Tag: Budget

10 Days in East Africa Budget Breakdown

Hold on to your calculators, this is going to be one of the lengthier breakdowns.

(not Nigerian-Visa-and-Yellow-Fever-Needed type lengthy, but lengthy nonetheless)

My mom and I are off to East Africa!

My mom has dreamed of going to the Seychelles her whole life and for Mother’s Day 2024 – she will have her wish…………and a little extra.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

That is a WHOLE lot of items. I know.

The Flights

Let me begin with the most important thing – the flight to the Seychelles.

We booked our flight to Mahe, Seychelles alllll the way back in July of 2023. I know this is really far ahead, but, the price was too good to pass up.

The flights to and from the Seychelles are shared between American Airways and Qatar Airways. I had flown with AA many times, but this would be my first time flying with Qatar Airways. Have to say I’m pretty excited because I’ve only heard good things.

On the way there we go Toronto to Philly, Philly to Doha and then Doha to Mahe. We have a lengthy layover in Doha, Qatar – but more on that later. Coming home we will be going Mahe to Doha, Doha to Dallas and then Dallas back to Toronto. The flight from Doha to Dallas is like 16.5hrs long, direct. Lordy.

Cost per person to fly to and from the Seychelles, $1500.06. I think this is AMAZING for how far we are going.

The plan was to only go to the Seychelles, but of course, I had to go be extra.

Figured while we are on that side of the planet, might as well mosey on over to Mauritius. I booked that on January 6th of this year and the cost was $568.00 roundtrip, direct, per person. The flight is with Air Seychelles and it is only about two hours and a bit each way.

Total cost of all flights: $2068.06 per person

I know this looks like a big amount, but going to BOTH destinations for that? I really think we scored for the pricing.

The Stays

For this trip we will have three different stays.

The first stay is when we arrive in Mahe, Seychelles we will be staying at La Villa Therese from May 12th to May 15th. Total cost is $418.00, so $209.00 CAD per person.

We chose this stay because it is right by a famous beach on the island (Anse Royale), and duh, the price was right! Our room is the One-Bedroom Apartment.

The second stay is in Mauritius and it is called Blue Beryl Guest House. We will be staying there from May 15th to May 18th. Total cost is $527.00, so $263.50 CAD per person.

Now we chose this place, again, because the price is right, but also because it was beachfront. This was close to where our catamaran cruise is leaving from as well. Oh, and breakfast included. Clutch. Our room is the Apartment with Sea View.

The third and final stay is back on Mahe, and that place is called Horizon View. Will be staying there from May 18th to May 22nd. Total cost is $238.00, so $119.00 CAD per person.

We tried to go for whatever price for this place because we have a rental car, and want to just have a good spot to go explore from. The hotel is also close to a very nice beach (Anse a la mouche), so we can visit that. Our room is Apartment with Sea View.

Total cost of all stays: $591.50 CAD per person

Again, given that both of these islands aren’t exactly THRIFTY destinations, this isn’t too bad. I am excited to stay in various parts, gives me more things to see on an island.

Transportation (Car Rentals)

I rarely ever have car rentals on my trips, because I do not have a drivers license.

For this we have two car rentals, one in Mauritius and then one in Mahe on our final days there.

Both were booked on Expedia.

The cars are both automatic, and my mom will have to drive on the OTHER side of the road on both islands, which should provide comedy.

For the car rental in Mauritius the cost was $172.66, so $86.50 CAD per person from May 15th to May 18th.

For the car rental in Mahe the cost was $225.58, so $112.79 CAD per person from May 18th to May 20th.

I have no idea if either of these are a good price or not. But I will tell you, once I saw how much the damn taxis cost on both of these islands? IN EUROS? The car rental price seemed like the best idea.

Visas

Well, at least this wasn’t as pricy as my last jaunt into the African continent.

Entering Qatar, we don’t need anything as Canadians.

For entering Mauritius, we just had to fill out and print one form (from this site) per person giving information on when we are entering, leaving and where we are staying. But it was free.

Now for the Seychelles, we had to fill out FOUR forms and pay four times to enter. Why? Because there are two of us, and we had to enter and exit twice, since we are going to Mauritius from there.

