₦airaland Forum

Originalsly:
As someone starting this kind tour business... you need to do a whole lot more homework and be diligent if you want to succeed. And I'm talking as a layman with no technical knowledge about tour biz. It appears that your decisions are price based... the cheapest tag gets the nod.... the reason why you hauled the family from JFK to La Guardian Airport to travel to Chicago.... $16 fare cheaper than the price charged for luggage at JFK.... you didn't consider the hassle nor the wait despite having kids. Time of arrival and transportation at Chicago weren't considered.. and in the end costs a whole lot more. I'm sure there were other Airbnb available... but you took the one not based on the reviews but on the price... the cheapest price.... beautiful apartment... very cheap compared to similar apartments... red flag... neighbourhood not good. Google would have spelled it out...but... can't resist a cheap price. The rough looking guys at the corner shop... warning you that you shouldn't be out.... no alarm bells went off in your head?
It is nice to share your experience... but you also exposed how unprepared you are and this can hurt your business before it even starts up. About the suburbs being peaceful basically because Whites live there give the impression that wherever Blacks are there is always violence... stay away from Blacks... Akatas. White communities have their dark side..... their youths are also dying silently of vices in their commilunities. .. but that is not broadcast worldwide. I wish you well in your business venture... but you need to step off on the right foot.

I appreciate your wise advise, especially at just being a start up. Another thing is, I advise my clients and they make their choices. Most times, its their call.
When we left the former hotel, they referred us to their sister branch but my client wanted something cheaper than the $500 a week we were paying there. Infact, they put me under a lot of pressure, such that getting the airbnb place at that cheap amount $300 a week was victory.

After the incident, I recommended we left, the client refused, saying that if we remain indoors, we will not be exposed to their vices. I personally packed up my things and left on sunday, before they called me and said they wanted to leave because the Chicago cubs (baseball team)won the World Series and they celebrated in the neighbourhood with gunshots all night. They had had enough. This time, they left me to decide where to move to and guess what, I went back to the sister hotel recommended to us by the former hotel.

We were out till pretty late last night, besides the fact that PACE buses dont work on sundays and we had to walk 25 mins to get a bus, but nothing like peace mehn!!!

Also, the Southwest airlines was a good bargain, $94 per person with 2 bags free? Other airlines will charge $25 for the first bag and $35 for additional bags, and we all had a bag each.

Abi we for do Spirit airline

Lexusgs430:
Experience they say is the comb for our bald heads.....

Gbam!

Lexusgs430:
Alicia's review was very detailed, she stated the good, bad and ugly.............. If any review was/were required to make an informed decision, Alicia nailed it. The good thing for your business moving forward, is you would blacklist the property/area from your clientele shortlists...............
Your review would also go a long way, in assisting others..................................

Funny enough, I received a message from another client stating she found an apartment in Southside. I did not bother to find out what part, I redirected her to the suburbs, where one can experience peace.

Now, the day after the incident, the property owner came around and we got talking. Here is what led to the killing.

There are 2 gangs in that block. We will call them Gang A and Gang B.

So Gang A has been selling weed around the corner for donkey years and has been making a lot of money from the sales. Now Gang B says they want to share the block with Gang A, so they too can make some money, cos the block is the most popular weed block in the area.

Gang A says no, and rivalry resumes.

Now a guy from Gang B waylaid a guy selling weed from Gang A on the block and got him beat up. Gang A went back to his people and reports the matter. Gang A brothers trace the Gang B dude to the corner shop and harasses him. In his bid to escape, he fires the 1st shot and tries to escape. The Gang A guys retaliate and he got hit.

The property owner went to the leaders of Gang A to complain of how he had women and kids in his house who had to witness this crap and this episode was bad for his business.

Long and short, someone got killed because of weed.

Another senseless killing, and this is how it goes on and on. They said for a male child to cross age 20 there is a miracle. They get inducted into gangs from age 10. You see 14 year olds with guns, sent to kill 19 year olds. It such a horrible place.

All through the stay in Downer's Grove, we barely heard sirens. It was such a peaceful place. The target store closes at 11pm, the mcdonalds is open till 11pm... you can walk around in peace, and I ask myself, why are we like this? When I discussed with people in other parts of Chicago, they said Africans don't live in that part of Southside. Anything from 47th Street up to the 100s, is a no go area, dominated by gangs. Hyde park and the area around Obama's house and the University of Chicago is more tolerable.

Anywhere after Western Ave, you begin to see hispanic people and if you go further into the south suburbs, you begin to see caucasian people.

aieromon:
Any reason why? Did you feel she was an alarmist? I would have taken her very serious considering her skin color and inherent knowledge about rough neighborhoods.

