Living Your Best Life In Europe and Africa

One of the ways I try to live my best life is by traveling, but due to the way my life is set up (working, mothering, adulting) I don't get out that much (for now). I like to live my travel dreams vicariously through others. My cousin and his wife recently had the opportunity to travel to Europe and Africa for a few months. I'm not sure if it is possible to summarize their extensive trip, but that didn't stop me from asking my cousin a few questions about his experience.

Where did you go/places visited?

2 weeks - London, Amsterdam, Rome, Cinque Terre.

3 months - Lagos,  Nigeria 

About 4 days - Accra, Ghana

2 weeks after- about 1 week in South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town, the garden route) and about 5 days in Swakopmund, Namibia.

How was the flight? 

The flight going there wasn't too bad.  We had to stop in London anyway, so we made a trip out of it and stayed in Europe for 2 weeks before continuing on to Nigeria. I believe it was a 10 hour flight to London, then another 8 hours to Nigeria. 

Did you visit any famous landmarks? 

In Europe we did a lot of touring. Big Ben (London), the Colosseum (Rome), Anne Frank House (Amsterdam), visited Hauge in the Netherlands.

In Nigeria, there wasn't too much, but we did go to the Market in Lagos and visit Nike Art Gallery and the wildlife conservatory. 

In South Africa we visited Lion's head park in Cape Town and drove along the Garden Route.

In Namibia we drove along the skeleton coast. 

Best experience.

Meeting Obama in the gym in South Africa.

Also the people of Nigeria were very friendly and welcoming (most times, see below). We made some great friends. 

Worst experience.

Getting tongue tied in front of Obama in South Africa.

If I have to pick another one, it would be the first time (there were many) the Nigerian police pulled us over. They were not friendly in this interaction at all. They pulled us over for no reason (as they typically do), told my wife not to speak because they were talking to me and forced me to get out of the car. At this point we had been in the country for about 3 days and now there are 3 officers with AK-47s in their hands yelling at me. Eventually, they learn I am a lawyer from the US and they let me go without any further trouble, but it was a tense few minutes. 

 Most surprising.

The amount of poverty that is in your face for a resource rich country. The streets are bad and there are a lot of people that live on close to no pay. On the other hand there are lots of ridiculously rich people, fancy restaurants and luxury cars on the streets. The disparity is really in your face.

What didn't you do you wish you did?

I wish I got the chance to visit Fela Shrine in Nigeria. A local spot with live music where all the real Nigerians go to unwind on Thursday nights. I did not want to go without a local to guide me and the timing never worked out unfortunately. 

Would you go back?

For sure. 

How was the food?

Delicious, and spicy (but it made me sick off and on for the first 3 weeks or so). I typically like spicy food and when I tried to order the "spicy" version of a meal, my mouth was on fire. The "standard" version of most meals had plenty of spice for me. After that my body acclimated. The Jollof rice was delicious and they had some great fish everywhere we went. Another staple part of Nigerian food, that was not my favorite, is "swallow". Basically, a mound of starch that you eat with your main plate. Mostly I had pounded yam, but there were many other types. It was fairly flavorless, but helped with the spice.