Afrinkong
Nature & Landscapes
Mangrove to Sahel
Niger delta mangrove in the south, rainforest, savanna, and the Sahel at the Niger border.
West Africa · Afrinkong
Nigeria
The loudest country on the continent.
One in five Africans is Nigerian. Afrobeats, Nollywood, the Benin bronzes, Yankari's elephants and the Obudu plateau — a country that exports its culture faster than anywhere else on earth.
Where it is
Africa · West Africa · Nigeria
The land in brief
- Spans
- 1,300 km E–W, 1,070 km N–S
- Latitude
- 14°N to 4°N
- Borders
- 4 countries
- Sea
- Has a coast
- Best time
- Dry season across the country, and the festival calendar sits inside it.
Also in West Africa
BeninWhere vodun comes from, and the palaces of DahomeyBurkina FasoThe best cinema and the best masks in West AfricaCôte d'IvoireLagoons, forest and the AtlanticThe GambiaA river with a country around itGhanaThe forts, the forest and the highlife
Compare Nigeria with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
Dry season across the country, and the festival calendar sits inside it.
01Highlights
What Nigeria is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Nature & Landscapes
Yankari and Gashaka
Yankari's elephant herds, and Gashaka-Gumti's forest chimpanzees on the Cameroon border.
The Obudu Plateau
Sixteen hundred metres of grassland on the Cameroon border, with cattle ranches and cloud.
Lagos and the Atlantic
Tarkwa Bay, Elegushi and the long Atlantic beaches east towards Lekki.
Cross River
The Cross River forest holds the last of Nigeria's gorillas and some of West Africa's tallest trees.
Five Hundred Languages
Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and around five hundred more, in one country.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Nigeria with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- Mangrove to SahelNiger delta mangrove in the south, rainforest, savanna, and the Sahel at the Niger border.
- The Obudu PlateauSixteen hundred metres of grassland on the Cameroon border, with cattle ranches and cloud.
- Erin-Ijesha and GuraraErin-Ijesha's seven stages in Osun, and the Gurara falls on the road to Abuja.
- The Niger and the BenueTwo great rivers meeting at Lokoja, and the delta they build a thousand kilometres downstream.
- Lagos and the AtlanticTarkwa Bay, Elegushi and the long Atlantic beaches east towards Lekki.
- Cross RiverThe Cross River forest holds the last of Nigeria's gorillas and some of West Africa's tallest trees.
Wildlife
- Yankari and GashakaYankari's elephant herds, and Gashaka-Gumti's forest chimpanzees on the Cameroon border.
- YankariThe country's best game reserve, with a warm spring you can swim in at the centre of it.
- Community ForestAfi Mountain's drill ranch and the Cross River community forests, both village-run.
- Hike, Paddle, RideThe Jos plateau, the Obudu ranch trails, and creek boats through the delta.
People and culture
- Five Hundred LanguagesYoruba, Igbo, Hausa and around five hundred more, in one country.
- Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, FulaniFour large cultures and hundreds of smaller ones, each with its own courts and calendars.
- Osun-Osogbo and CalabarThe Osun-Osogbo grove festival in August, and the Calabar carnival through December.
- Bronze, Adire and Aso OkeBenin bronze casting still practised in Igun street, and adire resist-dyed cloth in Abeokuta.
- Jollof, Suya and EgusiSuya off the grill at night, egusi with pounded yam, and the jollof question again.
- Loud, and WelcomingNot a quiet holiday — but there is nowhere friendlier once you are through the door.
- Danfo and BukaThe yellow buses, the roadside buka, and a city that does not stop at any hour.
Places
- Lagos, Abuja, KanoLagos on the lagoon, purpose-built Abuja in the middle, and Kano's thousand-year-old walls.
- Mud Mosques and ModernismHausa mud architecture in the north, and the 1970s modernism of Lagos and Abuja.
- Benin City and Sungbo's EredoThe walls of Benin, and Sungbo's Eredo — a hundred and sixty kilometres of earthworks.
- The BronzesThe Benin bronzes are the reason half the museums of Europe have a Nigeria problem.
Ways to travel
- Plateau and DeltaHiking the Jos plateau, the Obudu cable car, and creek trips through the delta.
- Lagos Island HotelsVictoria Island and Ikoyi at one end, and Obudu's mountain resort at the other.
- Colour and CrowdMarkets, festivals and cloth — the hardest thing here is choosing what to leave out.
- IdanreThe Idanre hills, with an old town six hundred steps up and nobody else climbing them.
03Why go
The case for Nigeria.
Why Visit This Country
The Culture Everyone Else Is Watching
Afrobeats and Nollywood came from here, and it is worth seeing where.
Hidden Gems
Idanre
The Idanre hills, with an old town six hundred steps up and nobody else climbing them.
Eco Tourism
Community Forest
Afi Mountain's drill ranch and the Cross River community forests, both village-run.
Heritage
The Bronzes
The Benin bronzes are the reason half the museums of Europe have a Nigeria problem.
04Go deeper
All of Nigeria, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
Plan your journey →
Begin
Your Nigeria starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.