I don't even know for myself! Was a bad decision

Lexusgs430:
London ke? Are we reading the same story? Only 2 weeks of romping starvation? Remember Cucumber is just around the corner......

You are so funny!

This was the only bad review that I should have taken seriously. Very seriously!

Ogbeche77:
I think you are to be blamed for ignoring such horrible reviews you have read about the property on airbnb.com. Safety should always come first, and you ignored that..

However, Chigago Southside has been a battle ground for rival gangstar for as long as I can remember.. Have you seen the movie "CHIRAQ"? It portrayed the gang violence & senseless killing occurring in south Chigago on a daily basis.. It's the murder & homicide capital of USA, I won't drive my car 30km radius of South Chigago, it's an hellhole

Seconded... I don't even think there are words to describe that zone. I was in Chicago for 6 months last year and it was a beautiful experience because I resided in the Northside.

The property owner came the following morning to apologise, that this has not happened in the area in a long time (story). The male occupant in our apartment also confirmed he has been there since July and he has never had such an experience, Nevertheless, they asked around the cause of the violence and the status of the guy that was shot.

The paramedics came in time to get him alive but they heard he eventually died, 17 year old dude.

Now what caused this senseless killing? It is such a useless reason I cannot wrap my head around it.

I'm attaching snapshots of the reviews that encouraged me to take the place. Nothing was out of the ordinary and note that most of them were from this october.

Was able to take these pix soon as I was able to crawl upstairs.. There's a video. Will upload it as soon as I'm able to work around the heavy mb

Lexusgs430:
I imagine we got so many parts to this story.........................
You read a review and choose to ignore the content, due to the urgency? And the reviewer was very right to alert others. Have you added your review to warn others?

I'm typing a very strong review.

Horrible Horrible experience.

What made me ignore the content of the review was that she said she spent 2 months there. If the area was that bad, why didnt she move out immediately? Personally, we have moved out back to white people area, where there is peace and tranquility even though there is a bit of racial profiling, I can live with that, rather than live in perpertual fear. . But still wait for the remaining parts of the story.

We arrived around 9pm in the evening, and it was remarkably calm. We did not anticipate any unrest though. I had read airbnb reviews about the place but most reviews were not very detailed, except one or two that alerted about the terrible neighbourhood, which I kind of dismissed because of the urgency of the situation.

The next day, we had a couple of places to go to so we explored the malls in the area and returned at about 10pm, thinking that it will be the same as it was in Downer's Grove where we roamed around till midnight. While in the bus, just as we got to the neighbourhood, we heard gunshots across the street, and people running. The bus moved to the next bus stop, and stopped for a woman to get in, who had just been robbed.

Our antennas pricked... a bad signal that we were in a horrible place. We hurried home, and locked the doors with our hearts in our mouths.

While we were recovering from the shock of the previous day, we cancelled our plans to go out the following day. Because we packed in a hurry, I could not find my baby's cereals and we had run out of milk, so I decided to leave for the corner shop just across the street to buy milk. I initially planned to go to walmart, but after standing at the bus stop for 30 mins, a lady walked up to me and told me that buses do not ply that route once it is 6pm. Another bad signal...

My baby began to cry ceaselessly and refused to sit in her stroller, so I carried her on my hips while I walked to the corner shop. As I made to enter the corner shop, I saw a lot of rough looking boys gathered around the entrance of the shop. One of the guys told me I should not be there right and now, and I had to start running home, which I did.

Immediately I opened the gates, sporadic shooting started, on instincts (being a University of Benin product) I dived to the ground on the porch, and remained there even after the shooting had stopped, until a fellow airbnb guest waltzed in from a different direction, oblivious to what was happening till I screamed for her to get down. She managed to get my stroller in and lock the gate and we entered the house.

By the time I got to upstairs, I met the other tenants in the apartment with my people huddled on the ground. The kids were taken to the bathroom by the only man in the house to get as far away from the windows as possible.

In a few minutes, that felt like forever, The police finally came in their numbers.
The same night, one of the guests in our apartment checked out. Which we could not do, cos we had kids. The property owner was alerted and he visited the next morning with an apology and a shocking story...

Lexusgs430:
Wanderlust = urge to travel = Voglia Girovagare

Is your business based on a travelling agency platform ?

You are very smart... I'm redefining travel, mostly tourism. Not an agency per say,more like travel management and advisory.

Lexusgs430:
And if it is, how did your client feel ? Would they be giving you a good feedback ?

I was actually there with them. Like I said, I had become friends with the family, and embarked on this trip along with them. Wait for the remaining part of the story...

