Wicked places in Africa

Nigeria is infamous for the many checkpoints along any road. Some sections have more than others, but the A4, parallel to the Cameroon border, is a league of its own. Here you can see from one checkpoint to the next. Some are guarded by various departments of the police or military, while others seem to be controlled by clandestine armed private security forces seeking "opportunities". On a long day, you can encounter more than 100 checkpoints! Be patient and firm, and it will be possible to pass every single one of them without a bribe.

In the outskirts of Oshogbo lies one of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. A fascinating Yoruba shrine dedicated to the River Goddess Oshuno is located next to the river with good views of the primary jungle. The trail from the main entrance is lined with sculptures by Suzanne Wenger, an Austrian artist who was here in the 1950s. Curious monkeys patrol the path in the hope of some bananas. The 75 hectares of sacred grove is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

At Maraco Beach lies this abandoned resort. For more than a decade ago it was in competition with Bombom resort, but there is no doubt about who won. All bungalows stand either semi-demolished or burned and the swimming pool with a sit-in-bar is today a swamp. Macaco Beach and Boi Beach share the same dirt road half of the way. It's a bumpy ride with can get seriously muddy when it rains.

This tunnel is part of the amazing Water Tunnel Hike. It's full of small bats, which hang from the cliff ceiling. They will fly off when you get close, but they will never hit you.

Clothes washing in the countryside in Sao Tome is mostly done in the rivers - along with dishwashing and sometimes bathing. Then all the materials are laid out to dry in the sun. This is not an unusual practice in Africa, but the clean rivers and lack of garbage is. Sao Tome is great - also in this regard.

This hike goes through six pitch-black tunnels with water channels high up in the jungle-covered mountains close to the Obo National Park. It's a 3-5 hours roundtrip back to the parking place (where the mark on the map is). The first bit takes you uphill through the jungle, while following a water pipe. The trail becomes narrow at some points with dangerous steep drops. Keep going to you get to a proper bridge with trails on both sides, do not cross but stick to the trail on the same side. A viaduct will soon cross the trail high above your head. Follow it to the first tunnel. Though the water runs in a separate channel, the path is muddy or just full of water. Angolares Waterfall will be right after the first tunnel. The second tunnel is really long with two bends and the third tunnel is full of small bats. Bring flashlight and proper footwear. It's a truly unique hike, which has no match anywhere in the world (to our knowledge).

For fans of abandoned places, southern Senegal offers a pleasant surprise. Dwarfing the nearby village Djoromait the huge Complexe Hotelier Djiromait is a five-star hotel and resort that has been left to the whim of nature. Built in 1983 it has never seen a single guest. The reasons why the complex has been abandoned varies. Some claim that it was so far out of the way that the intended VIP's couldn't be bothered to visit. Others tell that it was built without the required government permits and that the authorities still claim that they "do not know of any hotel in the area" – despite having built a brand new road out to the place. Regardless the reason, to this day, the complex offer a bit of urban exploration in the Senegalese bush, though it might be necessary to pay the guardsman a small fee for the privilege.

Part of the fun of travelling is using the local currency. Different colours, different sizes and different materials almost make it feel as though it's a life-sized game of Monopoly. However, when travelling through the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, there's entirely different entertainment value. With not much of a functioning banking system, locals have little alternative but to exchange money with vendors in their ramshackle street-side shacks. But the real kicker in the whole transaction is the large denomination bill of the Somaliland Schilling is 500. This is equivalent to a few cents!!! Changing $100 equals about 1,000 local currency notes. Better pack a wheelbarrow to carry your money around.

The sleepy fishing village of Gansbaai acts as the gateway to facing one of the most efficient predators in the world. Just a short boat ride away lies Dyer Island, home to more than 30,000 seals. And circling around it is the largest concentration of great white sharks in the world. Diving began in 1991 as an alternative business to turn hunters into conservationists after a nationwide campaign to protect great whites in the wild. Despite putting you in their environment and out of your comfort zone, cage diving allows for a shark encounter with safety as a top priority, not an afterthought. And really, what's a better way of facing your fear than to do so with a cage separating you from them? This is what makes cage diving so perfect; it doesn't require risk taking, a diving license or a death wish. The cage promises the ordinary traveller an extraordinary experience.

Most people think of voodoo as black magic, but most voodoo is actually white magic. People go to the fetish market to buy the ingredients, which they then bring to the witch doctor next door. The witch doctor then grind the ingredients, perform a voodoo ceremony, and hopefully the person gets well, luck with love, or whatever the reason was to seek out voodoo in the first place. The fetish market in Lomé is famous for locals and tourists alike. The stalls are packed with animal skins, skulls, and bones, all with great voodoo power for the enlightened, but there are tourist voodoo dolls too. Visiting the market has been put into system and is surprisingly orderly. You pay an entrance fee along with a camera fee and for that you get a guide, who explain all the strange fetish objects, can take pictures of everything, and a visit to a witch doctor. Though there isn't any hard sale, it's kind of expected that you buy a (overpriced) premade talisman from the witch doctor, but just consider it as an additional fee for the small voodoo ceremony.