At the bustling Mile 2 bus station in Lagos, a young woman named Omotoke Fatoki hoisted her solitary backpack and boarded a coach bound for Douala, Cameroon. Little did she know, she would not return for the next six months. By the time she stepped off a dusty minibus in Windhoek, Namibia, she had become the first Nigerian woman to solo backpack the entire route by road.
Omotoke financed her journey using her savings, along with support from her ALARINKA and the Sara by Wema community. She relied on overcrowded buses, moto-taxis, and shared cars for transportation. Her “office” was the window seat of a rickety coach, and her board meetings were at border checkpoints, where she negotiated for stamps and, at times, bribes. However, rather than viewing these challenges as obstacles, she saw them as opportunities to connect with others.
In Congo‐Brazzaville, she spent a dawn hour reading African poetry to schoolchildren; in Rwanda, she learned Kinyarwanda greetings from market women; in the DRC she volunteered and donated to the displaced people of Goma. With each act of community engagement—donating pens, hosting impromptu storytelling sessions—she deepened her conviction that travel is a two‐way street of giving and learning.
Omotoke Fatoki’s ambition stretches beyond one guide or one trip. As AfCFTA edges toward full implementation, she highlights how land travel remains stifled by archaic border procedures and underfunded roads. “Africans face more red tape crossing to the next country than flying to Europe,” she observes.
