A Few Words from Our Founder

Having spent my life over three continents, I've experienced first hand how uniquely rich each culture can be. To me, culture encompasses smiles, songs, scents, dances, stories, question marks, eureka moments and so much more. Growing up, my father, who was born and raised in Benin, would always tell my brothers and me to take notes during our trips. While we were too young to fully appreciate it at the time, I realize now that he wanted to instill in us a sense of curiosity, openness and appreciation that there was much to learn from people and places we visited and that all people around the world just want the same things: safety, belonging and love.

From these core values, an idea grew in me at the end of 2017—to help other curious and open-minded travelers look beyond the images, myths and stereotypes portrayed on TV and experience for themselves (in safety and comfort) the infinite and wondrous diversity of our world.

We organized our first trip to Benin in 2018 to test this idea. With my family’s deep roots in Benin, I have spent a lot of time in Benin and I knew firsthand both how rich the culture is and also how little known it is as a travel destination—especially in English-speaking countries outside of Africa. After a successful test trip with excellent participant feedback, we confirmed this was an idea worth pursuing and Wademba Travel was born! While we started in Benin, we always planned to expand into additional destinations as soon as we were confident our standards of quality, comfort and safety could be met for our travelers.

If you're an open-minded traveler, looking for a unique and transformational small group experience, join the family and experience Wademba.

I look forward to experiencing with you!

Neil O.