2027 travel plans

[Scarlett]

2027 is starting to firm up a little.

I’ll be studying for probably six months of the year and then the other half is still TBA. The study part looks firmer for the first half of the year, so now I need to consider broad plans for maybe two months in the second half, if I can get time away from work.

Do you reckon I could fit coastal West Africa sensibly into the second half of next year somewhere? Anyone even been somewhere there and have the key tips (avoid monsoon etc)…

Cameroon (Yaounde or Douala area?)
Nigeria (probably Abuja)
Benin
Togo
Ghana
Côte d’Ivoire
Liberia

Is that complex enough or should I try to get over to Equatorial Guinea as well?

Overland travel looks ‘sporty’ so maybe flying between each would actually be easier? And before anyone suggests it, who needs a beach resort in Aitutaki when you can have chaotic cities and malaria!

 

[Warks]

2027 is starting to firm up a little.

I’ll be studying for probably six months of the year and then the other half is still TBA. The study part looks firmer for the first half of the year, so now I need to consider broad plans for maybe two months in the second half, if I can get time away from work.

Do you reckon I could fit coastal West Africa sensibly into the second half of next year somewhere? Anyone even been somewhere there and have the key tips (avoid monsoon etc)…

Cameroon (Yaounde or Douala area?)
Nigeria (probably Abuja)
Benin
Togo
Ghana
Côte d’Ivoire
Liberia

Is that complex enough or should I try to get over to Equatorial Guinea as well?

Overland travel looks ‘sporty’ so maybe flying between each would actually be easier? And before anyone suggests it, who needs a beach resort in Aitutaki when you can have chaotic cities and malaria!

I have no info to offer but wow. I've never heard of anyone in recent years actually wanting to travel to West Africa with a few exceptions like Mali and Mauritania. I travelled overland from Kenya to South Africa when I was younger, almost exclusively in old British Empire countries where English was common and that was hard enough (1990). West Africa was another world then. I did meet a guy who had done Morocco to South Africa in the mid 80s though and was back in Uganda with his wife to show her around.
Good luck! I admire your ambition and hope it goes well!

 

[PKMT]

I am looking at doing a couple of footy trips after enjoying myself heading to Sydney for the Kings Birthday long weekend.

 

[Siebert]

The solar eclipse cruises are making me rethink my own travel priorities. Combining a trip you already wanted to do with a rare event like that seems like a pretty smart way to justify the booking.

 

[RooFlyer]

Do you reckon I could fit coastal West Africa sensibly into the second half of next year somewhere? Anyone even been somewhere there and have the key tips (avoid monsoon etc)…

You could add in Burkina Faso, if for no other reason you could say you've been to the capital, Ouagadougou. I went there in 2011 and its pretty stable -and yes, Google tells me that it has a golf course!

Abidjan (ditto 2011) I think you'll find yourself behind walls of some rather nice French resorts. Try hard to get to the (new-ish) capital Yamoussoukro. The basilica they built there was going to be higher than St Peter's at the Vatican, until some stern words from the Pope at the time. A bizarre building and a shameful waste of resources.

Ghana is probably the most west-exposed of the countries. Try to get down to the SW 'Gold Coast, like Takoradi and the slave forts.

I drove round Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Burkina in several trips 2000-2011 but nowadays I think I'd take a driver for local travel. Definitely air travel between the countries! Driving in rural areas outright dangerous without someone experienced organising/driving.

The solar eclipse cruises are making me rethink my own travel priorities. Combining a trip you already wanted to do with a rare event like that seems like a pretty smart way to justify the booking.

Check the actual itineraries and how complete the eclipse will be. I checked a couple and its maybe a 50% eclipse where they will be.

 

[Scarlett]

You could add in Burkina Faso, if for no other reason you could say you've been to the capital, Ouagadougou. I went there in 2011 and its pretty stable -and yes, Google tells me that it has a golf course!
<snip>
I drove round Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Burkina in several trips 2000-2011 but nowadays I think I'd take a driver for local travel. Definitely air travel between the countries! Driving in rural areas outright dangerous without someone experienced organising/driving.

If you’re going to make the effort to get to Ouagadougou, shouldn’t you also make the effort to get to Timbuktu in Mali?

I do like the suggestion of adding Burkina Faso as it is very close to the destinations I have in mind. AND, I have to go there anyway at some stage (cf. golfclub-ouaga.com). The thing is, then I should do the same in other adjacent countries and consider getting to N’Djamena in Chad. Perhaps some time reading SmartTraveller and then breaking up West Africa into two reasonable trips is the best start. (I also want to get to Sierra Leone, Gambia, Gabon, The Congos… too many places and too little time!)

Thanks for the suggestions on some interesting places for an itinerary. That Basilica looks strange being located sort of out by itself. Also, the idea of taking a local driver/tour would definitely be the plan. One of the great things about the modern internet-enabled society is that even in some of the less travelled parts of the world it is now much easier to plan how to get around with greater certainty.

 

[Tiki]

I backpacked all over West Africa in the mid 90's Lonely Planet style. Old school! It was an amazing experience and I made it to Timbuktou! We went to Ghana about 8 years ago for birding, just flew into Accra and went to a couple national parks with hired drivers which was amazing. We took a bus to Cape Coast and then hired car to Kakum National Park. Guides are hanging around at the entrance and I chose one who seemed more knowledgeable about birds.