Awesome read! AWE-S-O-M-E

I love the writing style: immersive and humorous.

BigCabal:
80 Days. 14 Countries. 5 People. 1 Van

This is Fu’ad, head troublemaker at Zikoko. For 80 days, Toke, Kayode and I will be travelling across every mainland country in ECOWAS West Africa, along with our trusty interpreter/planner, Tosin, and our bus captain, Taiwo.

We’ll be looking for amazing stories about food, culture, language, money, the impact of technology and of course people, and we’ll be sharing those stories here, every day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYzWnbCr6W0

See http://jollofroad.com for more.

Question: Please, how much did you pay to cross the Nigerian Benin border? The last time it was N5000 for a normal N1000 cross.

Wow! So interesting. Next time call me to join. I love travelling but I don't have the means (capital ).

Interesting..

anonimi:


Great idea.
Splendid fun.
Do you have one of the West Africa focused brands as a sponsor

They have Ecobank as one of the sponsors. The bank is in every west African country.

This is pretty good, my love for adventures no get part 2. Wish i can participate 1 day.

We made the FrontPage! Awesome!!!

Please be patient while we answer all pending questions. Please follow this thread for updates and see jollofroad.com for our full daily journals.

Thank you!

Man down! Man down! Food Poisoning 1 Jollof Road 0

It’s day 39, one day short of 40 days on the road, and Toke and I are currently in the hospital. We are not dead, or dying. In fact, we are recovering, but somehow, all the risky food we’ve been eating and maybe some of the stress that comes with being on the road has finally caught up with us.



It’s interesting that in all this time that we’ve been on the road, we haven’t fallen sick. Does this somehow speak to our resilience as Nigerians? With the way we’ve been eating, we should have been down since day 3.

They have decided to keep me under observation; Toke gets discharged today. The big win in all of this, is the fact that we made sure to get travel insurance before we embarked on our trip. We got travel insurance from Leadway Assurance and importantly, it covers situations like this, sickness.

For now, we’ll focus on resting and getting back on our feet. Tomorrow, we move. You know what they say, we live to try another day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm0FLsF3kSs

See jollofroad.com for more

Addictive thread.

Waiting for further updates. Great job, guys !!

barragan:
They have Ecobank as one of the sponsors. The bank is in every west African country.

Wow.
That's cool.
Really cool.

BigCabal:
We made the FrontPage! Awesome!!!

Please be patient while we answer all pending questions. Please follow this thread for updates and see jollofroad.com for our full daily journals.

Thank you!

It will be nice to have this project transform into a regular road trip for anyone to sign up for.
Kudos.

yes oooooo

anonimi:


It will be nice to have this project transform into a regular road trip for anyone to sign up for.
Kudos.

anonimi:


It will be nice to have this project transform into a regular road trip for anyone to sign up for.
Kudos.

We will certainly look into that.

sharone21:

Question: Please, how much did you pay to cross the Nigerian Benin border? The last time it was N5000 for a normal N1000 cross.

We paid N24,000 to cross the border with Black, our GIGM bus. GIGM already got laissez passez for the bus which made it cheaper. The real price should be around N40,000 if we were getting laissez passes ourselves. But if you mean to get passport stamped, for virgin passport it was N1000
For non virgins, it should be free. Most countries stamped for free, others requested for money. #JollofRoad

Topmaike007:
Nna mehn this your thread is educating everything is playing in my head like a real life experience as I am reading it.....

I love the way she writes...quite encouraged to keep reading...

I would love to embark on this kind of road trip

Pix update will been cool no data here oo

BigCabal:

Thank you!

Very interesting and educative

This is what Fried Rice in Sierra Leone looks like .

They wrote about it https://www.zikoko.com/jollof-road/fried-rice-looks-very-different-in-sierra-leone/

Question and Answer Sesh About Jollof Road on Day 40

On day 40 of 80 in our 7th of 14 countries, we decided to do a little AMA. We put up the same question across all of our social medium platforms – ask us anything. And these were the questions we got.

Which has been the best country and which has been the worst so far?

Toke: Ghana and Ivory Coast have been the best. I bitched a little about Ivory Coast a little on our first day there, but I ended up falling in love with it. Ivorians are not as warm and welcoming as Ghanaians who have been the warmest and most welcoming people to me so far. Worst has to be Guinea. Except for Buba who has been the loveliest host, I just don’t have that many pleasant things to say about Guinea.

Fu’ad: Liberia has been the best for me. Liberians feel like my own people. Least favorite country will be Guinea. That’s because their soldiers at checkpoint are entitled extortionists.

Tosin: Best, Ghana or Liberia Worst, Guinea

Kayode: Best Ghana. Worst Guinea. Ghana is pure vibes; a vibe I want to wake up to everyday. Guinea is well not much of a vibe, It’s a stiff place with terrible law officers. Ironically the people are really good and friendly.

