West Africa

cfitz

I'd like to visit a country in West Africa. I've done a reasonable amount of independant travel, the only African countries I've visited are Morocco and Egypt. Some of the advice I see for West African countries says things like get taxis at night time, don't walk the beaches alone at any time etc. I reckon I can look after myself, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy a city where you couldn't walk around after dark.
I felt quite safe in Cairo, and more safe in Marrakech than I would in some European cities. So, can anyone here who has been to West Africa, recommend some cities where there isn't a significant safety issue?

Thanks very much!

Stoned Hippy

I drove down to Mali last year from Ireland.

We spent a few days in Dakar, staying in a hostel (read brothel) in the centre of town. Dakar has a relatively bad reputation from what i've read.

We walked around the city centre late at night and never felt threatened. Having said that my friends' passport was taken from his pocket which caused some fairly serious hassle. Didn't feel threatened but were robbed, how does that option sound :rolleyes:?

I felt safer than in other African cities that I know considerably better like Johannesburg and Nairobi. Thinking about it I may have only felt safer because I didn't have friends there (like in Kenya and S.A.) who told me of the dangers.

Innocence is bliss?

cfitz

Hmmm, not all that reassuring, but I suppose you lived to tell the tale Where in Mali did you stay? I was thinking of maybe trying one of the lower populated cities rather than the capital cities - coz I've been looking at Cotonou, Accra, Dakar, Freetown, and they all sound a bit mad.

Stoned Hippy

Freetown, now there's an interesting place i'd say!

We didn't stay in Mali, just sold the car at the border and headed back to Dakar. I'd have loved to have continued on into Mali but my friend had run out of time and money.

You seem to be focusing on cities? I really hope you're not planning on visiting just one city? I don't think i've ever been to a city in Africa that wasn't an absolute s***e hole. For me they're just necessary stopovers and hubs to the more interesting rural parts of the country.

cfitz

Yeah you might be right about the cities - it's just that recently I've spent a week in a village in Transylvania and a few days in a village in the Atlas mountains and the lack of variety/things to do/places to eat can get frustrating. Perhaps the trick is to keep moving...

Freetown would be interesting, and it seems like if you just travel a little bit out of the city, it's quite beautiful. Maybe I could spend a few days in the city, a few days on the coast, and then move on to the next country. It'd be a bit sad though if I came back all I had to say about the place was: "Yeah, I went to Freetown, it's mad", ''Cool, what did you do there?", "Mostly sat in my hotel and got a taxi 200 metres down the road to go to the restaurant".

Stoned Hippy

Different people have different opinions on travel, my sister is all about back packing on public transport moving between places, my ex girlfriend would prefer to stay in one city and really get to know one place well and I prefer to self drive (when possible) and try to see a few out of the way places. All have their respective merits and disadvantages.

I've only been to West Africa one even from that one trip I came away feeling that the diversity in both people, landscape and culture could keep you interested for quite some time! I definately plan to go back.

I reckon on matter where you go you'll find fascinating, for good or for bad!

Check out my (crap) webpage here specifically my report on my trip down to Senegal (http://www.itsalongwaytotipperary.net/?page_id=18) and don't judge too harshly!!

cfitz

That's a great report, sounds like a deadly trip. Morocco is a great place to drive. I drove from Marrakech to M'hamid and back, from Agadir to Tan-Tan and back via Sidi Ifni, and from Marrakech to Bou-Goumez valley and back. Marrakech is the best place to drive until you tire of getting lost! I'm going to Namibia too, so that should be interesting as well. The stuff about the border-crossings does put me off going from one country to the next though - do you not get nervous when they start looking for bribes etc?

Stoned Hippy

Morocco was fantastic alright. My parents were just in Namibia, loved it. I definately plan to make it there soon.

We only had problems crossing the border because we had an old car with us, people who either had newer cars or none at all had no problems.

Crossing borders and paying bribes (unfortunately) is one unavoidable part of the experience I guess. That day we spent getting into Senegal will stay with me for quite some time and always puts a smile on my face when I think about it!

I didn't feel nervous offering money at all as it's just such an accepted thing. Some travellers get very snotty and say that one should never pay bribes under any circumstances as it leads to even more corruption. However both in my experience and in books from very experienced travellers i've read a lot of the time the bribes that the officials collect from locals and foreigners alike are their sole income and are absolutey necessary to keep them in the job as the government simply can't/won't pay them.

Quint

I was in Accra for a month last year and couldn't recommend it highly enough. Seriously friendly people and most people know english. Strangely enough, they don't speak it (to each other), but they write it, every sign is english! There's a nice beach there at Labadi beach near the 5 star hotel. Traveling to other towns or citys is dead handy and easy from the tro-tro depo. Piss cheap too. Accra is very safe too, no problem walking around the city centre at night on your own, it's generally reguarded as the safest capital in Africa. There's a bit of nightlife there too, lots of bars and a few nightclubs. All the nightclubs are full of prostitutes though. I stayed in a guesthouse for about a tenner a night, (Hansonic Hotel) which was the same standard of a Thailand backer guesthouse but it was miles out of the city. Quite close to Tony Yeboahs hotel. Get a multi entry visa and take a trip to Lome in Togo, only a few hours by road from Accra. Not as safe and friendly as Accra though.

BA fly there, but you might get a cheap deal with Air Moroc.

cfitz

Quint wrote: »

I was in Accra for a month last year and couldn't recommend it highly enough. Seriously friendly people and most people know english. Strangely enough, they don't speak it (to each other), but they write it, every sign is english! There's a nice beach there at Labadi beach near the 5 star hotel. Traveling to other towns or citys is dead handy and easy from the tro-tro depo. Piss cheap too. Accra is very safe too, no problem walking around the city centre at night on your own, it's generally reguarded as the safest capital in Africa. There's a bit of nightlife there too, lots of bars and a few nightclubs. All the nightclubs are full of prostitutes though. I stayed in a guesthouse for about a tenner a night, (Hansonic Hotel) which was the same standard of a Thailand backer guesthouse but it was miles out of the city. Quite close to Tony Yeboahs hotel. Get a multi entry visa and take a trip to Lome in Togo, only a few hours by road from Accra. Not as safe and friendly as Accra though.

BA fly there, but you might get a cheap deal with Air Moroc.

Sounds great, I've read good things about Ghana. If there's a cheap way of getting there from Namibia, then it could be on the cards. Thanks!