Top Five Tasty Nigerian Soups For Tourists

Soups are very important in Nigeria as they are usually served alongside swallows like Eba, Amala, Fufu, and Semo. In Nigeria, we have an uncountable number of delicious soups. In fact, as a tourist, you are spoilt for choices. As such, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares top 5 tasty Nigerian soups for tourists.

Edikang Ikong

Edikang Ikong soup is native to the people from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. It is prepared with a lot of pumpkin leaves, water leaves and assorted meat as well as beef. It is quite nourishing.

Efo Riro

Efo Riro is a rich vegetable soup that is widely prepared among the Yorubas. The vegetables that can be used to cook this soup is Efo shoko (Green Amaranth). If this is not available you can simply use spinach.

Bitter leaf soup (Ofe Onugbu)

Bitter leaf soup is very popular in Eastern Nigeria. The name bitter leaf soup can discourage you from eating it. This is not the case as the traces of bitterness is removed by squeezing and washing the leaves several times.

Miyan Kuka

This soup is made from baobab leaves. It is mostly eaten in Northern Nigeria. Hence, when you find yourself in that region, make sure you have a plate of Miyan Kuka with Tuwo Shinkafa (mashed rice).

Abak Atama

Abak Atama Soup is a delicious soup popular amongst the Ibibios of Akwa Ibom. The name is derived from the two main ingredients- Palm Fruit Concentrate (Abak) and Atama Leaves.

Five Tips To Prevent Road Rage As A Lagos Driver

Lagos is the centre of excellence. One thing about living in an urban and highly commercialised city like Lagos is how to deal with traffic every day. These types of drives can lead to frustration and road rage.  Road rage can be triggered despite following all the traffic rules. In line with this, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency shares ways to deal with road rage.

Avoid doing things that will give you road rage
You can probably think of a handful of driving manoeuvres that consistently give you road rage when other motorists perform them. Avoid them.

Abandon your horn

One annoying thing about drivers is that they cannot get there hands off the horn whether it is an emergency or not. Know that a vehicle’s horn is there for emergencies, not just for making noise! If you do this, you are calling road rage.

Drive defensively
If you find yourself in heavy traffic, stop yourself from engaging in any aggressive actions that will get you in trouble. Some of the things include keeping your speed down, making sure you do not overtake indiscriminately and allow people pass when they.

Focus on the traffic instead of drivers
You will know if a motorist wants to activate your road rage. Do not give them that chance at all. If you do,  you may be pushed to react which can make you angry. You begin by expressing various disapproving hand and face gestures! What you should do is to focus on traffic instead of the driver.

Give yourself time
If you’re running late, you will be more likely to suffer road rage at the simplest incidence of annoyance. The pressure of getting to work or school on time can stress us out when behind the wheel. To avoid higher levels of stress on the roads, give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination.

6 Indicators You Are Drinking Too Much Alcohol

There is absolutely nothing wrong with desiring to end the day, especially since it is Friday, by downing several bottles of your preferred drink. The problem here is when you become attached to alcohol. This is called addiction. As such, here are some obvious signs you are drinking too much.

You need alcohol to feel confident 

The truth is the higher the amount of alcohol you drink, the higher your self-confidence. Sadly, this intoxicated courage and confidence can be quickly replaced with the fear of the actions that show that you are under the influence.

You abandon your responsibilities to drink

One sure sign that your drinking is becoming a problem is when you begin to leave your responsibilities at work or home to drink. Additionally, you call in sick repeatedly because of a hangover. You may have a drinking problem.

You self-medicate

Your alcoholic problems can result in self-medication because your life is tied to the bottle. If you find yourself reaching for a drink when you start feeling down, it may be time to take a look at the causes behind your feelings instead of covering them up.

People close to you are concerned 

When your relationship with those close to you gets affected because of your drinking, there is a problem. Those close to you may have commented about your drinking too much to the level that you begin to hide your drinking problems. This is a red flag.

You have accepted your alcoholism

If you have a problem with alcohol, you will become very comfortable with it, You no longer feel embarrassed with your drinking. As this tolerance increases, you will soon see alcohol as your solution for everything.

Your life is all about alcohol

If you always have the feeling that any activity you engage in must include alcohol, this could be a sign that you’have become dependent on alcohol. The more you drink, the more your blood pressure rises.

5 Tips For Blending Into A New Culture When You Relocate

There are various reasons that may prompt you to relocate. It may be an inter or intrastate relocation. Whatever the case may be, you should know that the culture will be different from what you are used to. Hence, you do not want to fall short of their way of life especially if you are relocating to a culturally and religiously sensitive location like Northern Nigeria. There are some actions that you can take to ensure that your cultural transition is as smooth as possible.Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency shares some of them.