The cost was 10 Euros per entry, so 40 Euros which ended up being $31.36 CAD total per person. The entry form is pretty lengthy – you do have to upload a photo of yourself, your passport, your flight information and the place(s) you will be staying. Have all that ready, it is all found on this site.

Just a quick note here, I was highly impressed by the Seychelles customs people. I had emailed and asked a question and someone got back to me THE NEXT DAY? Amazing. Don’t think you can email any government agency on the planet and hear back that fast. The application to enter was also approved for both my mom and I within 24hrs. Super.

Tours

For this trip, we have three different excursions booked.

The first one is actually during our layover in Doha, Qatar. We are excited to see the airport there, but not for as long as the layover is. Luckily, Discover Qatar actually offers transit tours. We opted for the ‘Transit Exclusive – Discover Doha‘ tour which is three hours. This takes you from the airport to a bunch of places in Doha and then brings you back to the airport for your next flight. These are done like nine times a day, so most people with a lengthy layover can do this. The cost was $42.98 CAD per person.

Alright, so the Seychelles have a bunch of islands but the primary three are Mahe, La Digue and Praslin. We had contemplated (before we booked Mauritius) on spending 2-3 days on each island. Then I saw the cost of the damn ferries between the islands. Absolutely-the-fuck-not. I am not that rich. But we still wanted to get to those islands and we found a day tour that goes from Mahe to both islands. This is the ‘Praslin & La Digue Island-Hopping Tour with Lunch‘. The tour starts super early in the morning and will last 11 hours in total. This includes transport to both islands, and back + a lunch on board. This way we could see it all in our limited time. The cost was pretty hefty at $410.94 CAD per person. However, like I said, after seeing the cost of the damn ferries between in islands in Euros, this seemed way more economical – although, shorter.

Finally, in Mauritius we have a nice catamaran tour. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I can’t resist some time on a boat. We booked the ‘Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to Ile aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch‘. This tour is seven hours long and makes some stops for swimming and snorkeling. Of course, lunch on board included. The cost was very reasonable at $108.00 CAD per person. I am excited to cruise on those beautiful waters.

ESim

I never have this section in my breakdowns, but this one I will have to.

Typically, Rogers Roam Like home is what I use on my travels but for some reason, the Seychelles is not a part of their offerings. Qatar and Mauritius are though.

To avoid any stoppage in my constant posting while on vacation, I will have to use an esim for the Seychelles portion of my trip. I opted to go with Airalo for this trip, and they have a Seychelles package that is $49.00 USD for 10GB. Therefore $67.62 CAD total.

Spending Money

Whoooo knows?

$1000.00 Euros is like $1500.00 CAD – so that is what I am going with.

The good thing about going with my mom is that I am less likely to end up in a nightclub buying a bottle, or a strip club. Go me! Slightly less of a degenerate with my family trips. I truly have no idea if the $1500.00 CAD will be too much or too little, but I doubt the too little part. Mauritius looks like it can be done for smaller amounts of spending money, but I don’t think the Seychelles can. I think my food costs are going to run the bill up really fast.

The total budget for this trip is $5019.75 Canadian.

I’m pretty proud of this, because this is ALL THOSE THINGS I LISTED! That is a lot of stuff. And a crazy distance flight. I’m happy. Can’t wait to experience this with my mom, especially being there for Mother’s Day. Yay.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna

5 Days in Belize Budget Breakdown

Yay, new country time!!!

This time my boyfriend and I are heading to Belize – the island of Caye Caulker, specifically.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

Let me start with the great flight deal we got.

As you can see from the chart above, we booked this really early. My boyfriend and I have been wanting to go to Belize so this deal from WestJet popped up at theee best time.

The total cost for the flight was $348.00 per person. Big bonus, this flight even includes a carry-on so we don’t have to cram everything into a personal item. It is also roundtrip, direct and we don’t have to be up at 5am to go to Pearson to catch it. Very pleased with this flight deal.

I had been eyeing Caye Caulker for a WHILE, so I actually had quite the list of saved AirBnB’s for the island. Luckily, one of them was available for our dates. Booked that like four minutes after I booked the flight.

