Visiting Benin Republic

I went back to Benin Republic in May after about 20 years and I was pleasantly surprised. Cotonou is more organised and cleaner than I remember it, the country sure has taken steps in the right direction. 

Street art somewhere in Cotonou

My friend, Mary, and I spent 5 days and 4 nights, a full itinerary was planned for us by our amazing host. 

The best host, trying on his hat straight from Nigeria!

On the day we arrived, we took it easy and spent time catching up. That continued into the next day which was a Friday, but in the evening we were whisked off to Club Kirikou where live music is the main event.

Visiting Algeria

Algeria, a country in North Africa, shares its borders with a few countries and the Mediterranean sea. The capital and largest city is Algiers, in the North, on the coast. Algiers is a hilly city with impressive architecture, were you to walk around, you would definitely get your steps in and stay fit with the incline.

A Summary of my Time in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Article written in French below....Ecrit en français ci-dessous après la version anglaise

Some words that describe the Democratic Republic of Congo for me are: chaotic, colourful, disorderly, vibrant and joie de vivre. Music would wake you up from early hours of the morning and accompany you through the day; be it gospel music or party tunes. And should you ever try to ‘bother’ a person about noise or order, you’d get the retort of “we are in Congo”.

Visiting Senegal? A few things to do

I visited Senegal last month after 10 years! I didn't remember so much about Dakar from the last time I visited, but the thing that struck me most in 2012 was the Gorée Island (île de Gorée) and I knew I had to go back.

Senegal is a small country in West Africa with a population of about 16 or 17 million. Largely on the coast, a good part of the population speaks Wolof, one of the national languages. Wolof and French are widely spoken.

The baobab tree and the lion are national symbols. While talking about boabab trees, someone made reference to how elders sit under baobab trees in rural areas and disputes get resolved under boabab trees. It obviously holds great significance and there are lots of these trees all over the country.

If you followed the Africa cup of Nations recently, you'll know that the team that won was the Lions of Teranga 😊

A baobab tree

Dakar, the capital of the country, has a nice vibe to it, it has a life of its own and there are lots of things to do. The night life is indeed night, as they start late, close to midnight (depending on the kind of fun you are looking for) and go on till morning. There is a wide range of restaurants, bars and hang out spots with live music. There is a beach area lined with exercise equipment already set up. You'll find people exercising there most times, the area is called La Corniche. 

In Dakar, the art scene is grand, from street art to graffiti, museums and the art village. The traffic is equally hectic so the colourful streets can keep you company while you get through. Have a look at  some of the street art I drove past:

Travelling in Rural Africa

One of the many adventures of living in a remote place is travelling. Since I've been in this line of work, I have appreciated the ease with which I could travel in normal times. Getting from point A to B now takes a lot of planning and consideration. To get out of Uvira, the town I am currently in, I have to travel for 3 hours to another town called Kamanyola, then cross the border to Rwanda to a town called Kamembe.    

Kamembe is a small town that has a national forest of 1020km2. There are two exit/entry points from the Democratic Republic of Congo into South Kivu : 1) Kamanyola, which is around 46km and around 1hour and 15 minutes from Kamembe airport and 2) Bukavu which is 20km from the Kamembe airport and about a 40 minute drive. Typically, I would spend the night in Kamembe then fly to Kigali the following morning. It is a 40 minute flight, but a 5 hour drive to Kigali where I can fly from. This option is more practical for me than going to the capital (Kinshasa) to access the international airport. It is equally a two day trip.

See my previous post about some of my first impressions of the DRC.

Meeting the Democratic Republic of Congo

I got to the airport early to avoid the rush. As I finally settled at the gate that was displayed on the screen, I got busy, killing time. At some point, it didn't seem right. The people at this gate all seemed too calm and quiet. I had 30 minutes before boarding time and decided to check again. I decided not to rely on the information on the screen and asked an airport staff. I was told that I was indeed at the wrong gate.

I rushed to find the right gate and as I approached, I knew these were the people I was looking for! Congolese people are vibrant, kind of like my fellow Nigerians. There were people speaking loudly, some overly dressed, which the Congolese are known for and of course they were disorderly. People had started lining up to make their way to the plane. The flight was smooth, then when the plane touched down, on cue, people started clapping. I did not understand how I felt, but I was actually shocked that so many people were clapping in sync. 

