The Most Underrated Travel Destinations In Nigeria

After reading her first comment on my blog, I could tell she was adventurous and passionate about travel. Hilton has been to Africa only once (when she explored South Africa, Lesotho and Zambia) but she’s got a number of reservations for wanting to visit Nigeria even though she has read and heard tons of interesting stuffs about the home of Nollywood.

Sensing her reluctance, I promised to dedicate one of my subsequent blog posts to her if she tells me why she wouldn’t want to come to Nigeria, and to my surprise, it worked! Here’s her response:

So I consulted some highly rated adventurers in Nigeria to draw from their wealth of knowledge on places they think are the most underrated in the country, knowing fully well that these places are usually more admired by foreigners than Nigerians.  I was overwhelmed with the responses I got, even though I’ve never met any of them in person.

Mizta Atabo™

I’ve been a silent admirer of @iamAtabo for a while and he surprised me with his enthusiastic response few hours after reaching out. in his words “the most underrated destinations to me should be AdoAwaye and Owu Waterfall (one is Africa’s only suspended lake while the other is West Africa’s highest waterfall but no noise about these places from the government. And the warm welcome I got from the locals when I first visited Ado Awaye has to be my most memorable moment as a traveler. I got fed with  plenty Amala and Ewedu… Lol”

Damola Irinajo

On reaching out to @dharmorla, he simply asked for my digits, and before I could press the home key, his call came in and he didn’t stop talking until well after 8 F#%king minutes!

Here’s an excerpt from our conversation:

“Off my head, I think Osun Oshogbo sacred groove, Ado Awaye, Idanre hills are the most underrated in this part of the world. The fact that the sacred groove in Osun is one of the only two UNESCO world Heritage sites In Nigeria and Ado Awaye being one of the only two suspended lakes in the world makes this even more glaring. And I think a portion of the blame should be placed on our over-spirituality as a nation.

Regarding My most memorable moment as a traveler, it’s really hard and almost impossible too because every trip I had taken remains memorable till date, the differentiating factor has always been the people I travel with- each set carrying with them varying degree of vibes. But If I were to choose one, it has to be my trip to Kajuru Castle in Kaduna.

Suggested Read My Journey to the suspended lake Of Ado Awaye

The Fisayo

For @TheFisayo   who has never been ashamed of preaching the gospel of tourism in Nigeria, Makoko is really an Underrated destination, and her most memorable moment happens  every time she travels to new places and meets new people.

4. Amarachi Travel with A Pen

I run to @amaraekekwe_ whenever I need insights, and she barely reneges on her promises to get back to me.

She said this in her response to contribute to the topic:

“I think More people should be visiting Obudu Cattle Ranch, Kajuru Castle, Farin Ruwa and Owu falls in Calabar, Kaduna, Adamawa and Kwara state respectively.
But there are genuine (and some silly )reasons why people don’t travel to these places too anyway, so it’s hard to say what underrated is. Because technically all our sites are at the moment.
For my most memorable moment, I’d say the first time I discovered other Nigerian travel bloggers (unravelling Nigeria and Naija Nomads were the first people I found) That was amazing and the friendship since then has been awesome. And the first time I went couchsurfing too.”

Related: My Solo Adventure To Owu Falls

Sayi

@IYOSAYI14 has been a really amazing supporter since our meeting on Instagram. Though he wasn’t in the country when I reached out, he created time to contribute his bit by listing Mount Patti (in Kogi State) and Usuman Dam (in Abuja) as the most underrated destinations in Nigeria. “My most memorable moment definitely has to be hiking Owu falls… I mean, I’m still in awe of that waterfall.” Sayi concluded.

Funmi Oyatogun

@FunmiOyatogun  didn’t say much: “I think Ado Awaye is highly underrated. Also, I have many memorable moments, so It’s hard to choose one.”

UWOMANO

For this mother of one who’s also my good friend, Ikogosi warm and cold spring and Arinta Waterfall stood out. As an adventurer, @UWOMANO‘s most memorable moment was exploring  Arinta waterfall alongside her son. Climbing to the first stage was really challenging but the funny thing was that he enjoyed every bit of the moment.

With these amazing contributions, I’m confident that Hilton can have a rethink. Or do you think these adventurers left out some places you think are worthy of mention? Please share with me in the comment box below so as to convince her more.

Who wants to go next?