Hi all,

I'm reluctant to post a question about fear and personal safety as it a sensitive, complex and political issue, and none of us likes to admit their true fears or failures in public. However, I have come to the point in my trip planning that I must confront and understand my own fears about travelling through West Africa.

Of course any non-traveller that I speak to in my day to day life says "you're crazy" or asks "do you want to die?" when I tell them of my plans, and of course I take their comments with a pinch of salt, but I'm hoping to get some help and advice with how to approach this aspect of the trip. How to be more informed about the true risks and separate what is scary from what is dangerous.

With my (Australian) government advising against travel to many of the countries I want to visit, how do I go about assessing and managing the risks that come with West African travel? I'm a fairly quiet, careful person and not generally one to flout authority (of the organised, modern, Western democratic kind at least).

I realise that the above statement on its own makes me sound like a complete rookie, seasoned travellers seem to scoff at "ridiculous" government travel advisories and appear to be able to take chaos in their stride, ambling into war-zones to party with the locals. But the truth is that I am a rookie, and I need help approaching this level-headedly.

I am not asking for someone to make the decision to go for me, but I do want to know from those more experienced than I what resources I should be looking for to help better understand what I'm getting myself into, and to at least know that I don't do anything really stupid.

How have others approached this aspect of a trip into the unknown, and in particular areas of the globe that are considered "no go" by everyone in your immediate circle.

I'm not really looking for "don't worry, be happy" type of reassurance (but I'll take it). There are plenty of ride reports out there that paint a positive picture, but ride reports tend to be written when one feels positive, and is the last thing on the list when things get tough.

In short: I'm scared. Should I be? And if not, what do I need to go and learn about to know that it's just fear of the unknown and nothing worse?

Truth is Africa is amazing, and part of the amazement is how different it is.
Being wary is a good thing, being paralyzed by fear is not.
You will probaby grow into it in a week or two. Find a companion when you start out.
I have never been robbed or seriously ill in Africa.
And never had a serious road accident, but that is the worst problem.
The rest can be handled with patience and common sense.

I would try and find an ex-pats forum that covers the area of concern and ask there, real on the spot information will be better than any government generalisations about a country.

Ease into it.

If headed for West Africa from Europe, Morocco will give you adequate preparation. If you don't like it, you'll know all you need to know long before you get to Lagos (or even Mauritania). If coming from the south, South Africa and Namibia will accomplish the same. Don't hurry--at least initially--and take note of your reactions and improvements in basic skills and comfort.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

I rode the west Africa route this year, north to south and Lagos was one of the highlights
my advise -- make contact with the many local bikers there (not just the ex pats as advised above, but locals) and they will be the best hosts you ever meet. I will PM you some contacts if you wish
and go to the old sports stadium on sunday afternoon. many bikers turn up there and you will have the best time.

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Thanks @priffe, that's exactly the boundary that I want to find. I don't think there's any doubt that I will go at this point, but this particular aspect of the trip is one that's difficult to get to grips with remotely, or by reading ride reports and watching Youtube videos!

I like your suggestion of finding a companion or fellow traveller to hook up with for sections where I feel uncertain, which is what I was hoping to do.

Thanks Mark, that's also a good suggestion. I'll start doing that for countries that I'm going to visit. I'm also going to make an attempt to learn a bit of basic French in advance, which should make things feel less foreign when I hit the ground.

Thanks Mark, that is definitely helpful. I grew up in (rural) South Africa and travelled through Southern Africa when I was young (with my parents). But that was a long time ago and I don't know how much this relates to the rest of Africa, particularly Franchophile Africa.

Thanks Brian, it would be great to be in touch with you and your contacts in Lagos, too. The reason I chose Lagos in the title of my post wasn't just because it sounded good. It's a city that for some reason has intrigued me for a long time, and I'd love to visit it (despite being petrified!).

Thanks again to everyone for their input, looking forward to reading any further responses (if there are some).

Dave