Africa is not a backup plan, but the destination – Diamonds and Pearls Travels

It is worrisome that most visitors to Africa often generalise their experiences here (no matter how personalised and curated they are), insisting on being excited by everything and nothing in particular.

But they end up giving a completely false picture of the destinations they have visited, just because they thought they were already familiar with them or had a lot of information about them.

Sadly, the gap between the Africa the world imagines and the Africa that actually exists remains one of the most consequential mismatches in global travel. It has kept millions of travellers from experiencing journeys that would rank among the greatest of their lives.

But Africa is phenomenal, with millions of thrills for every visitor that steps on its soil. It is the world’s second-largest continent, spanning 54 nations, more than 2,000 languages, and landscapes that range from the Sahara’s dunes to the beaches of Zanzibar, from Morocco’s medinas to Mount Kilimanjaro. It is home to some of the oldest civilisations ever recorded, extraordinary wildlife, and hospitality that rivals anywhere in the world.

Regrettably, despite the huge potential, the continent lags in wooing global visitors. In 2024, the entire continent received fewer international tourist arrivals than France alone, a reflection of how long Africa has been reduced to outdated stereotypes.

However, some concerned organisations, especially in the continent’s travel and tourism space, are stepping out to address the challenge.

The Lekki, Lagos-based Diamonds and Pearls Travels is among the companies working to change that narrative. Since its inception, the travel company has taken clients across Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Zanzibar, Rwanda, Namibia, Tunisia, and Mauritius, curating personalised experiences designed to show travellers a different side of the continent.

The bold step, according to Wonuola Olatunde-Lamidi, managing partner and co-founder at Diamonds and Pearls Travels, is because “Africa is not a backup plan”.

“It is the destination, and what clients return with is often the same reaction: “I had no idea,” she noted.

Also worried over why many underrate Africa as a destination, David Olatunde Lamidi, who is also a managing partner and co-founder at Diamonds and Pearls Travels, said: “That is the sentence we hear most often”.

“And every time we hear it, we are reminded of exactly why we do this, not because Africa needs our help to be extraordinary, it has always been extraordinary, but because the story has not been told well enough.”

For David, the company’s mission is about demystifying travel and dismantling the idea that Africa is difficult or inaccessible. “There is a perception that Africa is complicated to get to, complicated to navigate, complicated to enjoy,” he said. “We built Diamonds and Pearls Travels to dismantle that perception, because it is simply not true.”

In the same vein, Mayowa Obasanya, junior partner at Diamonds and Pearls Travels, said: “What I have seen accompanying clients across these destinations is that Africa does not just meet expectations, it dismantles them entirely and builds something better in their place. People arrive curious and leave converted, and that transformation never gets old to witness”.

Meanwhile, for Diamonds and Pearls Travels, that transformation is the point, not simply to help people visit Africa, but to help them see it properly in all its scale, beauty, complexity, and brilliance. Because once people experience the continent for themselves, the old narrative rarely survives the journey.