DEE TOURS || TRAVELING FROM LAGOS, NIGERIA TO LOME,TOGO VIA ROAD (TIPS, TRICKS & COSTS)

Costing

Exchange rate as at April 2017: ₦6700 = 10,000cfa

Going:

• Cost of the Transportation from Mile 2: ₦9,500 for space bus (seats 7 passengers) & ₦10,500 for car (seats 4 passengers) 
• Cost for luggage: ₦500 - ₦1,000
• Togo border crossing Fee:1000 cfa (500 cfa each at entry and exit)
• Fee for not having Yellow card: 300 cfa
• Cost for getting into Town/Lome: 1000 cfa

Tips:

• Carry a school bag instead of box to avoid paying for load.
• Get your Yellow card (will do an "how to" post soon), it will save you 600 cfa
• Moving up and about should be based on negotiation depending on the distance it could range from anything as low as 100/200 cfa don't act like a novice, negotiate till you are satisfied and be careful not to get cheated,(Togolese are more criminal minded than Nigerians oo, they tried to cheat us off a negotiated price twice)

Hotel:

Hotel Residence Madiba

• Avepozo bus stop

• Cost of room from: ₦20,000 -  ₦26,000 per night
• we stayed 4 days/3 nights which was about ₦70,000

Tips:

• Book via Jumia Travel
• They give discount promos during holidays.
• Their exchange rate is so much better as I think they use bank rates so its better to actually pay online, you could save as much as ₦12,000 doing this.
• They are cheaper than bookings.com
• Always book hotels with free WIFI, It saves you roaming costs as you can stick to #Whatsapp calls.

Feeding:

• We spent approximately 2000 to 2500 cfa on each meal via francis
• And about 7000 cfa on Hotel meals per person 
• In total about 29,000 cfa for 3 hotel meals and 4 meals from francis.

Tips:

• Switch up hotel meals with street food
• Go with your snacks if you can
• We ate at the hotel and substituted it with meals from Francis.
• If you visit the market buy drinks and snacks
• Chocolates are cheaper in Togo
• while drinks are more expensive than they are here
• Call Francis on: +22892016953 or Justin +22899281191
  Please tell them I referred you. thanks

Leaving: 

Direct cab from the hotel junction to Seme border: 4,000 -5000cfa

Border crossing: 1000cfa (500 cfa each at entry and exit)

Fee for not having Yellow card: 300 cfa

Crossing to Lagos side of the border via bike: ₦1000 (normal charge is ₦500 )

Border to Mile2: ₦1000 for space bus,  ₦1200 for cab

Tips:

• Direct cabs going to seme border from the road are easy to find leaving Lome, Don't be afraid to negotiate.
• Direct cabs save you the stress of offloading and onloading your load as well as looking for transportation.

Total expenses:

One person

• Naira: ₦89,700
• Cefa: 37,600 cfa
• Cefa converted to naira: ₦25,200
• Total: ₦ 114,900

Tips:

• If hotel is split between two people, you save ₦35,000
• If you avoid eating in the hotel, you save another ₦10,000
• Two person trips split hotel cost into two, that's why I always plan trip with friends.

Time of Trip:

Relatively 7 hours

Tips:

• Set out early

Fashion Tips:

• Pack loose easy breezy outfits
• If you stay at a beach hotel like ours park a lot of bikinis
• Slippers and sandals are your preferred footwear
• A tote will do
• Don't forget your sunscreen, lotion and sunglasses, Togo's sun is harsh I came back black.

Hoping to go back soon, but if you go before me do send my love to Francis and Justin however if you have any observations, questions on comments, don't forget to leave them below.

View other Dee Tours post here and those for Togo here to get a full idea of how the trip went.
(This is not a paid review o)