arrived, it had tuna on it, and I had to send it back. It felt like the perfect end to our Benin trip, and I was counting down the hours until we could cross the border to Togo.

Togo 

We left Grand Popo early the next morning to head to Lome. The border crossing was pretty straightforward, although we did have to go from one window to the next as they checked our passports, visas, yellow fever cards, etc. One girl had forgotten to print her visa and didn’t have a copy of it saved on her phone. Luckily, she was able to hotspot from my phone, email herself her visa from her computer, and then open it on her phone. After this, they finally let her pass.  As soon as we crossed the border, we were approached by a taxi driver who offered to drive us to Lome for roughly $50. We told him $25 and he agreed, and within a few minutes, we were on our way.

Our driver ended up speaking a decent amount of English and gave us a mini tour of the country as we zoomed along the main “highway” towards Lome. There wasn’t a huge amount to see besides a few interesting old colonial buildings, a long stretch of factories, and the occasional sneak peek of the ocean. We arrived in Lome in the early afternoon, checked into our hotel, and immediately went to an Indian restaurant where I ate as much vegetarian food as possible.

After lunch, we did a bit of sightseeing and went to see the National Museum (which turned out  to be under renovation) and Independence Monument (which was also closed off by a huge barrier fence. We tried to take photos and got yelled at by security guards. We continued our walk back through the busy Grand Marche, where you could buy whatever cheap Chinese products took your fancy, and then took a tuk-tuk to some beachfront bars where we spent the rest of the evening drinking beer and people-watching. It was nice to relax after a pretty stressful trip through Benin.

The next morning, we got an early start to go visit the Fetish Market. Located on the outskirts of town, this small market sells assorted body parts and various voodoo essentials. I was pretty grossed out by all the dead animals and sat a bit off to the side while the rest of my group took photos. The whole place also felt like a major tourist trap as they charged a hefty admission price and it was only tourists, no locals at all were shopping there. After we were done looking at the carcasses of dead animals and having a “voodoo priest” trying to sell us overpriced rocks and bits of trees that could be used in rituals, we got a taxi back to the beach, where we had lunch at one of the restaurants. We relaxed for a bit before I headed back to the hotel to start a night of work. 

Ghana

Early the next morning, we got a taxi to the border, which is just a short 10-minute drive away. The border formalities were annoying and tedious, but relatively straightforward. We had another driver lined up on the other side of the border who drove us all the way to Accra. The drive took a few hours but luckily, we arrived in the city before dark. I was able to get a SIM card and grab dinner before heading to the hotel. After spending the past week in Francophone countries, I was really happy to be back in an English-speaking place, even if it was just for a few days. 

Cape Coast

The next morning, we left Accra to head to Cape Coast, the colonial capital of Ghana. Although the city has a handful of historic buildings, the big draw here is two sprawling forts/castles built by a series of colonial powers, Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle. The castles are perched right along the coastline, creating plenty of opportunities for amazing photos, but I’ll get more into that later!

 The other major draw is Kakum National Park, which lies about an hour’s drive north of Cape Coast. This was our first stop where we did a canopy walk amongst the treetops of the national park. Much like in Lagos, I was terrified and immediately began regretting my life’s decisions the moment my feet touched the wobbly wooden planks that held the sky bridges together.  As we descended higher and higher, I began to like the experience less and less until it was finally time to start descending again. I got a few photos for posterity’s sake and was grateful to get back in the car to continue on to Elmina Castle.

Up until this point, I knew very, very little about Ghana’s history except that a) they speak English, so b) they must have been a British colony at some point. This turned out to be accurate, but there were quite a few steps along the way as the territory was passed around from one European country to another. This instability is what created the sprawling “castles” that served as massive forts for whatever country was ruling the area at the top, which were to be amended as necessary. As a result, the castles feel almost like a hodgepodge of buildings joined together. It also made them really, really cool to wander around, and I happily ditched the rest of the group to explore every nook and cranny of them. That night, we stayed at the Paradise Ocean Resort hotel, which I highly recommend before beginning the long drive back to Accra. The rooms were cheap and huge, with AC that actually worked. 

The next morning, we made our way back to Accra and did a quick sightseeing tour with our guide before heading back to our hotel on the outskirts of town. The rest of the group left early the next day, so I decided to spend the day exploring Accra on my own and was very pleasantly surprised at how organized AND laid-back everything was.  I stopped and had coffee as I walked around the modern area of the city, and then walked over to James Town, the oldest part of town. Here, I found some cool old colonial buildings as well as another historic fort. I assumed that this one would be like a smaller version of the ones that I had seen at Cape Coast, but when I stepped inside, everything felt weird and I immediately felt ill at ease. I began to walk around and one of the staff members came up to me. I asked him a few questions about the history of the building. It turns out that it used to be a jail until very recently and that it was the place of a very miserable existence for thousands of men. The creepy feeling I got there suddenly made sense, and I rushed through the ad hoc tour and got out of there as fast as I could. 

I walked around the neighbourhood a little longer before stopping quickly at a dive bar for a beer and then heading back to the hotel before dark. I still had a lot of work to do that night and an early flight to catch the next morning. 

Ivory Coast

After the joy and relaxation of Ghana, I landed with a thud back into Francophone Africa when my plane touched down in Abidjan. I had a shuttle booked through the hotel, and upon arrival, the “receptionist” asked me to sit outside his office, sweating profusely on a sticky couch while he sat inside with some dude in the air conditioning. It took 20 minutes to get checked in as he was painfully slow, but I eventually made it up to my way-too-expensive room.

