In order to keep costs as low as possible, I used only public transportation. This wasn’t always convenient. I had to wait until the bus or taxi got full, deal with the multiple stops that involved calling and picking up passengers, share the front seat of a small car with another passenger and so on. On my way back, the bus I was in broke down around the Victoria Island area.
Route: From Lekki, I took a bus to CMS and got down on top of the bridge. There were buses to Mile 2 from there for N200 and a shared taxi directly to the Seme border for N1500. I took the bus and got down at the last stop. From there, I took another bus to Badagry for N400. Again, there was a shared taxi going to Seme border for N1200. A shared taxi from Badagry took us to the Seme border for N150 and stopped at the ‘Connoil’ filling station.
There are bikes from the garage around there that cross people without passports to the Benin Republic side. I walked through immigration instead.
Crossing the Border
Crossing the border should be free but unfortunately, those guys would not let you prosper. What this means is that you can and should haggle your way through immigration if you must get your passport stamped. Or be prepared to wait for hours if you refuse to pay.
Sometimes, smiling and being friendly with the officers on the Nigerian side worked for me as I either didn’t have to pay anything at all or only a fraction of what they had initially asked for. Other times, not so much plus the guys at the Beninese side were not falling for that at all!
Of course, you can escape all of this by taking a ‘luxurious’ bus from Lagos. They manage all the border formalities on your behalf.
Documents Needed
Passport & a yellow card
Money
You can change money once you get to Seme town. At the time of this writing, the exchange rate is N1000 to 1325CFA, which is pretty bad compared to a 1:3 ratio obtained before.
Accommodation
I tried couchsurfing for the first time. This is a service that allows people host travellers in their homes for free or just simply meet up with them. It’s great for budget travellers because, you don’t have to pay for a hotel and it is safe once you’re cautious and put safety measures in place. Mark (who was my host) will be sharing some tips about using this service later on.
Travel Cost Breakdown Lagos to Cotonou Road Trip
Click to Expand
Lesson Learned
N20K was not enough money. Might have been okay with a good exchange rate and no fees at the border.
Couchsurfing has its pros and cons. Please do your research and know the risks associated with using a service such as this.
Last updated on May 13th, 2020; Published on November 25th, 2016
ICYMI: My Nigeria & Kenya travel cost breakdown is up on travelwithapen.com.
I've shared a breakdown based solely on our experience and while your overall costs may vary, this post will give you a fair idea of how much to budget for a trip to Turkey.
Find the post in the #linkinbio and I hope you find it helpful for future or current plans to #visitturkey 💙
Last updated on May 13th, 2020; Published on November 25th, 2016
The other day, I was reading @wellwornheels post about her visit to Istanbul a few years ago. She was out at the Sultanahmet Square and had people queue up, waiting to take a picture with/of her. She had people stare at her, touch her braids and more… she could have been a celebrity billionaire by now but she didn't charge for photos! Anyway, that's a story for another time…
10 years later, I'm at Sultanahmet Square and no one is doing any of that and it just made realise how much travel is changing for black women.
I have to say though that I don't know if my experience was as a result of travelling with Mark but I know that there were several moments in Turkey when I felt very grateful for all the black women travelling and making #travellingwhileblack normal for the rest of us.
Last updated on May 13th, 2020; Published on November 25th, 2016
My best experience from our trip to Lamu was sailing into the night on Jawad's dhow.
We got to experience a beautiful sunset cruise and a full moonrise onboard.
More on our Lamu experience on www.travelwithapen.com #linkinbio
Last updated on May 13th, 2020; Published on November 25th, 2016
As promised, details of our weekend in Amboseli is up on travelwithapen.com! Check it out via the #linkinbio and let me know what you think!
On a related note, who's watching #zoo on netflix? Is that show making you more paranoid about safaris and having pets or is it just me?
Last updated on May 13th, 2020; Published on November 25th, 2016
This lodge was hands down the best I've been to in Kenya so far. It was a huge highlight of our recent trip, I still can't believe how affordable it is.
My favourite part about it was the watering hole pictured here. Right from the lounge deck, we saw so many animals come through… herds of elephants, zebras, elands, giraffes, baboons, dik-diks came through while we were there. I almost didn't want to go into the park for a safari anymore!
We even saw cheetahs during our bush walk and heard lions at night from our tents!
Only a 4 hour drive from Nairobi, this serves as the perfect place for a (long) weekend away from the city and on my blog this week, I'll be writing about everything you need to know to plan your travels, should you want to visit.
In the meantime, you can catch up on highlights on my stories & ask me anything you would like to know in the comment section!
Last updated on May 13th, 2020; Published on November 25th, 2016
Walking through the maze of Lamu Town was quite the experience. Over the next coming days, I'll be sharing about our experience visiting Kenya's oldest continually inhabited town.
In the meantime, you can catch up on what we got up to on my stories.
I tried couchsurfing for the first time. This is a service that allows people host travellers in their homes for free or just simply meet up with them. It’s great for budget travellers because, you don’t have to pay for a hotel and it is safe once you’re cautious and put safety measures in place. Mark (who was my host) will be sharing some tips about using this service later on.
