Visit Nigeria’s network of national parks teeming with wildlife from primates and elephants to cheetahs and leopards. Experience the coastal highlights of former West African kingdom Benin City, and Lagos with its big-city buzz. Explore the Nigerian capital, Abuja, a work in progress with a host of glittering new buildings and museums under construction.
Nigeria is Africa’s most highly populated country, producing oil and some of the most infectious music you’ll hear in West Africa. Dive into the shops and big-city action of the former capital, Lagos, located on the low-lying lagoons of the coast. Explore the past in Benin City on the Niger Delta, which has preserved much of its ancient history. Nigeria’s brand-new capital, Abuja, is right in the middle of the country, with the resort town of Jos nearby on the Jos Plateau. Nigeria's northern deserts mark the southern extent of the Sahara.
Join the businesspeople and shoppers converging on the former capital, Lagos, while the finishing touches are made to the new, purpose-built capital, Abuja. North of Lagos, visit Ibadan’s famous market and Institute of African Studies museum. Surrounded by moats on the Niger Delta, you’ll find Benin City a fascinating mix of old and new, with some spectacular bronze and ivory statuary on show in its museums. In the north, explore Kano’s walled old town and colonial buildings and shop for traditional crafts and trinkets in its shops and stalls.
Splash in rivers, explore caves and spot elephants, hippos and baboons in Nigeria’s best wildlife park at Yankari, north of Abuja. Head for Nigeria’s mountainous eastern region, home to the country’s most scenic park, Gashaka Gumit, protecting chimps, cheetahs, leopards and monkeys. Closer to the coast and Lagos, spot rich birdlife, buffaloes and baboons in Old Oyo National Park, then explore the rich cultural heritage of traditional towns nearby. To see gorillas, leopards and elephants living in protected rainforest, make for Cross River National Park.