Next up was a trip to Orange to buy a SIM card. When I arrived, they insisted on me getting a ticket even though there was no one else there. In order to get a ticket, you needed to put in a local phone number, which I clearly didn’t have. This frustration went back and forth with the gatekeeper until someone finally saw sense and put in their own phone number so I could at least get the stupid ticket.  I managed to buy a SIM card after watching the salesgirl waddle around the store in circles like a confused duck while clutching my passport. Of course, the SIM card didn’t work until the following morning,g but I was luckily able to stop in another Orange shop while I was walking around and download a map of Abidjan so I could at least find my way back to my hotel again that evening. 

I checked out the rest of the downtown area and found the buildings and a complete lack of a cohesive architectural style fascinating. In a search for my celebratory new country beer, I managed to find a riverfront bar that featured a cool little garden full of whimsical statues. I was immediately served an ice-cold, and much-needed, beer, but was then ignored completely when I tried to get another one despite the numerous staff members walking by me. 

The saving grace of the day was a fantastic pizza joint that I went to with my fellow traveler, whom I had met there. It tasted like it was straight out of Italy, and I dove headfirst into it, thrilled to be having decent food in Francophone West Africa.

The next morning, my travel buddy and I hopped on a bus to Yamoussoukro, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire. Although we had been told that there wasn’t really anything at all there, we were interested in seeing the self-proclaimed largest cathedral in the world. Why this enormous church was built in this teeny-tiny capital city is anyone’s guess, but I would bet money that it was somehow related to some form of corruption or money laundering. 

The bus ride took around 3 hours and wasn’t anywhere as bad as I thought it would be. (Word of advice to all other fellow tall travelers – My travel buddy and I paid for two seats, which was basically the only way that I would have been able to sit in the seat).  We stayed the night there and then took a bus back to Abidjan in the morning.

On the way back into the city, we decided to hop off the bus and take an Uber to Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast’s dilapidated, yet charming, beach town. It felt like walking into another world after the weird hustle and bustle-ness of Abidjan and the emptiness of Yamoussoukro.

Liberia

We landed in Monrovia and took the long taxi ride from the airport to the city. It was uneventful and boring, but things started looking up when we entered the colorful city. I was thrilled to be out of Francophone Africa and back into the English-speaking world for the next few days. We had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant, enjoying vegetarian-friendly food that didn’t take 3 hours to prepare, and then went out to explore the town a bit more before bed. 

The next day, we were back on the town, visiting the handful of attractions that they have there. I ventured out on my own for part of the day, walking through some of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods as well as some of the slum-like places. It was fascinating to see the different neighborhoods, and I felt very safe the entire time.

The next day, I took a flight back to the Ivory Coast. Most people I had talked to before going to Liberia told me that there wasn’t much to see and not to spend much time there. When I went, it was impossible to get a sticker visa for the Ivory Coast even after visiting the embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. As a result, overlanding wasn’t an option as they didn’t take e-visas at the border. In retrospect, I wish I had been able to spend more time in Liberia and see more of the country. 

Burkina Faso – Bobo & Ouaga

After leaving Monrovia, I spent one night in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, before taking a flight to Bobo, Burkina Faso, the next day. I had been trying to organize a tour from afar, but was being quoted very high prices. The guides were also very pushy, and I felt like they were trying to “force” me into booking an expensive tour. I also wasn’t sure what the safety situation would be like when I got ther,e so I decided to just show up and see what it was like on the ground. I was a little nervous flying there since Burkina Faso doesn’t have the best reputation, but I crossed my fingers and toes, hoping that everything would be ok. 

In reality, I didn’t need to worry. I stayed at the Hotel L’Auberge in Bobo for 3 nights at $50 a night and was picked up at their airport by their free shuttle.  The hotel was a cute little colonial-style hotel owned by a cranky old Lebanese woman. The place was as old school as they come, and it looked like it hadn’t been renovated since 1954. I immediately fell in love with the place. 

The hotel shuttle driver doubles as a tour guide, so I worked out a deal with him that he would take me to Sindou and Banfora on a day trip for 70,000 CFA ($110), including gas. I would then pay for the activities separately (waterfall, pics, domes, and hippo lake), which added about $25 more.  We left at 7 a.m. and got back at 7 p.m. so it was a full day, but nothing felt crazy rushed. Along the way, I got to see spectacular rock formations, swim underneath a gushing waterfall, and even go on a boat ride to see hippos!

I also spent one day wandering around Bobo, paying roughly $10 to go into the mosque and for a tour of the old city.  I felt safe everywhere I went. People were friendly and would try their best to understand me despite my lack of French. Even better, the men were very well behaved and there was no cat-calling or harassment. It was a very interesting little city and I felt completely safe walking around by myself. 

The total price for Bobo, Banfora, Sindou, and the bus to Ouaga was roughly $300, including accommodation. In comparison, one of the tour guides was quoting $300 for an overnight trip from Bobo to Banfora that didn’t include accommodation or gas. Another guide quoted $640 for a 5-day trip from Ouaga to Bobo, etc, by public transport (no accommodation included). I saved a lot of money and had a wonderful day trip, so it was definitely worth DIY-ing it. 

I took the 7:30 a.m.bus with Elitis Express to Bobo. It left right on time and took about 6.5 hours. The bus was almost empty with comfy seats. I am really tall and couldn’t quite fit in the normal seats so I managed to get the seat right above the back door, which had a bit more space. I made it to Ouaga with no serious problems. I spent the next day walking around the city, getting yelled at for taking photos. The city somehow felt built up and completely rural at the same time with a curious combination of tall buildings and sandy streets. There wasn’t a huge amount to see but I did manage to get my hands on some great Indian food! After one day, I decided I had had enough and booked a last minute flight on Ethiopian to my next destination.