See more: https://www.zikoko.com/jollof-road/question-and-answer-sesh-about-jollof-road-on-day-40/

BigCabal:
Question and Answer Sesh About Jollof Road on Day 40

On day 40 of 80 in our 7th of 14 countries, we decided to do a little AMA. We put up the same question across all of our social medium platforms – ask us anything. And these were the questions we got.

Which has been the best country and which has been the worst so far?

Toke: Ghana and Ivory Coast have been the best. I bitched a little about Ivory Coast a little on our first day there, but I ended up falling in love with it. Ivorians are not as warm and welcoming as Ghanaians who have been the warmest and most welcoming people to me so far. Worst has to be Guinea. Except for Buba who has been the loveliest host, I just don’t have that many pleasant things to say about Guinea.

Fu’ad: Liberia has been the best for me. Liberians feel like my own people. Least favorite country will be Guinea. That’s because their soldiers at checkpoint are entitled extortionists.

Tosin: Best, Ghana or Liberia Worst, Guinea

Kayode: Best Ghana. Worst Guinea. Ghana is pure vibes; a vibe I want to wake up to everyday. Guinea is well not much of a vibe, It’s a stiff place with terrible law officers. Ironically the people are really good and friendly.

See more:https://www.zikoko.com/jollof-road/question-and-answer-sesh-about-jollof-road-on-day-40/

So this is not just a Nigerian thing. Africa my Africa... smh

pls we need more videos and pictures, I think a lot more people might be interested in such travels and tours, It could be made bigger you know.

tot:


So this is not just a Nigerian thing. Africa my Africa... smh

Na so we see am o

mumu9gerian:
pls we need more videos and pictures, I think a lot more people might be interested in such travels and tours, It could be made bigger you know.

Read the full daily journals on www.jollofroad.com

There are also more photos and videos there.

BigCabal:


Read the full daily journals on www.jollofroad.com

There are also more photos and videos there.

Okay I will

In Côte d’Ivoire, we met a fan of DJ Arafat who quit his job to keep the singer's memory alive


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDRE0wH0LQ0

The First Half Is Done, Here’s What The Second Should Look Like

I had a lot of time to think about the first half of Jollof Road while Dr Camara was replacing my second drip bag two days ago.

I’m going to try to summarise it in one breath:

Day one saw us leave Lagos for Benin Republic. By the end of day two, we’d already seen Dantokpa – a pretty large market if you ask me. By day four, we’d had enough of land people, and off we went to a Lake Village. Snakes? We carried them like pets.

That’s one breath, but I’m not done:

In less than a week, we entered our next country – Benin’s more agile sibling – Togo. The first thing that hits you here is that their port works without causing traffic, even though they do more than Nigeria’s port. What we started with voodoo in Benin, we finished at the Voodoo Market in Lome.

At this point, what was the toughest part to navigate? French. Tosin is the blessing.

Ghana was a vibe, and as we left the country on our 16th day on the road, we knew for sure that it’d be one we’d be returning sometime in the future.

Day 17, and we were back on the French groove. This time, I wasn’t taking a backseat. J’aime Abidjan.

Perhaps, no night was more memorable for any of us than the night we had a taste Baba Muhammad’s Pasta, or when I met Ahmed.

A random weeknight, few weeks ago — well, not random. Our #JollofRoad itinerary said we had to be in Abidjan that night, and that's where we were.
There's this slapping food place — it's like Mai Shayii, but replace the noodles with spag, and the tea with cold coke. The food slapped, but the smell of the gutter was slapping Toke harder. I didn't even notice the smell, neither did Kayode. Tosin could manage. Anyway, the search for plate to bring back Spag for Toke led me to this guy. Ahmed.
I dunno if there's a word for it, but I call it Language Roulette. It's this thing where I'm speaking whatever French I have, and the French person is throwing back whatever English they have.
I asked for his name, it's Ahmed — everything sounds better to a person when you address them by their name.
In between our broken everything, I told him I'm Nigerian, he told me he's Senegalese. I told him how I ended up on this backstreet in Abidjan. "I studying Physics for a year in Senegal," his English was better than my French. "Then I leave school." Why? Money. Money is why he didn't get that degree. We talked about force and pressure and temperature and physics things, and by the turn of the minute, I knew he was running low on English.
He had a ring on. "Her name is Soda." Then I did that gesture of rocking a baby to sleep. "Ah, Thiane." I loved how he said their names so much that I wrote them immediately.
I enjoyed talking to him, but I went there for plates. I asked him if he knew where I could buy since he doesn't sell. "Don't worry, you can have mine." "Thank you, Ahmed. I won't forget this." He just smiled. I asked him if I could take a picture of him to show my friends and tell them about his gesture. He politely declined.
The only barrier between us was a burglaryproof gate, the type you'd see in neighbourhood shops. "How about a photo of our hands?" He liked that. So we shook, and I took a photo. And this happened. "Wait wait," he said as I started pulling my hand away. Then he pulled out his phone, and took his. "Bon nuit," I said. "Goodnight," he laughed.