Discovering Ethiopia

I stayed in Ethiopia for three months last year and of course I took time to discover a bit. It is a beautiful country but I only had so much time, which I tried to make the best use of. Visit Ethiopia with me through this post...

Addis Ababa is the capital of the country. The capital is at an altitude of 2,355m above sea level

- Amharic is the official language and there are 10 regions in the country. Each region has its own language

- The population of Ethiopia is about 113 million

- The Orthodox Church is super strong there

- The country is GMT+3 (2 hours ahead of Nigeria)

Things To Do in Abuja

Spending the holiday season in Abuja? Contrary to what I've heard a few times, you have options of things to do create pleasant memories.

Abuja, a planned city, became the capital of Nigeria in December 1991. It is often referred to as the administrative capital. Some people tend to feel that there is a certain artificial aspect to it. I live in Abuja and I like the city. I think it is one of those cities that has some hidden gems worth exploring.

Abuja has 6 area councils: Abaji area council, Abuja Municipal Area council (AMAC), Bwari area council, Gwagwlada area council, Kuje area council and Kwali area council.

Here are a few activities you might want to try.

1) The National mosque

The foundation of the mosque was laid in 1982. It is one of the oldest buildings in Abuja and the biggest in Africa according to our guide. It can accommodate an estimated 15,000 worshippers. The architecture and construction were done by Italians, it was commissioned in 1991 and is located in the Central Business District (CBD).

In 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo visited and officially declared the mosque a national

monument.  

When we got in, we were directed to the Administrative block. There we were given the information above about the mosque and assigned a guide to show us around.

Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos

I visited Lekki Conservation Centre in 2014 but I hardly remember much from that visit. Maggie, suggested we visit last week and it was such good fun. 

The entire centre stands on about 78 hectares. It is open every day but on Mondays. To visit, you'll need to make a reservation online. We didn't know this, by the time we got to the gate, the guard asked if we had made a reservation. He insisted that we do before he let us in.

Visiting Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire

I visited the biggest Basilica in the world! Basilica of our Lady of Peace (Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix), Yamoussoukro. It is modelled based on the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican but is the tallest and biggest in surface area in the world.

It took three years to build, between 1986 and 1989 and was consecrated by Pope John Paul II.
36 companies were involved in building it, while the architecture and design was done by a Lebanese architect called Pierre Fakhoury.

The structure might not look so impressive from outside...

Anyway...

I have no need to care about how I look; how rough my cornrows are, or how oily my face is. There are no mirrors here anyway.

I should not be bothered much about the unsanitary conditions in which I have to live in certain villages, how I dread going around toilets or bathrooms. Who cares about cleanliness anyway.

I am probably worrying too much about a balanced diet looking for fruits and vegetables, when the only thing I find to eat here is meat and carbs. How many can afford to eat anyway.

In search of mangoes

I love mangoes, so naturally, I was pleased to see lots of them in Bangui when I arrived. They were also quite cheap. I had mangoes almost everyday for the few days I was in Bangui before my move to Bouar.
Since I got to Bouar, I haven't eaten mangoes to my satisfaction because I tried a few and they were not so great.
Growing up, we had about 5 mango trees around the house which produced different kinds of mangoes, two produced the same kind. Our neighbours had different ones which we gladly shared and there were names for all of them.

First impressions of Central African Republic

I didn't know what to expect but I remember that once upon a time I had told myself that if I were to be asked to work in this country, I would politely turn it down. I had heard such horror stories from refugees in 2016 while I worked in Cameroon, who lived through the worst things. At the time, I was offered a job in Bamabari (one of the hot spots in C.A.R) and I turned it down. I worked in a town called Bertoua close to the border of C.A.R so I worked with refugees from here.You can read about my time out there from this link

3 years later I found myself on my way to C.A.R despite my once upon a time resolve. A few people have asked me where the country is so this map should give an idea. You can also see where Bouar is on the map.

I expected to be in the capital but was told last minute at HQ that that would not be the case. I was already on my way! I had tried to prepare myself but after that news, I was quite disoriented.

On arrival in Bangui, I was smashed after such a long trip. I flew to Geneva from Abuja on Sunday through Istanbul. By Tuesday I was on my way to Bangui via Amsterdam and Nairobi. When I landed on Wednesday morning, all I wanted was a bed to sleep in.

How easy is it to travel around Africa?

