Dr. Linda Enoh’s Inspiring Journey Back to Africa

[00:00:00] Paula: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of chatting with the experts. I am Paula Okonneh and I’m the host of this show and I speak with women from Africa and the Caribbean who now live abroad or who continue to live in the Caribbean or Africa and today is no exception. The mission of this show is to inspire, empower, and encourage women globally, as they learn from these amazing women from Africa and the Caribbean, who share their expertise in their subject area.
[00:01:16] Paula: Today, we are going to be speaking with, I always call them amazing, so with another amazing woman, and she’s going to be talking about an African repat journey. Her name is Dr. Linda Enoh, and I’ll tell you a bit about her before she comes on to teach us and share with us all the amazing things that she’s an expert on.
[00:01:45] Paula: So Dr. Linda Enoh is a former college professor. She taught tourism science, and she’s now turned into a tourism consultant and a marketing strategist. As a seasoned tourism consultant, she’s dedicated her expertise to working with various tourist destinations and sites, delving deep into understanding the impacts of tourism and the unique experiences of visitors.
[00:02:19] Paula: And through her captivating YouTube channel, which is at Tokende Travel, Dr. Enoh shares an authentic and inspiring narrative of her family’s journey back to Africa. She documents the preparation. She also tells us about the challenges and triumphs that they have encountered. And now, they’re planning to return to Africa.
[00:02:49] Paula: As I spoke with her before we recorded, I was so impressed. And I have been following her for a while. And so when I started following her, I knew that one day I would have her be a guest on my show. And when she said yes, I was thrilled. So welcome, Dr. Enoh, to Chatting with the Experts. I’m so excited that you said yes!
[00:03:14] Linda: Yay! Thank you for having me, Paula. I’m so excited to be here.
[00:03:18] Paula: Absolutely. Did I leave out anything about your life? Because it’s so exciting. I think when I said, did I leave out? That’s a trick question because you are such an interesting person.
[00:03:29] Linda: Thank you. I’m excited to talk about all the different complexities of my life.
[00:03:35] Paula: Absolutely. So let’s stop at even you. As I spoke and I got to know you better. I realized that you’ve had a fantastic life. You were born in Morocco.
[00:03:45] Linda: Yes, born here in Morocco. So in the north of Morocco. Yes. Okay.
[00:03:51] Paula: And you speak multiple languages.
[00:03:53] Linda: Yeah, French is my first. Before I moved to the U. S., Spanish was my second, but now we switched between English and Spanish, so Spanish is my third, and then some Arabic, which I’m unfortunately losing some of it. Yep.
[00:04:08] Paula: So you are multicultural. Oh, I should say you’re really a global citizen of the world.
[00:04:13] Linda: Yes. That’s how I see myself too. Yep.
[00:04:18] Paula: So tell me, okay, so you are a former tourism professor, tell me why be interested in that?
[00:04:25] Linda: I would say the only reason why I got a PhD wasn’t to go into academia. It wasn’t to be a professor. The only reason I got a PhD program was to be a consultant, but I didn’t know what it was before because I was doing my master’s program. A professor did a presentation on the. research project he did in Jeju Island in South Korea.
[00:04:46] Linda: And at the end of the class, I was like, I want to do that. That’s what I want to do. And he said, you have to go and do research. You have to go get a PhD. That was the only reason why I wanted to get a PhD. But once I was in the program and, teaching and all of that, it was like, Oh, I want to be a professor.
[00:05:00] Linda: This is pretty cool. And so that’s why I put to the side, the consulting side of tourism. And I went into academia. Yeah that’s the journey.
[00:05:11] Paula: So then while there, you realized that you actually wanted to be not just teaching it, but actually you wanted to make that part of your life.
[00:05:18] Linda: Yes, I wanted to go back to my first love, like the reason why I went into the PhD program in the first place. You do a lot of research when you’re in academia and I love that part. I love teaching. Teaching is part of what I do too now. And so I wanted to leave behind the academic part of what I was doing and go more into the industry part of what I wanted to do.
