Alright, you have your tickets and itinerary  for Nigeria and you’re all excited for your trip. Time for a short briefing. If you’re booking one of our forest and wildlife expeditions, make sure you have everything you need. If you’re going on a trip which includes intensive hiking and boating you need to be prepared physically and mentally and have realistic expectations of the challenges that await you ahead.

Travel in Nigeria can be incredibly rewarding, fun and adventurous, but is also challenging and one has to be on his guard 24/7. You are going to a unique, very real place which is different from most places you have been to. Big cities such as Lagos and Abuja are starting to have comfortable secure hotels and there are many nice malls, restaurants and bars all over the city. If you can afford it you can also easily rent a nice SUV with your own personal driver.

Besides a few places and resorts, Nigeria still has very little tourism infrastructure and therefore you won’t always find the quality of service or the hotel and travel standards that you might be used to. Especially if you go on budget tours on buses, expeditions in the forest, long boat rides, dealing with authorities or even being stuck in the traffic for hours, the travel will be tiring and tough at times.

The daily life, traffic and general travelling are more difficult and challenging, expensive and unpredictable than most other places in Africa. Certain hotels, services and travels can be extremely expensive and one often has to deal with a lot of bureaucracy and corruption.

Although some cities and routes are generally ok and Nigeria is sometimes a bit better than some other African countries, you need to be prepared for cancelled flights, ferries and buses. Often roads are in bad conditions or vehicles break down. There are police and military blocks all over the country which can seriously delay your trips as well. Services often lack in quality and electricity black outs and lack of running water are frequent all over the country. Some places don’t have good cell phone reception, let alone decent internet connection. Serious rainfall and thunderstorms can also obstruct travel plans and transport.

Extortion, corruption and bribes are practised all over the country by officials and locals. Prices of accommodation, transport and food are among the highest in the continent, depending on the location. Accommodation and tourism value in Nigeria, though hugely expensive, never and cannot yield the same value as the selections and professional safari circuits for value-prices found in countries like Tanzania and South-Africa. Even though there are several Radisson Blu Hotels, Carlton and Sheraton, they are still not to standards like their sister hotels in other countries.

Having travel experience in countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, South-Africa or Ghana does not prepare you for this trip. Be mentally prepared for these local nuisances and challenges and possible minor or major plan changes. You always need to leave a few buffer days in your travel itinerary. We are not responsible for you missing your flight if you didn’t carefully plan your trip. We help you from point A to B, as described in the tour and the contract, but it’s up to you to make sure you are prepared to change your travel plans. Make sure you have good travel and personal insurance.

We don’t want to scare you and welcome you to come. It’s important you have realistic expectations. Besides the oil expats and business men, you will see no other tourists and have most of the country to yourself, see fascinating places, indulge in rich cultural experiences and have amazing encounters with locals.