'm really sorry my people that I have not updated in a few months. I have been super busy, I have not had time to stop and think.

Just as I was settling in from the Europe trip, I started paperwork for my new company, Voglia Girovagare, which co-incidentially had its first major client in September.

I had met a family in Nigeria in August that needed my professional advise assistance during a childbirth trip to the USA. With time,we became friends and I volunteered to take them on the trip to navigate the terrain, as it is my turf, and the whole experience was entirely new for them.

Due to the urgency of the trip, I hoped on the next flight on Arik (flight review is a story for another day) to meet them up in JFK Airport in New York enroute Chicago.

Most US domestic airlines will charge for luggage, except Southwest Airlines, so we changed airports using the NYC Airporter shuttle (cost $16 to transfer to La Guardia airport, where Southwest airline flies from).

So, we got in quite late at night and the office at the extended stay apartment (Intown Suites) in Downers Grove was closed with no one to check us in. We ended up spending over $200 at the Comfort Inn hotel to pass the night.

Downers Grove is a predominately Caucasian suburb in Illinois, about 25 minutes drive to Downtown Chicago with a horrible bus system. I guess it is expected for everyone to have a car. The buses come every 30 mins so if you miss a bus, you have to wait for another 30 mins.

Also, the traffic on the freeway during rush hour is at par with Lagos traffic, hence it usually is a better option to take the public transport as they pass through a different route, albeit longer.

Our stay in Downers Grove lasted 5 weeks, which was totally uneventful.. until the apartment decided they needed to renovate and asked us to relocate.

I spent the most of that week looking for a place for them without so much luck, so finally, I opted for airbnb.com, where I got a quick response from a property owner who was willing to take us at such short notice. The same day, we moved to the address given to us, only to find out it was in the worst neighbourhood in Chicago, West Englewood.

By 3pm, I saw a lot of missed calls from my elder brother. He had actually expressed his displeasure at my frequent travels on Saturday and asked me to stay in one place. I called him back and he said he was just checking if I had reached my destination, which was odd. I told him I didn't go on the trip again. I may decide on a later date.

When I got home later that night, I did all the packing and made up my mind to leave today. By 7am, I had called the uber ride to take us with the TV to the park. I got to the park at 8am. The bus was almost full. Once the lady at the counter saw the TV (42 inches) she said I will have to pay for 4 seats. I got angry and caused a huge scene because I knew from my calculation that the worst will be 3 seats. Due to the the argument, the bus did not have the available space for me, so the bus left. This was already 10 am. The manager came out to pacify me and promised to put me on the next bus. But I know 10am was late for any bus to leave, so what games are these guys playing? Nevertheless, I heeded and waited for the next bus. When it came, I noticed we were only 3 people in the bus. One man in front and a lady at the back. Just before we moved 4 hefty men joined the bus.

I still was suspicious but my instinct was calm, so I did not panic. We moved, then the men started talking. The bus I had missed because of my ranting and raking had a bad radiator along the road. Two of the men were mechanics going to fix it so that they can continue on the journey. Another bus had gotten there to move the passengers. I sha thanked my God, not that it was so much of a big deal. Then the men continued talking. What I heard sent shivers down my spine.

One of their buses was involved in an accident along the road yesterday. They have been unable to reach the driver.The bus I entered was actually the search and rescue bus looking for the accident scene. I asked, was there no passenger manifest? They said the bus left quite late yesterday, like 11am, and went with 3 passengers. All their phones were not going through, so they have to go there physically to trace the bus. The driver of the bus we were in, was the last to see the other bus before the ill-fated accident. They had hailed each other along the way just before the border between Ogun State and Ondo State.

So... if I had taken the journey yesterday... what would have been my fate? I analysed and over analysed the situation... God indeed speaks to us in our hearts. I do not even want to imagine the scenario.

As soon as we entered Ondo, we made numerous stops, asking traders, customs officers, FRSC officers, highway policemen if they heard about any accident. By the time we got to Ore, it was almost 5pm. Some policemen near Ore asked us to go to Omotosho Accident Rescue Station at Ore to make inquiries about the accident, as they were aware that indeed an accident involving their bus. Because it was getting late, the men alighted at Omotosho and the vehicle continued.

We just got home, it is almost midnight. My prayer tonight is that of Thanksgiving. I still have goosebumps!

My husband lives in the East, I work in Lagos. Recently, I have been shuttling the eastern route a lot to be with him, but now I decided to move over. Once in a while, business takes me to Lagos.

Last week, my partner called that my presence was needed to seal the deal with one of the banks. I took a bus down to Lagos for the appointment on Friday. I had plans to go back on Saturday but hubby needed me to run a few errands for him on Sunday and then come on Monday. He also gave me the herculean task of bringing our large LED TV from our home in Lagos. Coupled with the fact I was travelling with the baby... I was in no mood for that.