By the morning of the 23rd day, we made our first attempt to enter Liberia. We failed. The next day, we tried again, passing through treacherous roads, then making it into Liberia. We didn’t reach Monrovia until the next night.

Liberia is mud country, but Liberians have my heart. On our 30th day on the road, we met Surfers in Robertsport. Love those kids from my heart.

What’s the first thing I learned on our 31st day on the road? Everyone in Sierra Leone calls Nigeria big brother. The history is deep.

The last thing we learned when we were leaving on day 37? The best Cassava Bread can only be found in Waterloo.

And just as Guinea Fever was kicking in, Toke and I fell sick.

But it’s Day 41 today, and we’re pushing.

What does the second half look like?

Read more: https://www.zikoko.com/jollof-road/the-first-half-is-done-heres-what-the-second-should-look-like/

7 Countries In, Who Has The Best Jollof Yet?

The most recurring question we’ve gotten in the 42 days we’ve been on the road, has been so who has the best Jollof yet? This question is usually followed by a bold proclamation from the locals in whatever country we are in about how they have the best Jollof. And that, in turn, is immediately followed by Nigerian Jollof slander.

In all of the seven countries we’ve visited so far, one thing is clear, the only people who rate Nigerian Jollof are Nigerians. On everyone’s list, their country Jollof comes first followed grudgingly by the Jollof in some neighbouring country or very often Sene-Gambia Jollof. Of course, the disregard for Nigerian Jollof befuddles me. I mean have they had party Jollof? Or better still, burial Jollof? What’s the root of this slander? Envy? I asked everyone who had a beef with Nigerian Jollof what the exact problem was. And this is a comprehensive list of everything that’s apparently wrong with Nigerian Jollof according to Ghanaians, Togolese, Beninese, Ivorians, Liberians, Sierra Leoneans, Gambians, and Guineans.

- It’s too plain. How dare you serve rice and just chicken. No sauce, no vegetables, nothing! The travesty.
- It’s too salty.
- The rice grains are wrong how can you use parboiled rice when there’s perfumed rice or long-grained rice.
- It’s just tomato and rice nothing else. Who even does that. How dare you call that Jollof?
- You guys don’t even own Jollof what makes you think you can cook it well? Pfft.
- The only thing going on for it is the big chicken you guys like to put on top.

At the risk of losing my Nigerian citizenship, I’m inclined to agree with some of these points. I’m one of those people who really wouldn’t mind a bit of sweet corn or carrots in my Jollof rice. I’m not so far gone as to declare that any of the Jollof I’ve tasted is better than Nigerian Jollof but these have been my top 3 in no particular order.

See more: https://www.zikoko.com/jollof-road/7-countries-in-who-has-the-best-jollof-yet/

anonimi:


Great idea.
Splendid fun.
Do you have one of the West Africa focused brands as a sponsor

This trip is sponsored by Grow with Google, Leadway Assurance, Coke, GIGM and organized/brought to you by Zikoko mag.

Fidelismaria:
Dope

Love it

Is this an all expense paid trips by a major brand or is this from your pocket?

This trip is sponsored by Grow with Google, Leadway Assurance, Coke, GIGM and organized/brought to you by Zikoko mag.

Does Anyone Go To Guinea-Bissau?

When we set out from Conakry on Saturday morning none of us could have anticipated that it’ll take us two days to get to Bissau. 2 days made up of 1 night of sleeping in the bus, going 48 hours without a proper meal and Black being ferried across a river.

When we finally got to Guinea-Bissau we all came to one conclusion – no one goes to Guinea Bissau. At least by road. In 2 days we met no one heading in the same direction as us until we got to the border. The poor road connections between every West African country after Ivory Coast is heartbreaking.

On our way to Bissau – the capital city, we all witnessed the president and his convoy of 13 cars and 2 trucks laden with heavily armed soldiers drive past us, on the poorly tarred road we were plying. A couple of miles back we had noticed a podium draped with the Guinea-Bissau flag and a huge crowd of people waiting for him. It’s re-election season here. I expect he’ll make an appearance make a ton of false promises and probably get re-elected despite the political scandals that have embroiled his term as president.

Here’s a quick summary of his gist:
– Was involved in the country’s 2012 coup
– Accused of being involved in the disappearance of 9.1 million Euros. Of course, he denied it and got elected as president.
– Woke up one morning and sacked the Prime Minister even though his term ended in June and he’s currently playing a figurehead role (whatever that means). Then named a new one even though the old one refused to step down.

Fun Fact: The official language spoken in Guinea-Bissau is Portuguese.

Read the full gist and see photos: https://www.zikoko.com/jollof-road/does-anyone-go-to-guinea-bissau/