Zikoko’s Jollof Road: The Journey So Far

Jollof Road might not be easy to figure out if you have not seen the thread on social media. What may first come to mind is another social thread about Nigeria-Ghana Jollof’s war.

But this is different, Jollof Road is an 80-day road trip across all mainland countries in Ecowas with five of Zikoko staff.

Toke, Kayode, Fuad, Tosin, and Taiwo started their journey on September 23rd. They are 40 days into their trip which has a mixed grill of amazing tales, food tasting, encounters with diverse cultures, languages, and great relationships with people they have met in different countries.

So far they have visited Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. There are seven more countries to go before their road trip ends.

Toke, the food perfect on the trip, is always upfront about every food they have tasted on the trip from – Ghana Jollof, to cassava bread and fish and another type of fried rice in Sierra Leone, which I figured may start a fried rice war.

Fuad, the head boy of the Zikoko gang, thrills readers with details of the trip with his journals and narrations in videos. You can tell that he and Kayode, the filmmaker, have a way of breathing life into their videos.

Tosin has saved the guys from being sold on the trip by being their French translator. What’s the road trip without the steady hands of Taiwo, who has not given up on them yet, driving across 11 countries.

It’s not all fun and good for the gang. The guys have had a string of not so good experiences on the trip – from encountering hostile people, border protocol, bribery at the border, bad road, food poisoning, and malaria. Toke and Fuad were admitted for half-day at a hospital in Guinea on Day 39 of the trip – Toke had food poisoning from the food they have been eating and Fuad was down with malaria.

But they have also had fun meeting different people from the different countries they have visited.

From their ratings of each country, Ghana topped the list with the most accommodating people. Although Fuad prefers Liberia, Toke, Kayode and Tosin affirmed Ghana has the friendliest people.

One would expect them to have given up on the trip because of the stress. But the resilient Nigeria blood that is pumping in them won’t do that yet. At least, not yet. The curiosity of going to a new country is the drive behind their zeal.

So far, the first 40 days of the Jollof Road trip has revealed the similarities and differences among African countries. You can read more about the trip here.