I've noticed how a good number of African travellers seem to prefer travelling to other continents. For some time I did the same, especially because it was the easy way out. But as I've started travelling more around Africa, I have discovered that there is so much beauty to discover. 

Unfortunately, there are factors that stand in the way. I'll share my top four below.

1) Flight connections - getting from point A to B around Africa is a major challenge especially where the countries you are trying to visit do not have airlines that fly directly from the originating country. The flight connections between countries are quite challenging. A trip that should take a few hours can take an entire day in comparison to flying to any country in Europe. For instance, if I were to fly from Abuja to London or to Paris, I would be there in 6 hours. If I were to fly from Abuja to Tanzania, I could spend the whole day. I would have to fly to Addis Ababa, spend a few hours there before I get to Dar es Salaam. Not to talk of the ungodly hour that the flight arrives in Dar.

Around West Africa, connections are even more tricky. To get to Dakar from Abuja, Asky airlines is one option. It would take 7 hours or longer to get there as there is a stop over in Lomé, Togo. Another option would be to use Ethiopian airlines, so I would leave West Africa to the horn of Africa, then return to the West and this could take anything from 18 hours or more. How ridiculous is that?

Faith restored II

I wrote this post sometime in 2017 and somehow a few things have happened that have made me to write a follow up post.

We went by car from a town called Kibondo in Tanzania to Kigali, Rwanda. The driver in question had never been to Kigali so was not sure how to get there. The trip up to the Rwandan border was fine. The driver happens to be a restless man. He seems unable to allow things happen or allow people do things for him. He always wants to be in control. When we got to the border, he needed to do some paper work to be able to drive in Rwanda with a Tanzanian licence plate. He gave an agent the papers to process but just would not wait or let the agent do his work.

He ventured out on his own to get it done. In the end, he paid twice and wasted time going all over the place when we could have been on our way.

Mafia Island Tanzania

Does the name of the island bring anything to mind? My best friend could not stop laughing and kept teasing me about it.

According to Google, Mafia Island is part of Tanzania's Mafia Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean. Large swaths of the island's southern coastline and surrounding waters are protected by the Mafia Island Marine Park.

Bagamoyo, Tanzania

I am sure you have read so much about Zanzibar when it comes to travelling to Tanzania...I have spent the year here and have found different parts that deserve a lot of attention. This country is beautiful and there is infrastructure for tourism to thrive. When people ask me about travelling to Nigeria and West Africa, I tell them that there is a lot to do but we have some catching up to do compared to East African countries. West Africa is more about the culture and the people.

My latest discovery was a town called Bagamoyo. It is on the coast and is about 63km from Dar es Salaam.

Mtwara, Tanzania

I visited Mtwara this week and was pleased to discover this part of Tanzania.
Mtwara is in the South of Tanzania and it is far more developed than I imagined it would be.

If you have followed news on Tanzania recently, you may have seen that cashew nuts was in the news a lot. The nuts are mostly produced between Mtwara and Lindi. As we drove here, there were cashew trees all over. There are big cashew farms. Surprisingly, all the Tanzanians I was travelling with had never eaten cashew, only the nuts. Tanzania is one of the biggest producers of cashew nuts in Africa and it adds a percentage to their foreign exchange.

My first Safari in Kenya

Sometime in 2013, I went to Kenya for the first time. It was an exciting trip. The plan was to go on Safaris then end up on the coast.
I watched a film called 'The Ghost and the Darkness' recently and a flash of the Tsavo eaters story came back. I remembered that this was mentioned by Amani, our tour guide, at one of the parks but I don't know if I paid much attention to that story. This was a reminder that I hadn't written about my 2013 Kenya trip.

On the day we were to fly out of Abuja, we were sitting at the airport waiting for our flight when we saw the news of the West gate mall attack break. As frightening as it was, we were not going to change plans.

When we got to Nairobi, I stayed with my uncle and his family for 2 days in before leaving on Safaris.

It's been 5 years, my cousins are all grown up now

Beaches and snorkeling in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Please read my previous post on how the trip started 😊

While I was looking for a hotel, one of the things that caught my attention was the fact that the owner has a private boat and the reviews I saw talked of how much it was a delight to have a private boat which would provide the flexibility the guests needed.
I mentioned this to the other ladies and everyone was happy with it + there was a variety of options of things to do. Snorkeling was top on the list, then an evening boat ride to watch the sun set.

This watch tower was in between our hotel and the turtle aquarium

Our amazing guides