[00:05:40] Linda: So into consulting. So that’s why I decided to leave academia, even though I still have like much love for academia.
[00:05:47] Paula: You still have much love for academia, but if people love is.
[00:05:53] Linda: Yeah.
[00:05:53] Paula: We live in it and explore it.
[00:05:56] Linda: Exactly. Yes. I’m very thrilled about the choice. I’ve made. It wasn’t an easy one, but yeah, I’m excited about it.
[00:06:04] Paula: You’ve got to the travel bug. And before you came on, I mentioned how we had looked at some of the videos you had done. And that wanted me to go right back to Africa with you, because I know you’re planning on doing that soon.
[00:06:20] Linda: Yes.
[00:06:20] Paula: So we decided that we were going to do something like share just a short clip on a vlog that you took while visiting. Why don’t we share it and probably have some people guess where this is. Oh, I think we’ve given it away like that. I’ll show you later.
[00:06:41] Linda: Let’s see who can guess. Welcome back to Tokende Travel. On today’s vlog, I’m taking you with me on a busy week in Abidjan, Kodjiboa. Starting with a visit at the Ivoire Trade Center. I wanted to check out a few stores like Nanawax in Abidjan, which are clothing stores. But also look at some of the restaurants that they have there, including AfriCafé. Funny enough, I heard about AfriCafé on YouTube, so it was pretty cool to get to meet the owner, talk with her, and also have some of their food.
[00:07:12] Linda: Their desserts are delicious. I think I had the Bissap muffin. It was really good. And as a drink, I had a ginger ale, something like that. I’ll show you later on in the video.
[00:07:24] Paula: Look at that. There you are. And then look at this. This really was extra impressive. Look at it. Oh my word.
[00:07:35] Linda: I had fun dressing up.
[00:07:38] Paula: You had fun dressing up and it shows. So we’ll stop here for now. And
[00:07:54] Paula: Dr. Linda, I’m sure you got a lot of questions about this video. Is this really Africa?
[00:08:00] Linda: Yeah. A lot of people are amazed. Happily shocked, surprised by how advanced things are in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. It’s not, and mostly for the English-speaking world, you don’t always think about French-speaking countries on the continent, and to know that Cote d’Ivoire is the first Francophone economy on the continent is a very, not, it’s not very well known for people.
[00:08:30] Paula: Yeah, you are into tourism science. Tell us why it’s not well known because yes, we hear I’m Nigerian. So I guess, mostly when they have African they think of sub Saharan Africa, they say, Nigeria, because we’re the biggest country and the most with the most population. But why aren’t most of the Francophone countries known?
[00:08:50] Linda: Because of language. First of all, I think that English-speaking have naturally an easier way to export their culture. And, with the music, like everybody knows about Burna Boy. Everybody knows about that because it’s easier to relate to because there’s no language barrier.
[00:09:05] Linda: So Ghana, of course, because of the whole movement of what was it again, the return to Africa and all of that. Yeah, it’s easier to make those connections when you don’t have the language barrier, but with the language barrier. I think it’s a little, naturally people are less interested in French francophone Africa, sub-Saharan Africa.
[00:09:28] Paula: Okay. And so, it sounds like that’s one of your purposes, to let people be more interested in francophone Africa.
[00:09:35] Linda: Yes, I think the easiest. Even for our kids who are, we all speak English and everything, it would be an easier transition to go and pick an English speaking country like Ghana or Nigeria or South Africa, but we are really wanting our kids to be able to be fluent in French.
[00:09:52] Linda: We want them to be able to learn to learn French as well. That’s where we’re going. We’re choosing the most difficult road.
[00:10:01] Paula: But you do have a background in France and French.
[00:10:04] Linda: Yes, absolutely. French is my first language. And my husband also speaks French since he is originally from Cameroon, which is a bilingual country.
