This blog is a free resource filled with information that we have gathered from living and traveling in West Africa. We’d love to have you on one of our trips but from one traveler to another, we are just happy to see people visiting the region.
The blog is also a reflection of our travel philosophy. It’s possible to have quite the adventure in West Africa, but we are a bit tired of reading travelogues that make it seem like walking down the street in your average West African city is a death defying experience. We’d like to think that the advice provided in these pages will help you discover West Africa on its own terms, with an eye to the simple things that make this such a great place to visit.
If you would like to contribute, please get in touch with us on the contact page. For more stories from the road, follow us on Instagram, Youtube and Patreon.
If you join our Scoot West Africa Patreon and sign up for the Chauffeur or Grand Chef membership options, you will get unlimited West Africa travel planning assistance from us for as long as you are a member. The Patreon is also where we share a number of stories and adventures that can’t be found on our other channels.
This is a long overdue video introduction to the bikes that we use on our riding trips in West Africa. The reason I say "bikes" and not "scooters" is because these "bikes" are more of a hybrid, which Matt pointed out in this piece he wrote some years ago. Despite the...
From space, the Sahara looks endless. Then, in the middle of Mauritania, a strange swirl interrupts the monotony: a giant target about 40 kilometers across. This is the Eye of the Sahara, better known to geologists as the Richat Structure. Astronauts use it for...
At our hotel in Bamako, the Sleeping Camel, you can drink a cold drink under the steady gaze of three women who refused to stay in the background of West African history. Their portraits hang together, not because their lives intersected, but because each left a...
The Imraguen are a small fishing community spread across nine villages inside Mauritania’s Banc d’Arguin National Park. If you travel with us on our Mauritania tours, you will almost certainly meet them. And if the wind and tides play along, we might take a sail in a...
Benin does not hold back when it comes to celebrating Vodun Days. Ever year on January 10, the coastal town of Ouidah transforms into the busiest town in Benin. At night it feels like half the country has descended to party into the early hours. Vodun Days is an...