My old connection with Nigeria!
My old passport carries a yellow fever vaccination certificate. You must possess it if you are travelling to Nigeria. I remember procuring it at the time when it used to be difficult to get appointments at the few selected hospitals in Delhi where one had to stand in queues for taking that one vaccination. My last company, Ericsson handled the Airtel project for Nigeria and my manager was really keen on sending me to Lagos for KT (knowledge transfer), back in the year 2011. Honestly, I was absolutely reluctant about going there because everyone I met told me that it wasn’t a safe place and nothing close to a tourist-friendly country. Also, I was a novice blogger then and nowhere close to the idea of being a travel blogger someday. Hence, I never thought of grabbing that opportunity of seeing an offbeat country that does not fall on everyone’s radar. The trip didn’t materialise and I had no qualms about it. I thought that was the last time I would hear about Nigeria. After 6 years down the line, I wish I had gone there at least once. At least, I would have known whether I can tag along with my husband next time if he goes there for few months. The reputation it has and the personal experiences that I heard make me indecisive.
People do Travel To Nigeria but majorly for work!
In the last six years, Nigeria has been a familiar name in my house due to my consultant husband. He had been there a couple of times and while I write this post, he must be busy in his office in Lagos. Whenever he travels there, we often discuss as to why I can’t join him there. Somehow he isn’t comfortable with the idea of taking me to a place where there are too many restrictions until I am all set to see the city from the window of one of the hotel apartment from behind of curtains. As a travel blogger, it may not be easy for me to not be curious to step out of the house because I love discovering new places. What is the fun when you need a chauffeur driven car and security escorts to move around. And as the truth would be, anyone who has been to Nigeria has never suggested me to go there. Well, I am not sure what may be your differ but it isn’t one of those usual tourist friendly destinations. With violent ethnic groups in many parts of the country, political instability, extreme disparity between the rich and the poor leading to 2 out of 3 Nigerian living in extreme poverty and issue of safety on the roads, it’s not a place that anyone would be excited about. And on top of things, it involves a really difficult visa process. But of the good and the bad things about it, I always wish to join my husband there whenever he visits Lagos for a good number of weeks. I wish there was a Nigeria tourism board which promoted a cause.
Breakfast at Craft Gourmet in Lagos, Nigeria
There isn’t much that I get to hear from my husband about exploring in and around Lagos except some restaurants and grocery shops. For most of the day, his routine is office to hotel and hotel to office. The latest that I have from him are these pictures from Craft Gourmet where he stopped by for his breakfast last Saturday and he and his friends quite liked it. So if you have been looking for the content in connection with the heading, honestly there isn’t much except these pictures which look delicious. By any chance, any one who is reading this in Lagos or has plans to go there can definitely try this place in Mega Plaza on Victoria Island.
I am trying to make an impression of the restaurant from its seating arrangement!
Just like you would believe what you saw in these pictures, I too try to make an impression of Nigeria through these little tidbits that I get from my husband.
Among the everyday things, here are some facts that have caught my fascination for Nigeria!!!
- The country gets its name from River Niger though there is an another country named as Niger too.
- Like India, Nigeria is also very fond of making films, fondly known as Nollywood.
- It has the largest diversity of butterflies in the world around Calabar, Cross river state.
- Has huge reserves of crude oil.
- It boasts of the longest bridge in Africa which is the ‘Third Mainland bridge’ that connects Lagos with the mainland.
- The cost of living in the capital city of Abuja is unaffordable by the general working class.
- It is emerging as major telecommunications market in the world.
Keep watching for more updates from Nigeria!!
Happy Travelling to different places and keep following me here….
This time the weather is so gud, as it’s the rainy season here. The restaurant Craft Gourmet was really good and had a lot of healthy options to choose from for health freaks…
I can understand why tourism is just not big there, although that is a reason for many to want to explore this country. Being a woman no doubt is even more problematic and it is sad the level of poverty that exists. Hopefully this will start to change over time and tourism can become a good earner for the economy there. Thanks for sharing what you could.
An interesting post on a country not usually visited by many other than Nigerians. The food choices look ok, how was your breakfast? I’m not a fan of spicy foods, so I would settle for the pancakes and eggs option! Thanks for sharing.
I myself am guilty of putting Africa in the least priority in my travel list, though it’s largely because of the high cost of travel if coming from my home country. I’ve met wonderful people from Africa from my official trips abroad and I’ve always been curious what it’s like to experience Africa. Because of them, I get more inspired to visit their country. I do hope tourism will progress in Nigeria and other African neighbors, but I also hope it does so in a way that will preserve the unique African culture and its environment.
I didn’t realise there was so much amazing food to try! Love the look of those smoothies! Also love how you have included some fun facts about Nigeria too – thanks for sharing!
Wow all that food looked so fantastic and the smoothies!!! I didn’t know those facts about Nigeria! Looking forwardd to more posts!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us! I’ve never really gave much thought about traveling to Nigeria but will try to keep an open mind. I love the facts your provided, had no idea they were so into movies! Also that breakfast looks SO good, and it must be the angles but those smoothies look huge haha.
I must admit whilst I love Africa (it’s my favorite continent), I’ve never been particularly keen on the idea of traveling in Nigeria. The extreme poverty and the issue of being a woman both don’t bode well for travel in the region. Hopefully more tourism will improve conditions for all and it won’t be so much of an issue in the future.
I haven’t been to Africa and Nigeria isn’t too high on my list (yet, perhaps that will change!), but that food looks really delicious! Especially the smoothies; they look so mouthwatering! Thanks for the facts about Nigeria. I love that they have their own version of Hollywood; how cool! 🙂 Cheers!
It is true due to safety reasons we don’t opt for Nigeria specially with family. You took a nice step to explored Nigeria and giving us helpful tips. Good to know about Nollywood famous for films and it is an emerging telecom market.