[00:10:12] Linda: So English and French, even though he’s English is his first language. But yes, he does understand and speak French as well. So we just want the kids to. Come along as well and be able to learn French, just like us.
[00:10:26] Paula: That’s really impressive. I love what you’re doing, integrating them into a culture that, as you said, it’s not as well known, but you are so passionate about it that you want them to be embedded in it.
[00:10:38] Linda: Yes, I think growing up in Morocco, that’s how I was able to learn all these languages that we were in a multicultural environment. It’s not like I went to school to learn those languages. We were fluent. Me and my brothers were fluent in all four languages before we were 10 years old. Because we were in that environment, like we spoke French at home, went to a French school in the north of Morocco.
[00:10:59] Linda: Everybody speaks Spanish because we’re so close to Spain. We get Spanish television. So you put a kid in front of TV in a different language, they’re going to learn that language. Everybody speaks Arabic in the street and we grew up in an American church. So that’s how we learned English too.
[00:11:13] Linda: So it was just a natural process. So we want to be able to put our kids in something like that as well in that kind of environment.
[00:11:21] Paula: Wow, that’s impressive. So now you’re preparing to go back to Ivory Coast. I can’t get the French pronunciation I’m sorry. I got it. Yes. Yeah, your plan. So what are the steps, if I decided now at my age where I don’t have kids as young as yours are to go back what do I need to know?
[00:11:44] Linda: First of all, you have to know if it’s the environment that you want to be in that’s something that I always recommend and I talk about on my channel is you have so many choices. If you know already that Africa is a place you want to move to, you have 54 choices, right?
[00:11:58] Linda: So is the language going to be a problem? What kind of level infrastructure do you want? What kind of, you want to be in an urban area or more rural area? Yeah. So many choices. And one of the reasons why Cote d’Ivoire fits our lifestyle is that it’s, Abidjan specifically, it’s, I’m a city girl.
[00:12:15] Linda: I have to be in the city, right? It has to be there, right? And even though with my husband. Since he’s originally from Cameroon, he’s leaning more towards Cameroon, obviously, because it’s going to be an easier transition for us. Still, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire, even though their economies are not at the same level, they are both good choices if you were thinking of going to a sub-Saharan French-speaking country.
[00:12:38] Linda: So I would say, what are your priorities? Language, infrastructure, cost of living as well. Cost of living in Cameroon is a lot lower than cost of living in Cote d’Ivoire, for example. So that’s what I would, that’s what I would recommend, like knowing what’s important for you and then go down the list and eliminate the ones that don’t fit what you want.
[00:13:01] Paula: Okay. Alright. So you the reason that you chose Ivory Coast over Cameroon. That’s where your husband’s from is… Is this something you want to talk about?
[00:13:14] Linda: Yes, Cote d’Ivoire is.. My two best friends live in Cote d’Ivoire. My childhood best friend. We are, we were born two days apart and we grew up in Morocco together.
[00:13:23] Linda: Yes, our moms met at the hospital. They didn’t know each other and they met at the hospital when we were born.
[00:13:28] Paula: That’s a friendship from life. I mean from birth.
[00:13:31] Linda: Yes. And but she’s Senegalese. She’s from Senegal. And she moved to Cote d’Ivoire two years ago. What are the odds? And my college best friend, who I went to college with in Morocco, is from Ivory Coast.
[00:13:43] Linda: And she moved to Canada, and then she went back to Cote d’Ivoire. So I’m like okay. And I’ve also never been to Cameroon, but I’ve been to Cote d’Ivoire twice now, and It’s an environment that I really enjoy. I can definitely see a family living there for a few years. Yeah.
[00:14:02] Paula: Alright. Okay. So you said, write a list and decide what it is exactly that first of all, when you write that list, decide if that’s where you really do want to work or move to. What about jobs?