Always prepared!

The place is pretty basic, but they have great reviews and are right by the beach. Don’t need much, I don’t plan on spending any time in the room except to sleep late at night. Our entire time there will be spent swimming, lounging and partying.

The total cost of the AirBnB for four nights was $429.79 – which is $214.89 per person.

If you are interested in seeing it yourself, click here. I will let you know how much we liked it when we return.

The other bonus of staying in this AirBnB is that the host immediately messaged me to set up the transport from Belize City airport, to Belize City port and then the boat from Belize City to Caye Caulker.

Of course, you can figure out your own way – but having someone tell you they can set it up for you? So good.

She told us the price of a car from Belize City Airport to Belize City Port/Marina was ($30.00 USD each way) and that she would get the ferry tickets for us ($29.50 USD roundtrip) to go from Belize proper to Caye Caulker. Then we could just pay her when we get to the AirBnB. Super straightforward and one less thing for me to plan.

Total for the transport to the island and back is $78.60 CAD per person. This price was fine by me, as I had considered booking the quick flight from Belize City to Caye Caulker and that was like $150.00 USD one way? No thanks. I’ll just stick to the taxi and boat route.

We didn’t book any actual excursions, but we did book to attend a party.

There’s a place called Bella’s Backpackers on the island of Caye Caulker and every weekend they have Sunday Funday.

What is Sunday Funday? Well basically for $55.50 USD you get to go play outdoor games with other party people at the hostel, get on a sunset cruise ….. oh, and bottomless rum punch all day. Now, if this isn’t a ME activity, I really don’t know what is.

With the conversion, this is $68.34 CAD per person.

Now, for spending money, I kind of guessed that Caye Caulker might be somewhat like Roatan? So the prices may not be too crazy for buying food and alcohol, or to go party. Just like Roatan, we don’t need any spending money for transport on the island, which is a big money saver.

I budgeted $250.00 USD for the trip.

This is $340.00 CAD, with the conversion. I have no idea if this will be enough, but in my experience, nothing is ever solid with me. I usually spend way more if I get into shenanigans. I will let you know if I was a degenerate or not when I return.

The total budget for this trip is $1049.83 Canadian.

I do think with how good our flight price was, this probably could have been done for even cheaper. But, ah, I still this is a good price so fuck it.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna

4 Days in Lima Budget Breakdown

Well, I’m coming back from Lima today.

I said when I went on my last trip to Peru that I would try to come back because of the food, AND BAM, I got that opportunity.

If you are interested in what I got up to and how much it cost when I went to Peru for ten days in 2022, click here.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

Let me start with the great flight deal we got.

On November 6th, 2023 I saw that I could get back to Lima for under $350.00?? I SAID FUCK YEAH.

I messaged my boyfriend (that’s his birthday weekend) and asked if he wants to go, he said he’s in, and I booked it immediately with Avianca.

I’ve flown many times with Avianca now, and I had a good experience so figured give it another go. The price of the flight is personal item only, but for this short of a time it’s fine and we also have a quick layover each way in Bogota.

The cost of our flight from Toronto to Lima was only $349.00 per person.

I believe my mom and I paid damn near like $700+ per person when we went back in 2022!! Half. More than half. Incredible.

When my mom and I were here we stayed in this awesome AirBnB. We enjoyed it so much, we actually ended up regretting booking a hotel on the second part of our stay there. Would have rather just gone back to the AirBnB.

Well, it just so happened that the same people who were hosts for that two-bedroom AirBnB, were also hosts of a one-bedroom AirBnB, in the same building.

That was a very easy choice.

Great hosts? Awesome location? I love the breakfast place next door? Price is right? 4/4 perfection.

The total cost was $219.77 for three nights – so $108.99 per person.

If you are interested in seeing it yourself, click here. I will let you know how much we liked it when we return.

We didn’t book any excursions for this trip as we just plan on eating and drinking the entire long weekend.

Since my reason for returning to Peru is 100000% the food…..you already know where my money will go.

I budgeted $350.00 CAD (987 Soles) for spending money.

Peru isn’t an expensive place for Ubers, food or drink. You see why I’m returning?

