Seven Nigerian and four Dutch odonatologists organized a collaborative expedition to Nigeria’s Cross River State in 2022. While exploring one of the most biodiverse but least well-known regions of Africa, they documented several rare, poorly known and even undescribed dragonflies and damselflies. The expedition benefitted from Dutch resources and taxonomic expertise and from Nigerian knowledge and networks in the field. Moreover, the team experienced that a collaborative expedition has important benefits beyond the ecological insights obtained. These benefits arise from knowledge exchange among team members and from broader knowledge distribution through local connections. Cross-continental collaborations can therefore provide distinct support to research and conservation in countries of the Global South. Such projects also come with challenges that stem from cultural differences, which in itself form valuable learning experiences. This article reflects on the collaboration during the Dutch-Nigerian Odonata expedition and presents seven recommendations to help navigate some of the challenges that were encountered. With this, we hope to encourage other ecologists to organize field expeditions collaboratively.