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Liberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026
  • Ron's Odyssey
  • Ron's Odyssey

Liberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026

Continuing the African Odyssey to two West African countries. Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 23, 2026
    Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 0: Departing Port Harcourt

    January 23 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Leaving the house was a bit of a drama as two Bolts declined requesting i convert from card ride to cash which I refused. The third came with a vehicle different from what was registered against the driver on the app so I refused to enter. Eventually the fourth ride came and I left the house at 11am. Drive to the airport was through tank, to Eneka - Igwuruta road. I haven't taken this route for years due to the bridge which was being built there and created considerable traffic. The bridge has been completed and traffic moves freely although the road under the bridge is yet to be tarred.

    Got to the airport by 11:30, I was the first of the checkin queue. Check in started at 12:10. Flight left at 14:00.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Overnight in Lagos

    January 23 in Nigeria ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    Arrived Lagos at 15:00hrs. Flight was smooth and uneventful. My suitcases came in within reasonable time.

    Airport taxis wanted 10k to take me to the hotel. Couldn't get onto Bolt as network at the airport was really bad making internet service difficult. I climbed upto the car park and negotiated a taxi for 8k.

    Got to the hotel. It took them 15 mins to find my reservation which didn't show the payment I had made online to Hotels.ng. phone lines to Hotels.ng were switched off, at a point I thought I had been scammed but then I have paid several times in the past to them. They eventually responded to my distressed WhatsApp message and sent the payment receipt to the hotel after which I was assigned my room after almost ah hour.

    The hotel hallways are very dark with motion sensor lights which come on briefly. My room was at a corner of the hallway, quite big and spacious as I had booked a Deluxe Room haven been told last night that the standard rooms were not available.

    Ordered dinner and a Gulder.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 1: Checkin at MMA2 Lagos

    January 24 in Nigeria ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    My alarm went off at 5am. By 5:35am I was at the reception to check out. Took a Bolt to the new terminal of Murtala Muhammed Imternal Airport. Check in was smooth and effortless, no one asked for a tip everything was handled professionally by NDLEA, Customs & Immigration.

    Bought hot chocolate and a doughnut at a Krispy Kreme stand in the departure hall while waiting to board.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Breakfast in Lome & change of plane

    January 24 in Togo ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Arrived Lome, Togo at 9:00am local time after a 35min flight from Lagos, Nigeria. To get to to the departure hall for my connecting flight I had to go through security scanner. The Lome airport departure hall has only 10 gates, after identifying my gate from the monitor in the hall I headed off to a restaurant for breakfast. My GTB ATM card didn't work on theirPOS terminal and i typed the wrong password when I tried my SCB card, I finally settled for USD cash payment. The meal was tasteless and bland but at least kept the hunger at bay. After breakfast I settled beside my gate waiting for boarding to start on my 14:00hrs flight. Boarding started at about 13:00hrsRead more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Stop over in Abidjan, Cote D'ivoire

    January 24 in Ivory Coast ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Landed at Abidjan airport at 16:35hrs after a short flight from Accra Ghana. This time around a lot more people got off the plane in Abidjan. This stop was added to my flight about a week ago thus extending my arrival in Monrovia, Liberia by 1hr.

    On the flight to Abidjan I was given a chicken sandwich roll and water. Interestingly no one joined the flight from Abidjan

    Pushed back fromthe gate at 17:37    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Arrived in Country No 15, Liberia

    January 24 in Liberia ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Landed in Monrovia at 18:52pm. We were served a proper rice meal on the flight. The total duration of the journey from Lagos was 11hrs and I passed through 3 countries before getting to Liberia. It was the classical Isrealite journey or what we call a Molue flight because of the numerous stops.

    Immigration was a breeze. On getting to the hall, port health only sighted the Yellow Card without flipping through it, then off to Immigration who asked for my profession and where I would be staying and then stamped me in for a 30 day stay. My suitcase came out pretty quickly on the conveyor belt. I passed it through the scanner before exiting the arrival hall. My pickup driver was already out there waiting for me with my name boldly written on a card.

    The drive from the airport to the hotel took over 1hr, part of the road is still under construction after 5 years according to the driver. I was assigned the deluxe room I booked for but it didn't have a great view. The manager apologized and said he could change the room next day if i want.

    I ordered room service jollof rice with croaker fish and a bottle of water.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 2 : 1st view of Monrovia City

    January 25 in Liberia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Had a good night sleep last night. It's been a while since I had an 8 hrs sleep. The 11hr trip yesterday really wore me out. Breakfast in the hotel was nice and free. I had sweet potatoes, plantain with chicken stew and egg with orange juice to push everything down.