The total budget for this trip is $808.88 Canadian.

It might not even end up being this much for the spending money part, but I rather have enough for 50 orders of ceviche – just in case.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna

5 Days in Aruba Budget Breakdown

Well, I’m back in Aruba.

I saw a flight deal and said ‘lets go family!’ – so we did, for the Family Day long weekend 2024.

If you are interested in what I got up to (and how much it cost) the last time I went to Aruba in 2021, click here.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

Let me start with the great flight deal we got.

We booked this trip with Arajet – and we booked it back in JULY of last year. Early as fuck.

This is a new airline, and to be completely honest – since we booked I haven’t exactly read the best things about them. But, we will see. I will report back when we return.

The cost of our flight from Toronto to Aruba was only $346.33 per person.

For flying to Aruba, that’s pretty awesome.

There are two layovers on the way there and one on the way back. On the way there the first layover is 90 minutes in Santo Domingo (all of Arajet’s flights have a layover there, it is their headquarters) and then a 45 minute layover in Curacao. On return, we just have 90 minutes in Santo Domingo.

This is a budget airline, so within this price is ONE checked-in bag that my boyfriend, his daughter and I will be sharing. For five days, there’s really no reason to pack any more. This should do.

Pray for us.

All together, there are actually NINE of us going together on this trip. However, one of the humans is a baby, and the baby doesn’t count towards the cost of the AirBnB.

We knew we needed something spacious.

The AirBnB we chose has a private pool, it is close to Eagle Beach, three supermarkets and it has four bedrooms, six beds and 5.5 bathrooms. Pretty big place, and they have really good reviews.

If you are interested in seeing it yourself, click here. I will let you know how much we liked it when we return.

The total cost was $2559.01 for the five nights – which made it $319.87 per person.

I didn’t book any excursions for this as I plan on just hitting the beach and hanging out with the family. I budgeted $500.00 CAD ($350.00USD) for spending money.

Since there are children present, I doubt I will end up at any strip clubs, nightclubs or anything particularly wild.

The total budget for this trip is $1166.20 Canadian.

Aruba isn’t exactly a cheap island, but that’s fine by me. It is beautiful, safe and the perfect place for a nice little family trip.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna

3 Weeks in Africa Budget Breakdown

Hold on to your calculators, this one is lengthy.

I had been planning this trip to Lagos, Johannesburg and Vilanculos for the majority of 2023. There are so many twists and turns in this budget that…. yeah, your head might spin. If I didn’t keep track of all of this on an Excel spreadsheet? Listen.

This is my most expensive trip I have ever taken. It isn’t even close to anything else I have done, this is almost double the amount of my previously most-expensive-one.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

That is a WHOLE lot of items. I know.

The Flights

Let me begin with the most important thing – the flight to Lagos, Nigeria.

The initial plan was JUST Lagos, to be with my best friend Jummy and her family.

I booked SUPER early with EgyptAir (on February 8th, 2023) and the total cost of that roundtrip flight was $1427.46. It goes Toronto to Cairo and then Cairo to Lagos, both ways – December 14th to January 4th.

Now, is this a crazy early date to book a flight? Sure is. However, please ask your Nigerian friends some of the abhorrent amounts they have paid to fly home from Toronto to Lagos in December. When they tell you that number, mine will look incredible. I told my best friend that the moment it was under $1500, I was booking it. I know folks who booked their flights to Lagos well into the high $2000s and even some $3000s. I’m not rich. That is not for me.

Next, we obviously needed somewhere else to go to as well, no way we were spending the entire weeks in ONE country. Never that.

The second flight we ended up booking was from Lagos to Johannesburg, South Africa. We booked this one on June 29th and the total cost was $679.00 roundtrip, per person with Kenya Airways. This flight went from Lagos to Nairobi and then Nairobi to Johannesburg – December 18th to December 28th. I did see some direct flights from Lagos to Joburg, but they were like $1200? Absolutely not.

Now this is where the breakdown becomes super random.

How the fuck did we end up in Vilanculos? You guys won’t even believe how this came about.

I want people to think I’m some well-versed traveler who knows all these cool locations because I do research, meow meow meow. That is not how we ended up in Vilanculos.