From Saturday night to Monday morning, I kept praying for a safe journey. My instincts were all wired up and I saw myself praying at every interval, which was weird because I loved road trips. On Monday morning, I woke up and did not feel like leaving the bed. If I couldnt get to the park by 8am, then there really was no use leaving, and I had not packaged the TV for the journey. After all the merry go round and morning rituals, it was almost 10am... I would still get a bus. I got to the door, and really did not feel like travelling. I told myself listen to your instincts. So I dropped the baby in daycare and went to gist with a girlfriend.

So some dude went to use the bathroom at the Milan Duomo (Cathedral) and was locked in for the whole night! I don't think I want to imagine all the ghosts and exorcised demons the chap would have witnessed while locked up in one of the oldest Duomos in Italy!

So here is how the story went as reported by Daily Mail UK;

"The caretakers of the Duomo cathedral in Milan have requested additional police surveillance on Wednesday after an American tourist was locked inside overnight.
Italian police say the holidaymaker spent a night locked on the rooftop of the city's Gothic-inspired cathedral after being overlooked by security.
The incident follows the terror attack at a church in Normandy earlier this week.

Police said the 23-year-old man told them that he was in the bathroom when security made a final pass, and found himself locked inside the landmark cathedral when he went to leave on Monday night.
He reportedly decided not to raise the alarm and spent the night on the spired rooftop.
When the cathedral opened again on Tuesday, the tourist reported himself to the authorities.
The tourist, whose passport showed he was born in Illinois, did not face any charges.
Local authorities have declined to identify him.

The Vereranda Fabbrica, which runs the cathedral, has asked Milan police for more help in screening visitors and helping its workers secure the premises at closing time, saying they don't have 'the necessary skills for security.'
The caretaking body said it made the request 'not only in light of the facts that have touched France, hitting for the first time a sign of Christianity in Europe.'

Visitors entering the Duomo have long been screened by police and armed soldiers, and those wanting to reach the roof must pass through a metal detector."

the story continues here

http://www.wanderlustvoyager.com/2016/08/a-night-at-milan-duomo-tourists-holiday.html

merahki:
Do I sound male? Have been deemed so before too
I am older than you....and I love adventure...well, I love to love adventure is more honest to say...but I am making it part of my life....so yeah....we looove it

The tempting possibility of a passionate romance during travels is real to me...and I know that surely with a very young 30ish guy...the hankering would be hampered-zilch (with absolutely no disrespect meant) ....

But seriously, I will consider the travel
It sounds like fun already
I jes have to have returned from another one before your take off
If not, till the next time
Cheers

(This post while being a true reflection of my thoughts/fantasies, is not a soliciting one at all...not that anyone cares sha, lol!)

You are female? I could swear you were male! You really have a way with words. Have you considered writing or theatre?

merahki:
I know this feeling
Nothing about Canada makes me lust after it
Not the low crime rate, not the extra clean environment, not the high living standard.. nothing
I know there is the Niagaran which would be a piece o sheer beauty/joy....but the way I imagine Celsuis drops for Canada strips my mind of any desire to go to Canada

Then the vastness of the land and the relative sparseness of the population makes me feel agoraphobic
I seriously don't know what would make me traipse about/around Canada
Brrrr
(I say this, from a strictly tourist perspective...not knocking peoples' hustle at all)

You do have a way with words. Your description has suddenly made me consider Canada

3Div:
Inspired by you to try back packing through Canada. Perhaps you could take a suggest routes/spots ?.
Thanks

I got no idea bout Canada. When I hear Canada all I see in my mind eye is snow and icy mountains.

merahki:
Dear poster....may i ask how old you are? I already assume you are a guy
I ask cos I wanna do that trip...but for a longer time....?2/3 weeks....or a month even
...to be able to soak up the feel of those countries.....both city feel, and country (village) feel
I would like to go with people near my age, I jes dunno why


I honestly cannot wait for later...when I will road travel throughout West Africa, for 6 weeks
Then at a later time, another 6weeks in East Africa....ditto for Southern Africa, and Central Africa
For each regional trip, would fly to the capital city of the most popular country (would be the cheapest capital ...cos of the popularity), get a base there, and start the road wandering...will return via said base too....