    After breakfast I strolled down to the Orange office down the street from the hotel but alas they were not open contrary to what Google map advised. I tried to withdraw USD at a GTB ATM with my GTB card but it said the transaction wasn't allowed.

    On the way back to the hotel I stopped over at a supermarket to buy some provision. Items in the store were priced in USD. It seems Liberia is more expensive than Nigeria.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Vine Lounge & Grill

    January 25 in Liberia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Took a taxi from the hotel to the famous Club Maserrado but alas it was closed and under construction so I visited Vine Lounge beach side instead to enjoy sea breeze and vibes and fake "Sex on the beach" cocktail which didn't taste nice. The beach wasn't crowded. The DJ played a lot of Nigerian songs which added to the ambience. It was a lovely beach outing.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 3: Sim card + Data and Fx exchange

    January 26 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Walked down to the Orange office down the road from my hotel to buy a Sim card and load with data for 1 week. I was attended to by a friendly half Nigerian half Liberian lady who lived in Obiaruku in Delta state.

    I stopped over at the GTB bank to change some money but was told the bank only changes $100k and above so I asked for the nearest Forex Bureau and was directed to one here 1 USD was exchanged for LDR 186.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Keke Tour of Monrovia

    January 26 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    I had contacted Roots of Africa Tours Monrovia weeks before my trip to Liberia and enquired about their Monrovia Keke tour and booked. The tour making some changes to some of the places shown on the initial tour.

    Wendell came to pick me at 11am with a Keke to commence the tour. We drove through different parts of Monrovia during the tour which gave me a very good view of the city. We stopped at the following places:
    * Robert's Monument dedicated to the first president of liberia. The guide gave a brief history of the settlers and the clashes they had with the indigenous people.
    * Ducor hotel was one of the best hotel in West Africa. It was damaged by the civil war and never renovated since then. It is the highest point in Nairobi and I got a good view of West Point from there.
    * Liberia National museum provided a historical insight of liberia, the people and their culture including major events in the history of the country.
    * Centinnial hall built in 1847 and the official venue of all presidential inaugurations in Liberia since then.
    * Providence Island the first place the settlers set up home in Liberia when they returned to the motherland.
    * Executive Pavillion a historic building constructed as part of the executive mansion complex.
    * PHP Unification Park and modern games and exercise park built during the presidency of George Weah.

    In summary it was an interesting tour of historic places and landmarks in Liberia    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Dinner

    January 26 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I found a Liberian restaurant a walking distance from the hotel called Evelyn's cousine. Not wanting to be out late. I left the hotel at 5:30pm and got to the restaurant shortly before 6pm. Ordered fufu with fried Okada and assorted meat. The food was served in less than 5 mins and was nice. This was my first swallow since leaving Nigeria.

    After dinner I took a bike to Tubman Blvd and worked.from there to the hotel.as bikes and Keke are not allowed on the Blvd.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Roof top chillout

    January 26 in Liberia ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    On getting to the hotel I enquired from the manager about their rooftop bar and was told it was open to guest and it wasn't compulsory to buy anything there. So I picked up the sweet Red Wine I bought yesterday and took it to the rooftop to drink while enjoying the cool breeze.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Univeristy of Liberia

    January 27 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    The walk from the hotel to the University of Liberia took 24mins. It gave me a good opportunity to see more of Monrovia. Key offices I passed on the way were:
    * Monrovia City corporation
    * United Nations
    * National oil company of Liberia
    * Stella Maris Polytechnic University

    University of Liberia on Capitol hil is the main campus and was established in 1862. There are 3 other campuses of the university in Liberia. The main campus is quite small and the infrastructures not well maintained for a 164 year old institution I was expecting much more.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Cooling off

    January 27 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Stopped over at Nice Ice Cream shop on my way back to the hotel to cool off. The Ice cream was good and the shop was part of a petrol station and spacious, run by a Lebanese. It seems most business here are run by Lebanese. Tried to pay with my GTB naira card but the payment was declined.Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 5: Lunch at Fuzion

    January 28 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I woke up late and missed the free breakfast, so I decided to visit Fuzion, last night's Liberian restaurant for a swallow lunch. Sadly they didn't have swallow today so I ate the same meal I had last night which is Palm butter soup with white rice.

