Miles and Braids

I wish every trip can be picture perfect and curated especially for instagram. Some start as adventures that swiftly turn to nightmares. That’s exactly how the road trip from Nigeria to Ghana went for me. Where did the idea to travel from Nigeria to Ghana by road originate? Well…

Them: You can travel by road from Ghana to Nigeria and cross through Benin Republic and Togo.

Me: Really? Two additional countries and passport stamps? Sounds like an adventure, I’m doing it.

And that’s all it took to ignite my adventurous spirit. I was excited about the chance to visit other West African countries because I had only been to Nigeria. In my mind, it would be an epic road trip, a chance to mingle at the border towns and try some street food along the way. I thought Anthony Bourdain would be so proud. What I failed to account for and imagine was that this would be a trip to and from Nigeria and if there’s anything I know as a Nigerian, it’s that NOTHING runs on time or straight-forwardly!

The nine-hour road trip turned into almost 15 hours of an adventure I could’ve done without. But then, I wouldn’t have the story to tell now would I?

I joined forces with a fellow well-traveled, adventure-chasing friend and we embarked on the West Africa road trip. After some online research and reading reviews (likely fake), we chose EFEX Nigeria. The warning signs were there early on but we let our explorer spirits and positive attitudes get the best of us. We were going to Ghana, on that day, by road and doggone it, we were going to be the flexible, adaptable travelers you all know and love. How I wish someone had told me to stop in the name of love!

We arrived at 5:30 am for the advertised 6:30 am bus to Accra, Ghana that would travel between Benin Republic and Lome, Togo. We should’ve known that Efex Nigeria wouldn’t deliver on a modicum of quality service when we arrived at the bus depot/office. The room was only dimly lit and even though there was a big sign on the wall that read, “Lagos to Accra Bus Departing at 6:30 am” there as no one to man the office or drive the vans.

5:30 am turned to 8:30 am before a lady showed up to handle ticketing. Also, she made us pay an extra N2k (2,000 naira) per ticket holder. I was baffled. Why? According to her, we had “virgin” passports. As two well-traveled people, we had to laugh at the entire notion because it’s as incredulous as it sounds. However, per the ticketing agent, we had virgin passports because we had never traveled to any other West African country - by road. It sounds absurd that no other travel counts or that virgin passports require an additional fee but we had to pay or our passports won’t be processed at the various borders.

Although we had arrived at the bus deport at 5:30 am, we didn’t start the trip until 1:30 pm because the van that was taking us from Nigeria to Ghana needed tires and brake pads changed. At this point, my mood was completely shot but after waiting for so long, I felt too far in and too tired to abort the mission. Was this traveler’s grit or naiveté at play? I’ll let you be the judge.

And so the journey began in the thick of Lagos traffic and heat. As if things weren’t already dramatic enough, a pastor got on board and began a very impassioned prayer for safety on the roads. Now, I’m a huge fan of prayer and at this point, we needed a lot of it but there were people of different faiths on the bus. There was no consideration and no accommodation for anyone else’s faith and we all listened to the prayer. I was more uncomfortable for the girl who sat next to me who had on a hijab!

Fast forward to navigating dense Lagos traffic, we finally reached the Benin Republic border in Cotonou via Ogun State. The driver said nothing to us the entire drive to the first border and nothing about what to expect at the Benin Republic border. We were told to come out of the bus and he had our passports in his possession and gave them to the border agents. This is very nerve-wracking because I don’t like anyone but me holding on to my passport, especially in a strange place. It was at the border that we learned this is standard protocol because the drivers deal with the border agents and other staff (think bribes). So we get to Cotonou, tired, hot because the A/C on the van was blowing mostly warm air and we were covered in the smell of gasoline. At the border, we were told to disembark the van and go into the border office to answer a few questions.

After answering a few questions about our final destination we were told that each passenger must cross the borders by foot. It’s a short distance and the van is usually waiting on the other side of the road. All this sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong! It would’ve been relatively simple except, one passenger on our bus held an American passport with only a single-entry visa for Ghana. He was detained and questioned for at least two hours at the Benin Republic border and had to pay extra to cross each border.

Benin Republic

The same situation happened in Togo. By this time, it was getting dark. Again, we were left to fend for ourselves at the border and this time had to walk a bit of distance by foot to get across the Togo border.

We arrived in Ghana at nighttime. At this point, we had endured heavy traffic, delays at the border, hunger and heat and thought we had endured about every emotion and mishap that this journey could bring but there was one more. Literally, a few minutes into Ghana, close to Accra, the bus broke down. It just came to a halt and we were on the side of the road with an engine that refused to go any further. I guess the bus was as tired and frustrated as we were. Thankfully, we got phone service and were able to request an uber to take us into the city.

You’re probably wondering if we traveled back to Nigeria by road? Yes, we did. Please go ahead and laugh. We actually had no other option because flights were sold out as many people were leaving Ghana. However, we booked a ride with a different company, GIGM, and they were a complete turn around from the company we rode with on the way to Ghana. The return trip was smooth, ran on schedule, in a much more comfortable van and a driver that communicated and gave us instructions at each border. The bus ride back was very pleasant and along the West African coast so we got to see miles and miles of West African beaches, especially in Togo.

I guess the real nightmare was the bus company. The lesson in all of this is that adventure can be spontaneous and fun but it’s much better with solid planning and selecting the right bus company!

Here are some pictures and video from the road travel on the way from Ghana to Nigeria.

Drive through Benin Republic

Togo border is by the coast