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TravelTips24 : Africa : West Africa

West Africa

West Africa is the western region of Africa. In the north the region is bounded by the Sahel, and in the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean.

Countries

It is generally considered to consist of the following countries:

Sometimes Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad are also considered as West African states.

Cities

Lagos, Abidjan, Kano, Ibadan, Dakar, Accra, Conakry, Kaduna, Douala and Yaoundé

Other destinations

Culture and History

Talk

Mostly due to the colonial past of the continent, common languages spoken in the region are French, English and Portuguese.

Travel to West Africa & Visa Requirements

Tours & Getting around West Africa

Generally it takes time - and a whole lot of patience - to move around in West Africa. The roads are not all in great conditions and many roads aren't paved. Always be sure to have an extra day or two in the end if you are going somewhere since planning is very hard when the transport is unreliable.

West Africa attractions and sightseeing

Go to Benin if you´re interested in voodoo because this is where it origins. There should be plenty of opportunities to go to voodoo festivals and fetish markets.

Mali has Dogon-country which is a world heritage site. Also go to Timbuktu/tombouctou - the city known from Donald Duck magazines - and Gao which contains yet another world heritage site.

If you're interested in meeting some of the world friendliest people go to Burkina Faso or Ghana.

West Africa city tours

West Africa Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

West Africa nightlife, bars, clubs & pubs

Don't drink tap water unless you have a cholera vaccination which also protects you against tourist diarrehea.

Make sure your water bottles are sealed and not just refilled with tap water. It can be hard to see.

Stay safe

West africa is probably the one place on earth where you should protect yourself in every way from mosquitoes. Do not sleep without a net and do not go without malaria-medicine.

Also you need a yellow-fever vaccination to enter most (if not all) of these countries.

Remember to check all of your other vaccinations because many other might be necessary (meningitis, typhus, cholera, rabies).

Get out

This page was last edited at 21:23, on 1 September 2008 by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Peter Fitzgerald, Carina, Tim Sandell, Ryan Holliday, Colin Jensen, Evan Prodromou, Ricardo, Kasper Souren and Yann Forget, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, Valtteri, Morph and Huttite, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.

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