The easiest part would be the West African one, cos of our ECOWAS passport treaty
Still gonna work out how the other regions would work...then bam! Off I go
IMO, better than browsing shops in Dubai, London, New Jersey, Mumbai etc for tourism

The biggest WOWtrip would be spending a straight 3 to 6 months on a road trip throughout most of Africa
I think this would be all kinds of awesome...meeting people, knowing the towns, getting lost, bonding, eating, slumming, partying, beaching, foresting, everything...drooling now
Still working out how to make this happen

Cheers OP
I like your thread
and @wanderlustian, if you are the person with that Europe travel thread, you rock

Sounds exciting! Will be nice if you join the op's team. The more the merrier. Also its more secure to travel in teams. Please always have your passport or id card when you travel.

Yes, it is I.

I've been to Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya but all for business. Didn't get to explore but my hubby did. It gets cold out there from DEC to March.

Leggo! All roads lead to october!

mrsage:
Interesting. Public transportation will be fine.

I will love to feature on your blog so I'll surely keep you posted.

Nice! Following the thread

I've done this stretch before but stopped in Togo.
Are you driving or taking public transport

I did this in 2009 with my 4 brothers. Took bus to Mile 2, then a car to seme border. You will pass the Nigerian border on foot. Sometimes, the police or immigration officer may ask for proof of I'd. Please take your passport or any id card. You can change money at the se.e border. You may decide to get your passport stamped or not. You will then take a bike to Benin Republic. One of my brothers was delayed cos of no id card. We paid 200 naira then to release him.
We then took another car to le grande marche where dey sell okrika clothes then went to a cheap dingy hotel to sleep. We continued by road to togo which was less stressful than the Nigerian leg of the journey.

Best of luck dude. If you like I can give you a few pages off my blog to chronicle your journey

Hello beautiful people,

Sorry I have not updated. Had a lot of work pending, been clearing my desk. It was an awesome action packed trip, if you ask me I will do it all over again!
We made a lot of great friends, connected and kept in touch via facebook. The lil lady learnt to 'talk' during the trip. She has added itsch, didit, toitoi, wahtoh to her vocabulary, and she grew a tard taller as well, lol!

I did not spend enough time in Germany and Switzerland to give a proper review of their reception but the Italians are just awesome! They are very welcoming and accommodating. I didn't feel a hint of racism, in fact I felt they were too touchy. Quick to hug and kept kissing the lil lady's cheeks without permission.

As a point, I was a live attraction/freak show carrying my baby on my back. Many times people especially women stopped me to ask how I managed to achieve strapping the baby to my back with just a cloth and how safe it was back there. Others, especially at the airport on our way back home, had a good laugh.

Spending in Euros is not quite fun. A plastic bottle of 50 cl coke is over 2 euros (N800) Gave myself a headache from all that conversion. A meal averagely costs 10 euro, already N4,000. I don't think I have every spent that much on a single meal in forever!

What's next? Well I take a road trip to baby daddy who lives and work in the East. Perhaps I should chronicle that as well? Lol, the River Niger and the onitsha bridge is a sight to behold, I kid you not.

I don't know which country my wanderlust will take me to next. One Nairalander has infected me with a keen interest in Argentina and South America as a whole. I may need to be in North America in December, a friend of mine wants us to take a road trip across West Africa (Lagos to Liberia).. I have not decided yet. My plan right now is how to make more money! Lolz!

If you ever catch wanderlust and Europe catches your eye, please drop by and share your experience with us. Especially the countries I did not visit (France, Belgium, Spain etc). Let's see the world through your eyes!

Anyways, this is not goodbye.

omoharry:
Welldone wanderlustian.I have never followed a thread as this.You are an interesting writer. please wht is the name of that neat hostel again?

It is DISCOVERY 234 Hostel Via Cernaia 32, Stazione Termini, Rome, 00185, Italy

This is San Marco, one of the busiest parts of Venice

Important notice

The classical Venetian boat is the gondola, (plural: gondole) although it is now mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies, or as 'traghetti' (sing.: traghetto) to cross the Canale Grande in the absence of a nearby bridge. Many gondolas are lushly appointed with crushed velvet seats and Persian rugs. Less well-known is the smaller sandolo.

Venice is built on an archipelago of 117 islands formed by 177 canals in a shallow lagoon, connected by 409 bridges.[49] In the old centre, the canals serve the function of roads, and almost every form of transport is on water or on foot. In the 19th century, a causeway to the mainland brought the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station to Venice, and the Ponte della Libertà road causeway and parking facilities (in Tronchetto island and in piazzale Roma) were built during the 20th century. Beyond the road and rail land entrances at the northern edge of the city, transportation within the city remains (as it was in centuries past) entirely on water or on foot. Venice is Europe's largest urban car-free area. Venice is unique in Europe, in having remained a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

I purchased a water bus ticket for 7.50 euros and join the queue heading to the Grand Canal