Early in 2023 a documentary had come out on Netflix called MH370: The Plane That Disappeared. We all know the story about how that Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared and now there was a doc about it. So I was watching this documentary and some old, rich man in it was taking it upon himself to search for missing pieces. He was flying all over the world to look for any remnants of this missing flight. Well, one of his stops was in Vilanculos, Mozambique. The SECOND I saw those beaches, I immediately thought…… ‘I need to make it there ASAP!‘

We had that flight to Joburg booked and would you believe it? Joburg just so happens to have one of the direct flights that goes to Vilanculos. I showed Jummy pictures of this magical place and she was down – so we booked Vilanculos off me seeing it in a plane-disappearance-documentary. I am a very strange girl.

The cost of flying from Johannesburg to Vilanculos was $456.00 roundtrip, per person and that was with LAM Mozambique Airlines. The flight was just under 2hrs each way, no stops – December 24th to December 27th.

Total cost of all flights: $2562.46

I know that looks like a huge number, but given that we were traveling during Christmas / NYE and that I know people who paid more than that JUST to get to Lagos? Not so bad. Not so bad at all.

The Stays

You thought the flight portion had a lot going on? Ha. Those were literally the least complicated breakdowns for this post.

I had a combined SIX stays during this trip. Technically there was a seventh, but that time was spent at Jummy’s moms house in Lagos, I didn’t have to pay for that. Shout out to her!

Also, it was supposed to be only four stays, but, shit happens. You will see below.

The first stay was not booked until a week or so before the trip. Realizing that traveling from Lagos-proper to Victoria Island / Lekki for clubbing and stuff would be a pain with the traffic and transport, we decided to book a stay on the island for my birthday.

Birthday booking was Riviera Suites – December 16th to December 17th.

We booked a suite with two beds, breakfast included. We chose this hotel because of the great price, great reviews and also a good location. Total cost was $161.00 for the night, so $80.50 per person.

Moving on to when we got to Johannesburg…..

The next booking was at the Premier Hotel Quatermain – December 19th to December 24th.

We booked a standard twin room at this hotel and it had breakfast included in the rate. The reason we chose this hotel was because it had great reviews and the location was this area called Sandton, which we heard was one of the safer areas in Joburg. Not going to lie, the price was kind of nice too. For the five nights we paid $469.00, which was $234.50 per person.

This is where one of those ‘shit happens‘ explanations comes in.

We really were just planning to stay at the above hotel for our entire time in Joburg. However, during one sleepless night at the Quatermain, I came across a random TikTok that showed me another place. It looked magical. I was influenced!!

I showed it to Jummy and we agreed that one night in this place would be perfect.

We ended up booking a one-night stay at MINT Resorts The Blyde – December 22nd to December 23rd.

I mean, once you see the photos and the cost? I feel like you’ll understand why this all transpired.

We booked the superior queen room and breakfast was included in the rate. Total cost for the one night was $116.00, so $58.00 per person.

Yes, we booked a hotel while staying in another hotel. The shenanigans are never ending here.

Up to this point I feel like the price of stuff was pretty good? We made out well with the costs of hotels.

Well, that was about to change as we move on to Mozambique.

The specific place we were going, Vilanculos, didn’t have many options for stays. Once we put our eyes on the hotel we eventually booked, that HAD to be our hotel.

We booked our stay at the Bahia Mar Boutique Hotel – December 24th to December 27th.

This place only has 22 rooms, a gorgeous pool, wonderful reviews and breakfast was included in the rate. We chose to go with the sea view bedroom and the cost for three nights was $1526.00, so $763.00 per person. I realize that is a lot of money, but, I will let you know in the recap that it was totally worth it.

When we returned from Vilanculos to Johannesburg, we just needed a one night stay in a hotel before our flight back to Lagos.

For this we booked Radisson Hotel & Convention Centre Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo – December 27th to December 28th.

Proximity to the airport and it looked nice in the photos was a good enough reason to choose this place. We booked the executive room at this hotel and the cost for our one night there was $130.00, so $65.00 per person.

Our final stay was us returning to Riviera Suites – December 30th to January 2nd.