[00:14:15] Linda: Yeah, so for us, specifically, we both have online businesses, so we’re not really looking into getting a job locally. And that’s not something that I would recommend as well. If you’re coming from the West, and then you want to have a local job, the pay grade is going to be a lot lower because of the cost of living. So that’s not something that I would recommend. However, if you’re really looking into securing a job, I would say either look at Organizations like the UN or UNESCO, something like that, or having a remote job. That would be an option that will work well for a lot of people. But in our case, because both our businesses are online, we can work from anywhere basically. So that’s a big advantage.
[00:14:56] Paula: That’s a big advantage.
[00:14:58] Linda: Yeah, definitely.
[00:15:00] Paula: So you were feeling that call to go home. Another question I know that you probably get is, what do we need in terms of a visa? I know you were born in Morocco, you’ve done graduate school here in the United States. That’s right. Your children are probably United States citizens.
[00:15:17] Linda: Yes.
[00:15:17] Paula: Do you start and what’s the process? You can’t just go there or, can you?
[00:15:24] Linda: Yes. So funny thing is that I believe that with Cameroon is going to be a lot easier because of family lineage. Like my husband is American. He was born here in the U S but he grew up in Cameroon, half of his family. Most of his family is in Cameroon and he has a lot of family here in the US, but I believe that the process would be a lot easier there because of family lineage.
[00:15:47] Linda: In Cote d’Ivoire, based on my research and all that, you can go into Cote d’Ivoire with your tourist visa and then you can ask for residency as well. So obviously preparing all the, providing all the paperwork. Since we will be coming independently without a job, then source of income and all of that, just like you would do in any other country to prove that you can sustain yourself financially and all of that. Yeah.
[00:16:14] Paula: Okay. So I had some guests recently who moved to Ghana or they are planning on moving to Ghana and they talked about the monetary system there. At least in Ghana, they said it was pretty easy. After they established their bank accounts there, but like in terms of everyday transactions, everything is done on their phone.
[00:16:34] Linda: Yes.
[00:16:35] Paula: You don’t do that here in the United States because that happens in the ivory Coast as well.
[00:16:42] Linda: Yes, absolutely. And that’s something that to me when I came when I went last year as a visitor, and I was expecting to use my ATM card everywhere. And they were like, no, just do it or orange money, right?
[00:16:55] Linda: You can do it with different phone companies because the banking system is so slow. I’m not trying to talk negative here. No, but let me say that the level of banking is a lot lower, right? Not a lot of people have bank accounts. So in a lot of countries on the continent, you will have money transferred made through phones, which we don’t do here, but it’s super convenient, but it’s a lot more prevalent there.
[00:17:21] Linda: So it’s more common there. And so a lot of the transactions are done that way. And I personally didn’t experience it because I was there for just 10 days. But, and I just had cash on myself. But that’s very convenient. I would say that’s quite different.
[00:17:40] Paula: Alright. We’ve talked about some very basic things. So let’s come back to what you do. You’ve studied tourism science. So you talk about cultural, cross-cultural experiences and appreciation. How do you and talking to not even a layperson, like your students in the past and now, non-students, how do you approach that? Because, I have a lot of friends who think Okay. Oh my gosh. That’s the motherland. I just want to come home and be with my people, but it’s not that easy. There are things that we need to put into consideration. Let me talk a bit about that.
[00:18:15] Linda: Sure. So the side of tourism, when people hear about tourism, they think about the business of tourism. So let’s go on a cruise. Let’s go visit places and go to monuments and museums and all of that. And the side of tourism that I studied was Community-based tourism, so looking at how tourism is actually helping local communities. So looking at the social, cultural impacts of tourism, not just the monetary side okay, they’re making money because I’m coming.
[00:18:38] Linda: But okay. How does that impact their culture and negatively as well as positively? So that’s really what I’m looking at when I travel to, even if I go to Paris, okay, how am I impacting the local community and all of that? So that’s just a personal… That’s the research side of me, but also the personal side of me when I travel for fun as well.
