Record-breaking journey from London to Lagos
Pelumi was born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up in London, UK. Meet the first female solo traveler to drive the distance between her two homelands. Check out how she made it to her destination despite tough conditions.
Transcript
00:00A young woman, all alone, in a small car from London to Lagos, British-Nigerian content
00:06creator Pulumi Nubi is braving the road.
00:10Oh my God, this is happening!
00:14Undeterred by the naysayers, Pulumi embarked on her adventure from Europe to West Africa,
00:19a journey fraught with dangers, setbacks and disasters.
00:24Like a serious car accident.
00:26More on that later.
00:27But what were her motivations?
00:49Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Pulumi was 10 when she moved with her family to London, England,
00:54where she has lived ever since.
00:56On January 24th, 2024, Pulumi set off from London for her biggest trip yet.
01:03First it's off to Dover and onto the ferry.
01:05I can't help but just tear up because it's just like, wow, I'm actually doing it.
01:14She continues through France and Spain to Gibraltar, to catch the next ferry to the
01:18African continent, landing in Morocco.
01:21Now I'm on the continent, Lagos.
01:25I'm coming for you, come on!
01:28From Morocco, through the Atlas Mountains, to the Western Sahara, a three-day crossing.
01:34Things were moving quickly, but then it got more difficult.
01:37What are the biggest challenges?
01:38But once I could start getting to West Africa and the rest, I was like, oh damn, this is
01:42hard.
01:43Like, you know, from the road to just fatigue because I've just been on the road for too
01:46long and then the borders issue and then the cars, it was like back to back.
01:50But yeah, it's priceless now, I won't put a price on it.
01:54It's just so much incredible memories.
01:57Pelumi was on the road for 75 days, taking her time to get to know the countries and
02:02their people.
02:03Since she set off from London to Lagos, she covered more than 10,000 kilometers and passed
02:08through a total of 17 countries.
02:11But she's not completely alone.
02:12Her Instagram followers keep her company.
02:15She started with 12,000 and ended up with around 300,000.
02:20I was genuinely just doing this as another road trip, another grand adventure, you know.
02:25It was just meant to be a thing that, you know, I love to do.
02:28I want to showcase Africa.
02:29I want to create some content as a content creator.
02:31But I quickly discovered that, no, this is no normal thing.
02:35The people that bind to your story bind, connecting with you on a very deeper level.
02:39Her success on Instagram can be attributed to her authentic, honest personality.
02:44Luxury living?
02:45No thanks.
02:47Yay!
02:48This road to, you see, Africa, massage.
02:51I'm hungry.
02:52I need a shower.
02:53I'm tired.
02:54And everything in between.
02:57Most of the time, she slept in her 12-year-old Peugeot, bathed at rest stops, eating in small
03:02cafes or while driving.
03:04No make-up reality in comfortable clothes.
03:07That was very important to her.
03:10I wanted to feel like a traveler going from one place to the next and what is their lived
03:15reality.
03:16I wanted to see the border situation like any normal traveler, not a VIP that already
03:19had pre-check or whatever.
03:22And it was tough.
03:23Facing her fears, overcoming misogyny, handling corruption and bureaucracy at the borders.
03:30Bad roads, roaming problems and no internet were also part of her day-to-day.
03:35It's a lot of ups and downs, but there are always good moments.
03:42She experienced her worst moment on the Ivory Coast.
03:45Pulumi crashed into a truck that didn't have warning lights on in the middle of the pitch-black
03:49road.
03:50One minute I was driving, the next minute I wasn't.
03:53You know, the airbag was up in my face.
03:56I was like, what just happened?
03:58Miraculously, Pulumi was unharmed.
04:00Giving up was out of the question.
04:02After 10 days at the mechanic, Lumi, as the car had been christened, was back on the road
04:07and driving through Ghana, Togo and Benin towards its final destination, Lagos.
04:13We're at the border, guys.
04:14I'm going to scream, I'm going to scream.
04:19On April 7th, 2024, Pulumi reached the border of Nigeria and became the first woman of colour
04:25to drive from London to Nigeria alone.
04:28Seeing that love just being poured to someone else, like strangers, it was incredible, like
04:33everybody knew something was happening, like the community really came out as a nation.
04:38There was a celebration, which is just, yeah.
04:42The very next day, Pulumi and her parents were welcomed as guests by the governor of
04:46Lagos state and were not only reimbursed for all their travel expenses, but also received
04:52a new car, an apartment and were appointed tourism ambassadors for Lagos.
04:59My message is for young people, and women especially, to go after the things that they
05:04truly want to do.
05:05I hope they see my journey and they are just inspired to go after everything because I've
05:09realised on the other side of fear, on the other side of going after everything that
05:13you want, is truly where the magic is.
05:16We can't wait to see how Pulumi's journey continues.
05:19Lumi, the car that so bravely persevered until the very end, is in well-deserved retirement
05:25on display at a cultural centre in Lagos.
05:28And Pulumi already has her eyes peeled for new adventures.