My West Africa Coast Road Trip Experience

One of the things I have had on my bucket list is to take a road trip through the coast of West Africa starting from Nigeria all the way to Senegal. I have thought about it and talked so much about it, all that was left was to 'just do it'.

As time went on and it was becoming difficult to implement it the way I thought, I decided to scale down the plan and execute in two phases.

First phase was to fly into Ghana and go via road to and from Accra to Cote D'Ivoire and then fly back to Nigeria. (I have done Nigeria-Ghana return via road a few years ago). Then the second phase was to fly into Côte d'Ivoire and go via road to and from Senegal and then fly back to Nigeria.

For the first phase of the trip, I planned to travel to Togo from Accra, and then go back to Accra, on to Abidjan, Yamoussoukro, back down to Abidjan and finally to Accra where I planned to fly back to Lagos from.

Though I am happy I finally got to do what I'd wanted for so long, I am not sure it is an experience I will be quick to repeat. Don't get me wrong; for the most part the roads are good and you can get comfortable air-conditioned buses with entertainment provided to make the pass the long hours. However the border crossings are a totally different matter.

To put it in perspective, these countries are all ECOWAS member states and yet the experience passing through the borders from one country to another makes one think there is no relationship between these countries.

My worst experience by far was at the Cote D'Ivoire border with Ghana. At the Ghana side of the border, things moved very swiftly and seamlessly. But as soon as we were done, the first shock I received was that since I was traveling with a Nigerian virgin passport (virgin translated to mean first time I was passing that border into Côte d'Ivoire even though I had previously visited Côte d'Ivoire), I was required to pay FCFA 10,000 (equivalent to ~$16). This money was collected from everyone traveling with a virgin passport (see definition of virgin above) issued by Nigeria, Mali, Senegal and Guinea. Also I was informed that this money will apply every time I renew my passport as a new passport booklet returns me to the 'virgin' status.

Also at this border our suitcases were taken down from the vehicle and searched 100%. I was also given an unsolicited injection for meningitis which I also had to pay for. In all we spent over two hours at the Côte d'Ivoire side of the border just trying to gain entry into the country.

Suffice to say I will not be returning to that border anytime soon. I had planned to go back by road but the trauma of my first attempt was more than I could bear and so I had to make alternative arrangements to return home.

For the 2nd part of my West Africa coast tour, I hope to go by road from Cote D'Ivoire to Senegal. Fingers crossed this will be a better experience.