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No place will appeal to "everyone". For example, I don't want to go to London or Tokyo or New York. I don't want to go on a Carinval Cruise. I don't want to go to Hawiaii or Switzerland. I'd rather go to Nigeria. But I'm (happily), not "everyone".
As for "missing much", you will be missing a lot if you don't go to Africa, but it doesn't have to be Nigeria. Nigeria would be one of the better African distinations, for two reasons. First, most people speak English (instead of French), and second, the English-speaking countries of Africa are somewhat cheaper than the Francophone countries, most of whose currency is tied to the Euro.
However, Africa is not for the timid. If you expect a vacation in which nothing will go wrong, stick to Switzerland and Hawaii.
In, short, if you're a "traveler", Nigeria is right for you. If you're a "tourist", it isn't. Nigeria is one of the places that defines the difference.
Last edited by BstYet2Be; 11-25-2011 at 08:20 PM..
Reason: Mod Note: Original post changed from "everyone" to "anyone"
In reply to your re-asked question, ("Is traveling/visiting Nigeria for anyone?"), the answer is Yes. I enjoyed Nigeria, in spite of the fact that I was there at the most trying time in the country's history. It was 1976, and everything was in complete chaos. There were few phones working in the country. There was no point paying for an AC room because the electricity went off every night, usually all night. Traffic in Lagos was such a nightmare, people stopped commuting home and stayed at work all week. The last two military dictators had been either deposed or assassinated within the past year.
Still, I had no negative experiences with Nigerians. They were hospitable and friendly and cooperative with the needs of a mystified traveler, and tolerably honest, and otherwise pretty well left me alone.
There will be plenty of things that will happen in Africa, that a tourist will call a disaster and a traveler will call an adventure. You are obviously a tourist. If you can't deal with a missing plug in your sink, phone the 800 number for Carnival Cruise, and let your vacation's activity director lead you by the hand.
Last edited by BstYet2Be; 11-25-2011 at 08:21 PM..
Reason: quoted post was NOT the OP, therefore removed. However, post HAS been changed to ask "anyone", not "everyone" as noted
Oh, if it was just a missing plug in the sink. But its not, is it? Its bacteria, virus, kidnapping, theft, begging, disgusting food, endless delays, more begging, lost luggage, canceled plans, etc. What a tourist would call unacceptable, a traveler would call a nightmarish waste of time and a masochist would sign up to go again next year.
Oh, if it was just a missing plug in the sink. But its not, is it? Its bacteria, virus, kidnapping, theft, begging, disgusting food, endless delays, more begging, lost luggage, canceled plans, etc. What a tourist would call unacceptable, a traveler would call a nightmarish waste of time and a masochist would sign up to go again next year.
When I was a traveler, I just called those adventures. No nightmares, and there wasn't a minute on the road that was a waste of my time.
Ive had Hep A and dysentery and a menagerie of parasites, surgery in a Middle Eastern hospital, I've been interrogated at gunpoint for two hours, a few times I've had food that wasn't overly palatable (mostly in England), none of my delays were endless, but there were some long and tiring ones like three days in a little town in China when the road washed out, Air France are the only people who ever lost my baggage (on a London-Paris flight), and if you want to know the real India, spend a day in the police station filling out a theft form. Adventures. Survived them all, and even learned something along the way about a lot of people, including myself.
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Lagos might be an experience, being the biggest city in Sub-Saharan Africa. If I wanted a taste of West Africa maybe, but it's not really high on my list. There's also Ghana, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast. If I had to choose one country in West Africa to see it would probably be the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) since it's the epitome of the 'dark heart of Africa' and the African jungles.
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