    After the meal I strolled down the road entering numerous supermarkets and sports shops for a Liberia or Monrovia embossed fridge magnet, face cap and t-shirt. Found two stores with t-shirt but none was my size.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Ocean 11 dinner

    January 28 in Liberia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I had planned to have dinner at Ambassador beach but on getting to the beach I found tents and some homeless looking boys loitering around the beach so I retreated quickly back to the main road and decided to go to Ocean 11 which was close by.

    I noticed that a lot of compounds were running on generators. Ocean 11 is a sports facility with a restaurant. It had a small fully fenced football court with roof net and a gymn. It is located beside the beached but fenced off from it. At the poolside restaurant you can see the beach through the glass wall.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Departing Monrovia, Liberia

    January 29 in Liberia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    My flight out of Monrovia was changed from 7:30am to 6:40am as such I had to leave the hotel foe the airport at 4am. To meet up with this ungodly hour I set my alarm for 3am.

    Barrie kept to time and was at the hotel by 3:52am by which time I had already checked out and was waiting at the lobby.

    The drive to the airport was about 50mins. No traffic but there was heavy fog / haze along the way which reduced visibility drastically. We eventually got to the airport at few minutes before 5am.

    My initial flight was an Israelite journey as follows Monrovia > Accra > Lome >Abidjan and I was meant to reach late afternoon, however the new flight was now Monrovia > Abidjan > Accra > Lome >Abidja so I told the check in staff to cut out the other legs in the schedule shortening the duration and ensuring I arrive Abidjan in the morning.

    I used the waiting time at the airport to spend the bulk of my left over Liberian Dollars sadly I couldn't get a souvenir at the airport.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 1: Arrived country no 16 Cote D'ivoi

    January 29 in Ivory Coast ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Arrived Abidjan, Cote D'ivoire shortly before 9:00am. Very few (about 10) of us got off the plane. Immigration was fast, no questions asked. A picture and finger prints were taken right after scanning my passport.

    My suitcase came out after a while and I passed it through the scanner as I was exiting the baggage hall.

    First thing I did on entering the arrival hall was to change some US Dollars. They also change Naira here. Then I bought an Orange Sim card with 15 GB data. I saw a Cote D'ivoire fridge magnet so I quickly bought one and finally relaxed to have a burger at Burger King while trying to burn sometime before going to the hotel as I arrived too early for check in.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    First view of Abidjan

    January 29 in Ivory Coast ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    A Yango taxi picked me up from the Airport. Yangon uses a hailing app similar to Bolt & Uber and I was able to register my Nigerian Naira card on it making it very convenient to use and I wouldn't have any language barrier explaining where I want to go to the taxi driver.

    Abidjan appears to have very good wide roads, road infrastructure is as good as what we have in state capitals in Nigeria. The drive to the hotel was smooth with occasional stops at traffic lights. Within 25mins we were at my hotel.

    Checkin was smooth although I had to scan a QR code to fill the guest form, this requires access to the internet, what would have happened if I hadn't bought an Orage Sim and data at the airport. The room was small compared to my Monrovia hotel room but at least it had a room safe. The hotel is located in the Plateau area which is the central business district of Abidjan.

    For lunch I decided to go for swallow and loacetd a Nigerian restaurant called Delightful Naija Foods a walking distance from the hotel. I ordered Eba with Egusi soup. The restaurant is owned by a Nigerian woman from Delta state who was quite friendly. I also ordered Jollof rice with fish as take away for dinner.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Day 2: Sightseeing on the Plateau

    January 30 in Ivory Coast ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    I didn't plan any event today other than procuring a bus ticket to Yamoussoukro, but I was told there was no need to buy the ticket in advance.

    I ate the take away Jollof rice from yesterday as breakfast and then decided to walk to the Museum of Civilisation located about 24mins away in Plateau where I am staying.

    On getting to the museum I discovered it wasn't open. The building looked as if it has been recently repainted. The security man at the Museum did not allow me take a picture of the building but nevertheless I still managed to get one from the side walk.

    I then proceeded to the famous St Paul's Cathedral. There was a late morning mass holding in the chapel.

    From the cathedral I headed to the famous but now abandoned Pyramid building passing by the new stadium built for AFCON 2023 and the National Assembly.    Read more

  • Ron's OdysseyLiberia & Cote D'ivoire 2026Traveler

    Abidjan Nightlife

    January 30 in Ivory Coast ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Visited Le Pato, a restaurant in Cocody for a late night dinner in an open air setting with DJ music.

    Left the restaurant shortly after 11pm for the club called Pharmacy Bar. Workers in the club including security wore white lab coats with a stethoscope around their neck. The music was all in french but really good. Left the club just before 1am as i had to travel the next morning up countryRead more

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