Learn the local language

One of the easiest ways to blend into a new culture is to learn how to speak the local language. Doing this will make it simple for you to network, conduct business and integrate yourself into your local community.

Join local expat communities

Once you have arrived at your new destination, you will most likely make new friends with the people that you come across along the way. It is better to join an expat community because you will receive reliable advice based on the experiences they have garnered living with the people.

Join the landlord association

Another way to settle into a new culture is by joining the landlord association. You can find friends as well as network. This said, ensure that you make them know that just moved into the community.

Seek out colleagues

If you are being relocated for work purposes, it is not out of place for you to request that your organisation put you in contact with employees who are already working at where you are relocating. Just make sure you contact the person before you move.

Do your research

Doing a bit of research is important before relocating to a new location, city or community. And, an essential part of this is understanding your new culture. Thus, research ahead of time and ensure that you are aware of things such as the local cuisine, festivals, holidays, dress codes, prevalent religions and spiritual beliefs.

Five Smart Ways To Track Your Expenses

The question that many people ask themselves is where do their money go. Truthfully, you are the only one who can answer that question. But, we know that a reason why you are losing your money is because you are not tracking it. Well, it is time to stop losing your money and start tracking your cash. As such, we highlight some of the ways you can do this.

Use online management software

You do not need to go to the bank because you want to check your account. There are now online management tools and applications that allow you track your spending from your computer or smartphone real-time. In addition to this, you can also see your recent transactions.

Use online budgeting software

There are certain websites, apps, and software that you can directly link to your financial accounts. They automatically organise and categorise your spending by letting you compare your projected spending against your actual spending. It will even alert you when you are overspending.

Use ATMs

ATMs are connected with banks and it lets you check your balance, deposit and even transfer funds between accounts. Ultimately, ATMs are available anytime you need them. Hence, it is easily accessible to help you track your finance.

Activate account alerts

If you want to know about all your bank account transactions or activities as well as track how you spend your money, you should activate alerts. It will allow you get new alerts and let you know when your account is low. You will just be charged a token for this service.

Pay a visit to your local bank 

Banks in Nigeria can offer you financial advice if you have challenges keeping track of your spending. They can help you with a solution.

7 Benefits of Speaking Nigeria’s Three Major Languages

Nigerian has three major languages namely Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. The thing is not a large number of people can communicate in these three languages. This is perhaps because English is our main lingua franca. There are so many benefits of speaking these three languages. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares these benefits. It is, noteworthy, to say that even though we are encouraging Nigerians to speak these three languages, more and more citizens are moving away from even communicating in their own mother tongue.

You will have more job opportunities

There are certain jobs you cannot apply for if you cannot speak these three languages. And you know that these jobs come with fantastic salaries and bonuses. For example, you cannot work for BBC Hausa, if you cannot speak Hausa whether you are a veteran broadcaster or not.

Improve your competitiveness 

Speaking a second or third traditional language makes your curriculum vitae stand out and can boost you to the top of the interview list with potential employers. You are very competitive.

Can earn more money.

The financial returns of learning an extra Nigerian language can help you earn more money. You can freelance as a translator thus making more quids on the side.

Get to try on different personalities

You cannot be pigeonholed if you speak these languages. Hence, You can easily shift from one personality to another depending on which language you and your friends are speaking. You will have an all-rounded personality.

Opens up social and cultural opportunities

Speaking another language allows you to interact with different people and understand the perks of other cultures. This means that you have better chances to make friends, explore different ways of life and be able to blend with different lifestyles.

 Improves problem-solving

Being multilingual in traditional languages can improve your brain functions like the ability to focus attention and perform mental tasks. Thus, people who speak more than one Nigerian language can process information more efficiently.

Help keeps you safe

Have you been in a dangerous situation in which you do not speak the same language with the people involved? Well, persons who are multilingual do not need to worry because their ability to speak and understand whatever they are saying can save you. However, do not be too hasty to respond because this can also be fatal.

6 Things You Should Never Do In Your Hotel Room

A hotel stay should be a smooth and exciting experience. You do not want anyone harassing you. This said, there are some people who call for embarrassment by the things they do in their hotel rooms. So, whether you are a hotel room regular or save your stays for special occasions, there are few things you should never do in a hotel room, particularly, if you want to keep yourself safe or return to lodge at the hotel again. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency shares some of these things.

Smoke

In some hotels, the no smoke sign is clear. However, some persons feel that since they are in the comfort of their room, there is no need to observe the no-smoke rule. You are wrong. If smoking is not allowed, just do not smoke. Remember, you are not the only one that will use the room.

Give out your room number

A rule of thumb is to never reveal your hotel room number to a stranger or even someone you have just spoken with you for a few minutes or hours. Also, if you are meeting someone for the first time, do so outside your room or even outside your hotel. You do not want your room burgled.

