Travelling West Africa
Travelling West Africa on Africa Overlanding trip – Meeting the locals

We visited many countries in Africa in 2019, particularly in the region of West Africa.

Travelling West Africa independently has many challenges. It takes time as the infrastructure isn’t great, and you need to be very patient.

In saying that, it’s certainly an adventure!

Here’s a recap of our journey of travelling in West Africa during this time.

Cabo Verde (Cape Verde)

We started off with an island nation that many haven’t heard about. It was great and at the time, it reminded us of Cuba.

Nice architecture, food that is full of flavour and easy days to explore the main island. Most travellers that go travelling West Africa don’t get out here, but it is worth it. 

Related Post – Where to Eat in Praia, Cape Verde

Read more about our experience in Cape Verde, view our Instagram post.

Mauritania

We said goodbye to our comforts and entered the dusty streets of this huge country. This felt like the real start of our travel West Africa adventure.

Our highlight was Couchsurfing in the capital and drinking plenty of tea with our Couchsurfing host and her local friends. The fish market was amazing too!

Related Post – Dusty Travel in Mauritania

Read more about our experience in Mauritania, view our Instagram post.

Mali

Timbuktu and Djenne are still high on our bucket list, but due to security we only got as far as Bamako. That’s the thing whenever you decide to go travelling in West Africa, there will always be places you can’t visit. Mali was great.

Colourful markets, an old train station and some very good times with our new friend. 

But it wasn’t so easy travelling through countries in Central Africa. We had to consider many factors to ensure our safety and avoid the very real threat of kidnapping.

Related Post – Travelling in Central Africa – Why are we moving faster?

Read more about our experience in Mali, view our Instagram post

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Burkina Faso

What a nice surprise. The capital Ouagadougou seemed more relaxed after Bamako and we got to see the Sindou Peaks, which reminded us of the Bungle Bungles in West Australia.

Who knew we will be travelling West Africa thoroughly before we travel West Australia. We had some great food and saw a baobab tree.

Related Post – Travelling in Burkina Faso – A Useful guide

Read more about our experience in Burkina Faso, view our Instagram post

Niger

There is no secret here, we loved Niger! Again our adventures were limited to Niamey and surrounding areas but we had a fantastic time. We ate some world-class brochettes here (marinated fillet beef on skewers), and visited markets and a cool bar at the river for sunset.

But the highlight was seeing the West African giraffes in the wild.

It could be advertising on why travelling West Africa is the destination for all wildlife lovers.

Read more about our experience in Niger, view our Instagram post

Senegal

Applying for many visas in Dakar wasn’t all that fun, but we had a lovely Airbnb host here. We ventured to the colonial town of St Louis and down to the beaches of Cap Skirring. We had some tiring travel days, but some yummy food too.

If you need to get some visas to continue travelling West Africa overland, this is a good place to get them.  

Related Post – Things to do in Saint-Louis, Senegal

Read more about our experience in Senegal, view our Instagram post

Guinea-Bissau

We didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived, but we found the colonial streets of Bissau quite charming. Sure, everything needed more than just a bit of TLC, but the food was tasty, the beer was cold and the people were laid back and friendly.

The place has character and we seem to enjoy destinations that were former Portuguese colonies.

We suggest you spend more time here when you plan travelling West Africa and how long to stay in each place.

Read more about our experience in Guinea-Bissau, view our Instagram post

The Gambia

The entry to this tiny country was far from ideal with corrupt officers requesting bribes. They didn’t succeed. You can read the whole story here, we can only laugh about it now.

But getting to the beach gave us the break we needed. With some live music, great fish dinners and sunsets on the beach we were ready to head further south.

Finding English speaking countries when you’re on the road travelling in West Africa always feels like a bonus.

Read more about our experience in the Gambia, view our Instagram post

Liberia

We flew into Liberia, and just like that, we entered tropical Africa. Our highlight was a visit to an old Ducor Hotel – once a true star of Africa now sits forgotten on top of the hill overlooking the capital.

Beers and sunset from the rooftop were epic.

We got to experience some fantastic Liberian food in the local eateries. So much flavour!

Our 8 favourite West African dishes are here.