Thankfully, it was a great stay for my birthday so I am glad we chose to stay there again.

We booked the same room (a suite), but this time for three nights over the New Years long weekend. The total cost for that was $400.00, so $200.00 each.

Total cost of all stays: $1401.00

I mean, could it have been less? Yeah, probably. But, YOLO.

Health Stuff

Let me tell you about some of the medications and preparations that this trip needed, and how much that cost.

First, I am required to have a yellow fever vaccine to even apply for a Nigerian Visa. That is the most important thing that HAD to be done.

I went to TravelMed Vaccine Centre to get this done.

Scheduled myself for the yellow fever vaccine as well as getting an updated dose of the Typhoid oral vaccine. I had done the Typhoid vaccine (in the arm) back in 2016 for my trip to Bali, but it was now expired, so, needed to get it again. This time I got the oral one which apparently lasts two years longer than the one I got in my arm. Sure.

The total cost for the Typhoid oral vaccine and the yellow fever vaccine was $355.00, as you will see in my receipt below. Luckily, my boyfriend wanted to give me a nice, EARLY, birthday gift so he gave me $300 to use towards all of this. So thankful. Therefore MY total cost was only $55.00 for both of these vaccines.

I also received some prescription items from the doctor to take closer to the trip.

  1. Dukoral – taking two doses of this oral vaccine, six weeks before the trip to help prevent any tummy issues I may have.
  2. Atovaquone Proguanil – 29 tablets of this medication to lessen the chances of me getting really sick if I were to catch malaria. I had to take one the day before I left for my trip, daily while on the trip and then take it for seven days after I return from the trip.
  3. Zithromax – six tablets of this was just in case the Dukoral didn’t completely work, if I were to get severe tummy issues while traveling.

I was expecting quite a large bill once I went to pick up these prescriptions. Previously, I was not covered by work for any travel-related medications, I had to pay out of pocket.

To my PLEASANT SURPRISE, this time it was ALL covered.

  1. The cost for the Dukoral was supposed to be $120.35.
  2. The cost for the Atovaquone was supposed to be $138.27.
  3. The cost for the Zithromax was supposed to be $12.71.

With my insurance though? I paid a total of $16.47!!! Fucking. Thrilled.

Total cost of all medical stuff supposed to be: $626.33

Total cost of all medical stuff for me after boyfriend and insurance: $71.47

That is a steeeeeeeep amount less than what I was supposed to spend. Grateful I didn’t end up having to.

Visas

Ah, the most complicated part of this post has arrived.

Let me discuss this goddamn multi-entry-tourist-visa I had to get to enter Nigeria.

This was by far the most anxiety and stress inducing part of this whole trip.

Best way to explain this is probably listing how much each part cost and going from there……

  1. Cost of Photos for Visa Application = $30.00 CAD
  2. Nigeria Immigration Services Fee = $170.00 USD / turned into $236.14 CAD
  3. First Payment to Visa Connection/CIBT = $297.19 CAD (for consular feed + FedEx)
  4. Second Payment to Visa Connection/CIBT = $225.40 CAD

The photos I feel is pretty straightforward, you need to send photos to apply for a visa. Duh. That cost me $30.00 CAD.

For EVERYONE applying to enter Nigeria (that require a visa), you will have to go through the Nigeria Immigration Services portal, found here. The cost of that will be the $170 USD ($236.14 CAD)

Also, anyone applying for a visa to Nigeria will have to go through VFS Global, as they are the ones now solely responsible for all Nigerian visa inquiries in Canada. The embassy has nothing to do with the process anymore, they just deal with actual Nigerian citizens, so yeah, don’t contact them for anything. Just VFS.

As you see below, the charge by VFS (Nigeria Consular Application Center Fee) is $180.20 CAD and you will have to pay the FedEx fee regardless, so that is $45.20 CAD.

Now, I bet you’re wondering wtf the other charges are right? What did I list above? Well, I did not want to take any chances with this visa application. I opted to pay for a company to help me, and that company was Visa Connection.

They charged me $297.19 CAD to do the visa process with/for me, as you see where it says Nigeria Tourist Standard.

From the above correspondence, you will see I was emailing with them for a while.