Sneak in animals

You love your dog and chances are that you may bring him or her with you when you travel as a companion. Some hotels will not allow animals in the room. As a result, some lodgers will sneak these animals in. If you are discovered, you may be thrown out of the hotel or you may be fined.

Turn your room to a minibar

You may not have enough money to go to a minibar to down some bottles. As such, you have loaded your bag with bottles of alcoholic drinks that your room becomes a sort of minibar. You may do one of the following-go to the minibar, visit a nearby store if you feel the drinks at the hotel are expensive or just completely avoid alcohol.

Steal

You will be shocked that some hotel customers are just thieves. They take the opportunity to steal. Items like towels, drapes and even bed sheets. If you are caught, you will simply be arrested.

Keep your music low

You may want to entertain yourself in your hotel room. However, you should not do so at the detriment of others. If the music becomes too loud, you may just get a knock or call that you should lower the music. This can be shameful.

5 Smart Ways To Make Troubling Clients Happy

Handling stressful or difficult clients is not something many businesses look forward. Regardless, they have no choice than to deal with the client’s complain because they are the oil that lubricates any business. Clearly, they exist in every business but you know that it is better to keep them if you can. This is why they say that the customer is never wrong. So, how may you keep your difficult clients? Jumia travel, the leading online travel agency, shares ways to keep your difficult customers happy.

Allow them to vent 

Sometimes, you have to just keep quiet and allow your client to express everything on their minds. You should note that they become difficult because they feel they cannot say what they have experienced by using your service.

Reassure them 

After allowing them to express themselves, do not let them feel that you do not have their best interests at heart. The simplest thing to do is to reassure them that every decision is to make them happy.

Apologise

Like earlier said customers are king. They are always right. No matter how infuriated you may be with them, you just have to see things from their perspective. Hence, always take the blame, even when you know that you are not at fault. Whatever the case may be, always take responsibility.

Come up with a solution

This is probably the most effective strategy you can use when handling a stressful client. When there’s a problem, a good business person comes up with a solution.

 Learn from the situation

These difficult customers have a lot to teach businesses. So, evaluate who your difficult customers are, then evaluate why they are this way. You may want to deal with them differently because you know they are trouble. But at the same time, they are loyal.

4 Strange Cultural Practices Associated with Marriage In Nigeria

Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups. Hence, it should not surprise anyone that among these groups, there will be some strange cultural practices associated with marriage. Most times, these practices are meant to strengthen the bond of marriage and preserve its sanctity. There are the good, the bad and the ugly. In line with this, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 strange Nigerian cultural practices associated with marriage in Nigeria.

Flogging the groom among the Fulanis

This is a festival in which an intending young Fulani groom is flogged to prove that he’s ready to take a wife. The would-be groom will be trashed and he must show no signs of pain. Otherwise, his readiness to take up the huge responsibility of marriage will not be accepted.

Magun (thunderbolt)

Magun is very common among the Yorubas. It is usually placed on wives by their husbands without their knowledge as a deterrent for committing adultery. And if she goes ahead with the act, her lover could end up losing his life or getting stuck while in the act.

Fattening room

This is practiced by people who hail from Calabar. The fattening room is a room where young women are kept and prepared for womanhood and marriage. Being fat is considered as a sign of good living.

Shaving the hair

A woman who just lost her Igbo husband is usually taken through some cultural rituals to prove that she played no role in the death of her husband. One of the rituals, although somewhat humiliating, is that she has to shave her hair.

Four Simple Tips For A Healthy Tour

The question of distance does not arise when it comes to touring or traveling. The fact is you can never be too prepared for healthy travel. This is because traveling can disrupt your routine as you don’t have access to everything you want. Hence, it is highly probable that you will be ill. But it should be this way. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency shares ways are some tips to stay healthy while you travel.

Take a reusable water bottle

Water is important for keeping you energised and removing waste from your body. The consequences of lack of water is that you will be dehydrated and traveling can be dehydrating. So, don’t forget to drink up even on long travel days and carry a reusable water bottle in which you can preserve water for drinking.

Wear durable walking shoes

You do not need to wear fancy shoes when you travel because you are exploring on foot. Your shoes must be durable and rugged that it will be able to withstand anything. Your legs may be infected by germs if you walk barefooted.

Buy or pack fruits

Fruit is your best travel snacks. Hence, rather than eating junk while on tour, you should consume more of fruits. Fruit contains nutrients that are good for the body to keep it healthy.

Don’t be afraid to try new food

Vacation is not a time to be restrictive when it comes to trying new foods. One of the best parts of traveling is visiting new restaurants. You should just make sure that the restaurant is neat and clean.