[00:19:00] Linda: And so when you are going to a place to answer your question, I would say this is my position. I cannot impose and tell people how to experience their vacations. Okay, because it’s your hard-earned money and you have 10 days, maybe one week. Americans, we don’t have a lot of holidays, right? And you just want to go somewhere and have as much fun as possible. You don’t want to really think about. Impacts of this or impact of it, you just want to go and have fun, but my mission is really to have people think about the other side of it, the impact of what you’re doing. That it’s not just about you going there and how it’s going to benefit you, but also the other side. Putting yourself in the shoes of the person who lives there, who owns the land, the person who owns the store, the person who works at the airport and how is their visit going to impact their life positively or negatively and really how they also perceive you. Are they welcoming to you? What is owned to you as a visitor what is owned to them as the hosts? At the end of the day, they are the host and you’re the guests. So we have to respect those dynamics and not always expect to be welcome and being okay with that. But at the same time, knowing that we’re not going there just to take, and that means okay, we’re going to the clubs, we’re going to eat the food and all that takes a lot of pictures.
[00:20:36] Linda: But what are we giving? What are we bringing? And that’s not just money. What are we bringing in terms of life improvements, and as well as exchanges? Are you talking with people around you, or are you just staying in a 5 star hotel, talking to the staff, going to the 5 star restaurant that they recommend, taking a limousine, going back to the hotel, then going back to the airport?
[00:21:03] Linda: What are the interactions that you’re having with the people of the country as well? So that’s how I approach it based on my research. Based on how I personally like to look at tourism and travel.
[00:21:18] Paula: So that’s your approach. So how would you, if I was going to, let’s say, Cote d’Ivoire, how would you advise me to interact with the locals?
[00:21:26] Paula: Because what you’re saying is very valid. Many of us travel and we stay, as you say, in the best hotels, only interact with people probably who are coming from a similar background like also from the same country, and then we could fly back and say, Oh, it was absolutely amazing. Yeah, not taking into consideration the impact that our visits had there on as you say, the locals.
[00:21:52] Linda: Yeah, absolutely. For somebody who, first of all, who doesn’t speak the language, okay, one, what are the motivations to go? Why are you going there? Why Cote d’Ivoire? And two, just like you would do for Paris, for example, Paris, France. You would know a few words in French. Sure, maybe French is not the perfect example because a lot of the things, the signage, for example, is bilingual.
[00:22:15] Linda: Sure, but making your own effort to know a few words in French, like bonjour, for directions, for thank you, please, for things like that just shows courtesy, that just shows that you care. I’m not asking you to be fluent before visiting or even before moving, but at least showing interest in the local culture.
[00:22:37] Linda: Ivorians are extremely hospitable. So even if you don’t speak a lick of French, they will help you out. They will give you direction. They, that’s just how they are naturally. That, I think that’s just how black people are in general. We’re very open. We help the other, no matter how the other looks like we help. We’re very generous. And so my advice would be to just be open to learning about the culture and the differences being open to the difference because there’s going to be differences, somebody who’s not used to eating with their hands. They’re going to face a difference. Somebody who’s not used to having Okay. You open the tap. Yes, it’s running water. But maybe the pressure is not as high as the pressure that you have here at home.
[00:23:20] Linda: It’s different, but you can get used to some of these differences and accept those differences. You’re not going there to change things. You’re going there to appreciate the things. They’ve been living in their culture, experiencing their culture for hundreds of years, thousands of years. They’re not going to change things for you. For your 10 day visit. So embrace it.
[00:23:46] Paula: You talked about, and I think that’s a very good point. You talked about learning the language, like how to say good morning, good afternoon or so in French, but then because we’re from Africa, we know that there are other languages other than the language that the colonialists brought.
[00:24:01] Linda: Yes.
[00:24:01] Paula: So do you advise people to find out about the area you’re staying in and at least learn the welcoming or how to greet?
[00:24:10] Linda: Absolutely. And that will depend on the country you’re going to because in some countries is regional like for example in the Congo where I’m originally from. I would say most people speak Linga nationally. But then if you go to the Western part where my parents are from, you will hear Kikongo more than Lingala. So do you learn Lingala or do you learn Kikongo? Or if you go to the eastern part, Swahili. Okay, so do you learn Swahili? So depending on where you’re going, that again is the effort that you have to make on yourself, personally, to be aware of these things.
[00:24:40] Linda: Okay, I’m going to Rwanda. Okay, sure, there’s French. Sure, there’s English. But it will be maybe more meaningful to have a few words in Swahili because that will make you connect at a deeper level.
[00:24:53] Paula: I think that’s very important for people to know that, yes, it’s not just okay, francophone or but there were people living there prior to the French going there and they do have their cultures.
[00:25:06] Linda: Absolutely. And they still speak those languages in their daily lives. So that gives you a deeper level of entry into the community, because you have made a point to learn more about their language about them, who they are as a people. So that means a lot.
[00:25:26] Paula: And even the local culture, sometimes, here, you may see an adult and say, hi. That’s not acceptable.
[00:25:36] Linda: No, we don’t do that. We all make mistakes, we all do and but being willing to learn and that’s it. Oh, no, I don’t have to shake everybody’s hand because I come into the room. Be open to learn and yeah, and do what the locals do, right? When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? So same thing.
[00:26:00] Paula: Exactly. I love this. Anything else? You’re the professor, so there may be something else I haven’t asked you about, but you think is very
[00:26:08] Paula: important.
[00:26:10] Linda: Yeah, I think that this is my husband’s always… even when we went to Hawaii for a honeymoon and we attended a Cirque du Soleil type performance about the history of Hawaii, people from Hawaii and how they came from Polynesia and all of that.
[00:26:25] Linda: And after the show, I was talking to some of the cast members because I wanted to know about the significance of, talking like performing about their culture. And my husband is like, Can you just stop asking people research questions? They’re just trying to make a living here. And I can’t help it.
[00:26:43] Linda: That’s just me. I’m always trying to understand the deep cultural significances of things. But I think that I’m always trying to look at the authenticity of things. For example, even if you’re buying souvenirs, the closer you are to tourist areas, technically all around the world, the less authentic it’s going to be. Go to Mexico. All the souvenirs around Chichen Itza. A lot of them are not made locally. Okay. There’s a lot of made-in-China souvenirs in Mexico, right? But the more you go outside into artisan shops. That’s where you absolutely need to buy your souvenirs and not just like a gas station and buy a trinket because it doesn’t mean anything.
[00:27:29] Linda: You’re not going to hear about the story of the artisan and what it means. Is that something from his family? Is that something that they’re weaving into the mats or something like that because that’s the family color? You’re not going to learn that at delivery store by the gas station or something like that.
[00:27:47] Linda: You’re going to learn that from the mouth of the artisans. So it’s very important to have those interactions with people who are doing the work. The people who are there and even asking them the hard questions like about how do you, what do you think about tourists? What do you think about visitors coming here?
[00:28:03] Linda: And they’ll tell you if they feel like it, if they enjoy those interactions and be interactive. How those conversations and, go eat at somebody’s house instead of being at the Hilton. That’s something that I cannot stand going to a different country and staying at the Hilton because it’s like The money is going back to the Hilton. It’s not staying in the community. So there are small things that you can do. It’s going to be a better experience for you at the end of the day, more memorable. The Hilton room in Cote d’Ivoire, Abidjan looks the same way as the Hilton room down the street here in Houston. Just sure, they’re going to put a little few paintings here and there, like with African flair.
[00:28:42] Linda: But it’s a Hilton, right? So staying at an Airbnb, staying with friends, if you can, or even at a guest house, like it doesn’t have to be a shack. I’m not saying that you have to sacrifice comfort. I’m just saying that you can still stay at a nice place and, but have an authentic experience.
[00:29:02] Paula: I love what you said about, when we stay at the the brand name hotels or the chains that we’re familiar with, the money’s not staying in their country. The people in that country are not benefiting from it. I love that.
[00:29:16] Linda: Exactly.
[00:29:18] Paula: And because you’re going to Ivory Coast, I know that you’re not going to be saying anything that, as we’ve learned in America, you’re not endorsing any place particular. I love that but would there be like one or two places that come to mind for you? It’s not that they’re paying you to say that because this is a question that I’m just asking you on the spot, putting you on the spot, asking you guys.
[00:29:39] Linda: In terms of hotels, where to stay?
[00:29:41] Paula: In terms of like local, like guest houses that if I decided I was going.
[00:29:46] Paula: Tomorrow.
[00:29:48] Linda: Which I recommend you do. Yeah, so my husband and I stayed at Coucoue Lodge. Kukwe Lodge is actually outside of Abidjan. So it’s like the resort town of Assini. So it’s the beach, White Sand Beach and all of that. So we first stayed there because we wanted the beach. My husband was like, okay, I need to.
[00:30:06] Linda: Relax. Let’s go and spend it. Actually, he flew in there a day before me because he wanted to relax. And he knows that when I’m on, I’m like, let’s do this. Let’s do this. And let’s go see this. He’s no, I need to chill for a few days before you come. So he went in. He went there before me. And we stayed at the Coucoue Lodge.
[00:30:24] Linda: And on my YouTube channel, I have a whole video about the tour of the resort, five-star with an authentic flair. It’s not a five-star that you see here. Ivorians go there. Sure. There’s a lot of foreigners going there as well. But if you see Ivorians going there, that’s where you want to be because it’s not an exclusive place just for expats or just for tourists and things like that. And it wasn’t expensive per se and it’s also I’ve heard that it was a favorite of the current president. I didn’t know that. I heard that over there and so I felt Oh, this is nice. Okay. But Kukula would be one. Another one, I didn’t go because I stayed with my best friend. But the name escapes me right now, but I will definitely send that information. It’s actually a place that I would recommend for somebody to go. It’s in the middle of the city and I would say it’s a big city, typical big city, a lot of traffic, a lot of noise and the hotel is in the middle of the city and it’s peace and quiet.
[00:31:33] Paula: What?!
[00:31:33] Linda: So I would have to remember the name. It is just but I will have to give you the name. That would be a place that I would recommend. I saw other YouTubers go there. I asked a travel agency input in Abidjan their thoughts about that place, and they’re like, yes, it’s the place. It’s a nice place to go.
[00:31:52] Linda: Another one, Bushman Cafe is a very famous. restaurant. If you go to Abidjan, you have to go to the Bushman Cafe. And they also have a hotel there. So you could stay at the Bushman Cafe. Locally owned by an Ivorian man. So those two and Bushman Cafe.
[00:32:09] Paula: Bushman.
[00:32:10] Linda: Bushman. Yes. It’s a very unique space when you go there.
[00:32:17] Linda: A lot of arts, articraft it’s really nice. They have a museum on site as well. So it’s a pretty nice place to go visit and stay at if you want to.
[00:32:28] Paula: Lovely. I could talk with you forever. I have even more questions like I was saying, how have you been there during Christmas time? How is it celebrated there? Because I know every country has its own way of celebrating Christmas and we tend to think it’s just how it’s done here in the Western world.
[00:32:45] Linda: That’s right. Yeah, I really wish I could. The first time I went was 10 years ago. During my best friend’s wedding. And it was in April. This time I went in November. During that time, one thing too about Côte d’Ivoire and a lot of African countries is that they have a lot of festivals. So we went during the Abissa festival. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go and look at the parades and the processions and everything, but the Abissa people are in the eastern part of Cote d’Ivoire, so they are very similar to the Ashanti people of Ghana. It’s the same people.
[00:33:21] Linda: So you will see in their clothing and the celebration and the dance very similar. So when Americans see that, they’ll be like, oh, I’ve seen that somewhere. So it’s Ivorian, but it’s overall the same people that you see in Ghana, so that’s that’s something to experience if you go there in November. But to answer your question, I haven’t been there during the end of year holidays, but a good time to go those of you who want to go, I would recommend this January and February because Cote d’Ivoire is hosting the African Nations Cup which is the most important football, or like we say here, soccer. Yeah. And last time it was in Cameroon, now it’s in Côte d’Ivoire, and it’s just going to be the party of the year, basically. If you want to go, and maybe tickets are very high in December, go in January. I think it’s between January 13th to February 11th.
[00:34:20] Paula: I think so.
[00:34:21] Linda: Pick 10 days in that period and just go. It’s going to be a good time.
[00:34:26] Paula: I was going to say, and soccer is taking on football as it’s called in every other part of the world, most parts of the world other than the U. S.
[00:34:33] Linda: Exactly.
[00:34:34] Paula: It’s taken very seriously. Oh my word.
[00:34:38] Linda: Oh yeah.
[00:34:39] Paula: Lose friends sometimes to teams.
[00:34:44] Linda: Definitely. Oh, yeah. There are five major cities hosting the games. So that’s also a great time to go because there’s going to be activities, not just concentrating in Abidjan, but different cities to go check out and see an experience. So that would be a good time to go.
[00:35:04] Paula: Lovely. Linda, as I said, we could talk forever, but if someone wants to talk more with you, where can they find you online?
[00:35:13] Linda: Alright, you can find me on YouTube. That’s my favorite place to be. So my channel is Dr. Linda Tokende Travel. Just type Tokende Travel, which is T O K E N D E, travel. Same name on Instagram as well. So I’m sharing a lot of videos about the whole process of moving with a family of six. With four kids under the age of 10.
[00:35:42] Paula: Who are the guests? First of all, I thought you had two kids. So you said four, I was like, whoo.
[00:35:48] Linda: Yeah, they’re nine years old, eight years old, and the twins are six.
[00:35:52] Paula: The twins are six. Yes, that’s true. I didn’t know you have four because you told me about the twins. That’s true. Wow. Yep. And that’s how I got to see you. That’s how I got to meet you. Connecting with you on Instagram and seeing what you’re doing. I was like, wow, this is an amazing person. And at some point, I didn’t know at that time I would be doing TV. At some point I have to connect with her and we talk more about what she’s doing to showcase and to broaden people’s outlook and understanding on the African continent because we need that.
[00:36:25] Linda: We have to do it ourselves.
[00:36:28] Paula: We have to do it ourselves. And YouTube and Instagram, that’s where you can find me.
[00:36:35] Linda: Yeah, those are my… but you can find me on Facebook as well, same name. I think on Facebook, I’m at Dr. Linda Lelo, which is my middle name, Lelo Enoh. But if you just type Dr. Linda Enoh, you should find me on Facebook as well.
[00:36:51] Paula: We’ll put all of that in the show notes. And for those of you who have listened to Dr. Linda Enoh, wasn’t she amazing? It was to me, and I know that you won’t differ with me. And so for me, you can find me on my website, which is chattingwiththeexperts.com. There I host a lot of my podcasts. You can also find me on LinkedIn. If you want to get in touch with me just Google, not Google, but just put in the search box in LinkedIn, Paula Okonneh and I’ll pop up, or I am on Instagram at Paula Okonneh my handle is at chat_experts_podcast. I really enjoy learning every week and listening to these amazing women. And of course, Dr. Linda has been no exception. And if you would like to be a guest on the show, and you’re from Africa or the Caribbean, and you live abroad, A broad meaning anyway, outside of Africa, the Caribbean. Now, if you do live in Africa and the Caribbean, please contact me on either my website, on LinkedIn or on Instagram. Thank you so much, Dr. Linda.
[00:38:11] Paula: This has been…
[00:38:11] Linda: thank you for having me. That was really fun.
[00:38:15] Paula: Thank you for coming on.
[00:38:21]