From Lagos to Cameroon
 

Hi,

I"m currently in Accra, Ghana. Awaiting my Nigerian visa from the friendly bunch at the Nigerian High Commision here (!)

I would like to know what people regard as a safe route across Nigeria to Cameroon and if they have any suggestions for budget accomodation on the way across.
Also, is Lagos the place to get your Cameroon visa?

Thanks for your help.

Ed

Calabar
 

You can get Cameroon visa also in Calabar (on the coast near Cameroon border).

Hey there.

I went through Nigeria from the north and got my Cameroon visa in Abuja. I've always been told that the southern part of Nigeria is a pretty hairy area with lots of horror stories to be told. But I haven't experienced it myself. The parts of Nigeria I have been through, have been friendly and quite beautiful. Roads are excellent but it seems that many nigerian drivers seem intent on proving the theory that if you travel fast enough, you will travel through time. You realy have to watch yourself on the roads.

I crossed the Nigeria/Cameroon border in early January this year. If memory serves, the border town was called Ikom or Mfum. On the Cameroon side the first bigger town was called Mamfe. At the Cameroon border we asked if we could have gotten our visas here, and the answer was "yes". But the borderpost in Nigeria made a big issue out of finding our visas for Cameroon, before letting us through to the other side. So....*shrug*. Safest bet is to get it before you hit the border.

The roads were dry at the time, and thank God for that. Had it been raining, there is no chance of making that piece of road on a bike if it had been raining. Big holes that you drive down in for several meters, and then emerge on the other side. If these holes were to be filled up with water, there is simply no way of driving that bit. Going around the holes is not an option because of the forrest and steep escarpments. Check up on weather before going that route.

Accomodation wise, I realy can't help you a lot. But suffice it to say that nigerians aren't big on camping. Hotels is the safe bet, but they aren't all that expensive. I'd say West Africa prices + 10-20 %. If you only intend to travel through Nigeria (like I did) and not stay there for a long time, staying at hotels is not going to kill your budget. I didn't look long and hard for campsites, so there actually might be some around.

Best regards

Torsten

Hi Ed,

I've just come up the opposite way. I'd agree with most of what Torsten has said - Nigeria was actually really enjoyable, nice friendly people and I got no hassles at all. It's a busy populous place and there are decent hotels in every town of any reasonable size. If you are prepared to pay in the 20 to 30 USD bracket you will get something clean with bathroom and usually aircon. Pay less and there is a steep drop in quality! Be carefull to have enough money on you. Changing money can be a real pain in the arse so best get enough at the border you enter from if you can. ATMs only accept Mastercard, not visa and only then if you are lucky. Apart from accommodation all else is cheap.

Disagree on roads though. There are lots of good roads in Nigeria, there are also some really rotten ones which are marked as major highways. I think if you want to get on the best ones you should go from Lagos to Abuja and then down to Calabar. I found the back roads really rewarding in terms of people if not always for the riding experience.

I crossed into Benin to Pobe - this is a really mellow border with decent roads, apart from a slightly rough dirt section in no mans land, and then you can avoid Lagos altogether. Watch out though the Benin customs is in Pobe Town and not at the border. From Nigeria to Cameroun totally agree with Torsten, the road is a shocker, I actually found it fun and the 80 odd km took me about 3 hours with plenty of photo stops. But if it is raining probably best avoided. There is an overnight boat you can take from Calabar to Limbe, by March time an express 3 hour luxury service should also be running again. By the way the road down from Mamfe to Limbe is pretty rotten too! Alternatively you can do the Northern border with Cameroun but I've no experience of that.

Don't worry about Nigeria, throw yourself in and enjoy. It's nothing like reputation would have you believe.

Cheers

Richard

We came through Niger into northern Nigeria near Kano, south to Yankari and Abuja, then south east into Cameroon. Waypoint for Cameroon high commision in Abuja on our gps page, here: Dan and Ed's Motorcycle Adventure - Brighton2capetown - Waypoints

Various people we met along the way had different experiences of Nigeria, we had no major problems although everyone we met had issues with the SSS (the special security service, a right royal pain in the pants).

There'll be more waypoints added when I do the final site update after I get home (the bike and I are flying out of cape town in a week or so).