I would have to give up my passport for SIX WEEKS for the process (during which I had two trips booked, but luckily I could use my Nexus for those).

My full application package was 37-pages long. I was especially worried that I would not be approved for a multi-entry visa, because I needed to be able to leave and come back. My application package even had a whole table of contents, made by me, so it would be super organized.

My application package consisted of; a letter of invitation from my friends mom, all of my flight dates, the slip from the Nigerian Immigration Services, a copy of my yellow fever vaccine certificate, proof of sufficient funds, letters from both of my jobs stating how long I have worked there and them acknowledging I’m going on vacation and intend on returning, my photos, my physical passport and the order form for Visa Connection.

When I say this was a hefty package I submitted? HEFTY.

If I didn’t use Visa Connection to help me with the application the total cost of the Nigerian Tourist Visa would have been $491.54.

But, because I used the concierge service, the total cost was $788.73 CAD.

Personally, the $491.54 already had me pissed off. That is an INSANE amount to pay, just to be able to visit a country as a tourist for a total of ten days. I have never ever done a visa process like this in my life, and I will likely avoid ever doing it again. The Canadian passport gives me access to many countries that I don’t need to do this for. This is way too much stress. My flight was paid for like seven months before I can even apply for this. So if I got denied? I’m fucked. My heart can’t handle these kinds of shenanigans.

This is why paying the extra money for the concierge service was necessary, for me. It helped me ease up, just a little. Giving all my items to be looked over by professionals, before submitting. The last thing I wanted was to have something wrong and for everything to go down the drain and I end up denied.

A lot of money, just for a damn tourist visa.

I realize I am super duper privileged because I do have a Canadian passport, and this is not my constant reality. Nigeria apparently did have a visa-on-arrival for tourists, but now it is just for business travelers.

I’ve developed much more empathy now for those who have passports from countries that pretty much require them to do this 8/10 times when they want to travel anywhere. It is costly, it is a nuisance, it is tedious and it induces a lot of anxiety.

But – I got my visa.

Paying all that money was worth it in the end, I got what I wanted. Not everyone can be so lucky, and those people might have more important reasons to travel than swimming and drinking, like I do.

I just wanted all of you to have a detailed idea of what the process was to getting a Nigerian Tourist Visa, as a Canadian. Because….. I couldn’t find ANY damn information about the process on someone else’s blog, forum etc. Literally, nothing. Maybe it was because the stopping of the visa-on-arrival recently? My friend couldn’t be of any help either, because as a Nigerian she has their passport so she doesn’t need to go through this process.

In conclusion, I hope this portion of the blog post helps someone else for their future travels to Nigeria, because you ABSOLUTELY should go visit.

Tours

Naturally, we had some tours booked for this trip!

We absolutely, I repeat, ABSOLUTELY had to go on safari while in South Africa. No way was that something we would miss.

The tour we ended up choosing was the Full Day Ultimate Pilanesberg National Park Safari from Johannesburg. I know Kruger National Park is the big one in the country, but that was a tad bit far for us.

This one included the transport from Joburg to the park, tour, lunch and transport back.

Total cost was $209.05 per person.

If you are interested in booking this excursion, click here. When we return I will let you know if it was worth it.

The second excursion we had booked WAY AHEAD of time with our hotel in Vilanculos. This was a boat trip to go see the famous Bazaruto Archipelago. We really wanted to do this on Christmas Day and knew it would probably be at capacity.

Total cost for that was $120 USD and that came to $160.00 CAD per person.

I don’t have a link for this one as we booked it directly with our hotel, Bahia Mar.

Spending Money

I had no idea how much my shenanigans between the three countries would cost me – so I picked $2500.00 CAD as my spending money amount.

Between going out drinking, eating, Ubers and WHO KNOWS what else I’d get into…. seems like a good amount. Maybe I’ll spend more, maybe less. Rather be well prepared.

The total budget for this trip is $7753.24 Canadian.

I’m kind of interested to see if the feedback will be that I spent too much, or that this was a good amount. To me, I think this is pretty damn good for three weeks, between three different countries – and during Christmas and NYE? Yeah. I think it is DAMN good.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna