The Instability of West Africa Makes it a More Fascinating Travel Destination

There goes the spring travel plan. That was, selfishly, my first reaction when I read the news article last week that soldiers in the country of Benin showed on a live broadcast on national television, declaring that they had overthrown the civilian government, stripped the president of his powers, and closed the country's borders. Despite the government's declaration a few days later that an attempted coup was thwarted and people could go back to "business as usual," for the foreign traveler, the uncertainty was enough to put off casual visits.

For someone who has already been to more than 100 countries, there are very few low-hanging fruit left to pick when it comes to further expanding the list of countries visited. With most of Europe and North Africa covered beyond those with civil wars and hard-to-get visas, and a Middle East trip undertaken last spring, the next closest and cheapest destinations unvisited lay in West Africa. The original plan was already anxiety-inducing enough: a road trip along the coast, bookended by the bustling metropolises of Abidjan and Lagos. 

And smack in the middle of the route lies Benin. With online information on overland routes in this part of the world already few and far between, it is almost possible that every traveler who travels is traveling blind, unsure whether the borders are open, the visas are recognized, the amount of bribe to pay, and the buses to take. While some, and I myself included, are often excited by the prospect of becoming trailblazers, there are limits to the excitement. It is neither fun nor economical when a meticulously crafted plan falls apart, and the workaround involves backtracking or last-minute flights.

And the frustration is not just about logistics. The attempted coup in Benin just shows how normalized political instability has become in the wider region. Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau...the list of military officers brazenly taking over from civilians in the name of promoting democracy and national security, only to linger on past self-promised election dates, seems to have no end. With many of the putschists espousing some radical form of xenophobic nationalism, foreign travelers should be aware of increased harassment, requests for bribes, and even prison time.

The alternative to military governance is worse. Coups legitimize rebel movements, many of which, despite their propaganda, exist not for national development but self-enrichment. Tribal forces happily butcher people based on their race and fund their genocidal campaigns through a combination of exploiting natural resources when available, blackmailing and shaking down foreign investors, as well as kidnapping and ransoming, yes, foreign travelers. No matter how friendly the locals can be, they are powerless to protect others from the men with the guns.

The whole laundry list of risks to personal safety almost begs the question of why anyone would want to travel the region beyond the vain goal of ticking countries off a checklist. Granted, I am interested in that checklist, too, but the instability actually strengthens the motivation and curiosity to go. Amidst coups and crimes, many people live in, many of whom are even thriving as small businessmen, fulfilling the real everyday needs of the local population. Success in such volatility is an achievement worth witnessing, and if possible, learning deeper about.

Environments in flux always provide the greatest opportunities to see human ingenuity in action. Some unscrupulous entrepreneurs will cash in on wars and human suffering. But many will also innovate to help their families and communities. Whether for good or bad, they are the street-smart often lost in the calmer, safer, more "developed" parts of the world, where financial capital, regulations, and proprietary knowledge are ingredients for personal and professional growth rather than how to adapt to changing realities of the physical world.

It is as if conflicts create a certain morbid kind of egalitarianism. Just like the soldiers pushing out elected presidents, people who climb to the top do not need to have gone through the elite schools, corporate hierarchy, and curated publicity. The illiterate can even rule over millions should they manage to be fortunate, persuasive, and ruthless enough. Many will dread that dog-eat-dog world where there really is no rule aside from might makes right. But it is that raw energy that I, as a sometimes intrepid traveler, thrive on.