just when I was making plans to travel to the continent(especially my parents countries) for the first time I had to come across this article by lee abbamonte.
Lee Abbamonte, a “travel expert” is the man with this opinion. He is
described as “the youngest American to visit all 193 member nations of
the United Nations.”
Here were his opinion on some west african countries(cities). Most have been summarised because the articles were too long

Abijan, Cote D'voire
Cote D’Ivoire or Ivory Coast was once the shining light in West Africa
and was an example for other nations to follow. An intricate part of
the French influence of West Africa, Ivory Coast had fluorished
financially as the center of business in the region and was home to a
huge amount of French and European expats and the government was
stable. That all changed a few years ago as factions rose up to start
fighting and challenge the government. Fighting got so bad that most
expats left the country as did a lot of business and investment. Foeign
Governments warned against any travel to the country and in fact
Lonely Planet wasn’t even able to send someone to the country to
write the guidebook because it is considered so dangerous. The largest
city, Abidjan, once considered the Paris of West Africa is now a shell of
its former self and the city has crumbled into just another African
city. The only difference is that Abidjan has a bunch of skyscrapers…
except they are almost all empty.
I have to admit I was a little disappointed in Abidjan, I thought it would
be a better place to visit and have more to offer in terms of quality
African experience but it turned out to be just another crumbling,
grubby city without much character of its own as the French influence
has faded and the country has erupted in turmoil.


Dakar, Senegal
I ended up staying at the Le Meridien Hotel in Dakar (picture above),
right on the ocean, which is supposed to be the best hotel in West
Africa and I would have to agree, it was pretty nice and even had a
ping pong table which is always a plus in my book. Aside from the hotel
the city was really nice, especially by African standards. I had a great
dinner last night at a place called La Boheme which was right
downtown-they did a killer steak au poivre. After catching up, sort
of, on sleep from the long journey to get here I checked out Ile de
Goree which was the original slave island where the slaves would be sold
to the Americas and to Europe. The whole island was a pretty surreal
experience as they are now beautifying and glorifying what was once a
treacherous place where thousands of families ultimately met their
demise. But it was a beautiful place and the streets are still carless
and the views are stunning. The beach is still crowded and it’s only 20
minutes by boat from Dakar.
Dakar itself is a breath of fresh air in West Africa and by far the
biggest city. It has everything you need and has a very wealthy and
beautiful side of the city. It is still Africa and the poverty is still very
apparent but there are many escapes to be had in the city and it is also
very safe. The French influence looms large and I have met a ton of
French tourists. I assume the only tourists I will meet in West Africa
will be French but you never know. Anyway, I am starving and going
for some food and some sleep before a day at the beach tomorrow on
Santiago Island!


Monrovia, Liberia
Liberia is the only place that I was a little nervous about visiting this
trip because of the conflict that was so recent and so violent. You can
see remnants of the war everywhere and the former child soldiers make
up a good amount of the touts and beggars on the streets of Monrovia
as they haven’t been able to readjust back into society. It’s a very sad
thing. However, Monrovia for all its faults and sadness is actually a
decent little city with many restaurants and bars often frequented by
the tons of UN workers in the city. It’s not the kind of place you would
want to move to or anything but it was interesting to see and dispell
some misconceptions I had going into it.