Originally Posted by
shefgab
Next week I have a business trip to Lagos, but will have a full free day before my evening flight home.
I could stay in the hotel, but i'm fairly adventurous, so was hoping to explore a bit. I know Lagos isn't the quintessential tourist destination, so I need some advice:
- Where to go for the day? In town there doesn't seem to be a lot to see. Badagry Town looks interesting, but it's quite a distance from Lagos. The Lekki Conservation Centre also looks interesting, but again is a bit of a journey. I'm staying in a hotel up near the airport. Any good beach clubs?
I was just in Lagos yesterday. I'm guessing you're staying the Lekki area, as that's where most of the upper scale hotels are. The Lekki Conservation is interesting, there's a very tall canopy walk, an old tortoise and a tall tree house. It's a nice escape from Lagos. There's also the Nike Art Gallery, which is nice. Elegushi Beach (near the art gallery) has a run aground ship on the beach, which isn't something you see everyday.
If you're feeling really adventurous, get a driver/guard and have them take you to Makoko. It's a village (very very poor) on the mainland part of Lagos and consists of a bunch of homes built on stilts on the water and everyone get's around on canoes. That was one of my most unique experiences in Nigeria, but it's likely not doable without a guide/guard to help you negotiate/get around, etc.
- How to get around. I'm a little worried about security, and so i'm interested in hiring a driver with a car (and security guard?). I can't find much information on cars and drivers online....can anyone point me in the right direction (feel free to send me a message).
I have contacts in Nigeria that arranged transportation and security for me. In Lagos, we used Bell Protocols. The guy that runs it, Fred, is awesome. I'm not sure on pricing or anything as I wasn't the one that paid, but he was great to have around. I'd feel fine using Uber to/from LOS, along with around Lekki and Victoria Island, but I wouldn't venture to Makoko without a guide/security.
- Traffic. I understand that in the last few years the traffic in Lagos has improved - are the Google Map timings to be believed, or should I had a few hours onto every journey?
Traffic is pretty bad. It took us over two hours last week to get from Victoria Island to LOS, but Macron was in town, so roads were closed and traffic was backed up. I'd budget about 90 minutes to get to the airport from Victoria Island/Lekki to be on the safe side.
I wouldn't head over to Badagry. Road conditions are poor and it's a pretty shanty border town, not to mention, it's about a 3 hour drive. Here's a list below of the places I visited (no particular order)...
Lagos/Victoria Island:
Nike Art Gallery
Lekki Conservation Center
Elegushi Beach (ship on the beach)
Balogun Market
National Museum Lagos (has the car Murtala Mohammad was assassinated in)
Mainland:
Makoko Floating Village
For food on VI, RSVP Lagos and Yellow Chilli are both great. The latter being much less expensive.
You're welcome to message me if you have any other questions!