Read more about our experience in the Liberia, view our Instagram post

Sierra Leone

The journey into Sierra Leone was a tough one – it took us two days to reach the capital with multiple breakdowns on tough unpaved roads. But it was worth it.

When you start travelling in West Africa, you’ll find the best beaches here.

And, we finally managed a visit to a national park.

Related Post – Where to stay in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Read more about our experience in the Sierra Leone, view our Instagram post

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Guinea

Guinea is the wild beast of West Africa. Everything is harder, tougher and takes even more time than elsewhere else.

Lucky for us, this part of travelling in West Africa was spent on an Africa Overlanding trip with Dragoman. You can compare all your options for group tours in West Africa on Tourradar.

Our bush camping at a local school became the night to remember. The entire village came to welcome us and since we didn’t have a common language, we decided to dance and sing. From Macarena to Hokey Pokey – it was the perfect way to communicate.

Read more about our experience in the Guinea ,view our Instagram post

Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)

Mountains in the north, the biggest church in Africa in its capital Yamoussoukro and some relaxing days spent on the beach. We could see some real development here, especially in the coastal city of Abidjan.

Naturally, when you travel West Africa overland, there will be a time you just want a cup of coffee in a nice cafe and a day to relax. We were able to do this on Ivory Coast.

Read more about our experience in the Ivory Coast, view our Instagram post

Ghana

Everyone told us you are going to love Ghana, and we did. Known as the “West Africa for beginners” it certainly offers everything you need as a traveller.

Slave forts to learn more about history, national parks, the chilled Volta region and Accra sure knows how to do nightlife well.

If you’re not sure that you’re ready to set off travelling West Africa, come to Ghana for the first taste of it and then decide.

Related Post – Travelling through Ghana – You’re Ghana love it!

Read more about our experience in Ghana, view our Instagram post

Togo

We rolled into the capital city of Lome and found an industrial city which we weren’t expecting. Instead, we headed north into the mountains for some hiking and waterfalls.

We also spent a few days on the beach, but the currents are too strong here to swim.

Benin

The country that is known for Voodoo seems to pack a lot in. We learned more about the Dahomey kingdoms in the north, saw a Voodoo ceremony and rediscovered slavery routes in Ouidah.

After our beach days, we hung out in Cotonou where a friend hosted us while we waited for our Nigeria visa to be approved.

Read more about our experience in Benin, view our Instagram post

Nigeria

Our final country in West Africa. Travelling West Africa has been a crazy adventure by this stage and we were ready to reach this point. It wasn’t easy getting to Nigeria due to delays with our visa, but once we rolled into Lagos we found the people to be the main thing to remember. 

Great food and coffee were easy to find although not cheap and we visited a very cool gallery here as well.

Related Post – Is it safe to walk around in Lagos, Nigeria

Read more about our experience in Nigeria, view our Instagram post

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Travelling independently in West Africa isn’t very easy. In fact, we think this is the hardest region in the world to see, at least from our experience it has been. But in saying that, it’s rewarding for those who dare.

It’s best to be well prepared and do as much research as you can before you go. 

If independent travel in West Africa is something you’re not prepared to do, then another option is to join one of the Africa Overlanding companies.

We suggest searching Tourradar for the multiple tour options that best suit your travel plans.

Travelling West Africa
Sand dunes in Niger.

Are you planning on travelling in West Africa? Did you find this blog helpful? Let us know in the comments below.

Travel Tips for Africa

If you made it this far, you are most likely interested in visiting this fascinating region of Africa. It’s essential to read our 17 ESSENTIAL Things to Know Before Travelling to West Africa.

In this post, we share our advice and tips (some of them gained the hard way at times from travelling West Africa). 

Consider getting the Lonely Planet West Africa Guidebook. We used this frequently during our Africa Overlanding trip and, in general, to help us travel West Africa.

Our Ultimate Packing List for Africa is essential for travelling West Africa. This list is what we carried with us on our journey, not only to travel to West Africa but to travel to every country in the world.

You can read our best travel tips from more than 20 years of travel for more helpful information, and our Travel Resources Page on this website is where you can really find ways to save money to travel longer.