9 PLACES VISITED: BENIN: 1) Ganvie, 2) Calavi-Kpota, NIGERIA: 3) Ikome, 4) Abeokuta, 5) Lagos, 6) Benin City, 7) Umuahia, 8) Calabar, 9) Creek-Town.
11 OVERNIGHTS: BENIN: 1) Bush Camp in the church grounds of Kpoto village, 20km south-west of Ketou, NIGERIA: 2) Bush Camp 25km east of Meko (border), 3-5) Hotel “Charlie’s Place & Suites”, Victoria Island, Lagos, 6-7) Hotel “Merit Motel”, Benin City, 8-11) Hotel “Naks Hotel & Towers”, Calabar.
1 UNIQUE WILDLIFE: 1) Drill Monkeys (Calabar NIGERIA).
BLOG POST TRAILER: This post is all about “the giant of Africa”, NIGERIA. At 182m people, it is the most populous country in Africa. Last year it overtook South Africa as the largest economy on the continent and is now the 20th largest economy in the world! Why? Oil. Lots of it. So much so, that petrol here is only $AUD0.42/L. NIGERIA is also rich in culture with over 25 dialects and stand-out, art, sculptures and crafts. More on the “oily culture” of this country later.
Three more milestones in this post - 90 days away, then 3 calendar months away and visiting my 70th country! In this post we leave BENIN and NIGERIA approx 120km to the north of the Atlantic Coast because it is safer and faster to do so. On our last day in BENIN we visited the village of Ganvie (Pop 35K) which is built on stilts 5km out on BENIN’s largest Lake Nokoue. A very progressive community catching approx 400,000 tons of fish every year (that’s 20-30kg per fisherman per day).
Impressive. What is more impressive is that the fishermen sell their catch to the woman of the village, who in turn travel to the mainland to sell them to end consumer, allowing the fishermen to continue fishing. It is an African version of the wholesale-retail model.
Our guide, Uberto also explained the polygamous system of marriage in BENIN (and TOGO). A man can marry any number of woman and a woman can be married to more than one man. It is common for most men to be married to 3-5 women and have 6-15 children. It is also common for wives married to the same man to live together or at least visit each other often. Bizarre.
Our entry into NIGERIA was ironic. We spent only 30min between both border posts but 2.5hrs at our first NIGERIAN police checkpoint and immigration check on the road. Worse still we spent 1hr with an absolute shamster/phony who put us through pain just to get a bribe. Well he did not and we ended up doing a runner on him. Welcome to NIGERIA. Very different from anywhere we have been and just in the first few hours.
Check points everywhere. Nigerians appeared very animated, loud voices and waiving hand gestures (like Italians or Greeks). Many had a love-hate view of their country - critical about the low quality of life and tough conditions but at the same time saying they would not live anywhere else. The most consistent complaint is over-population. It is valid because this leads to joblessness and crime and makes social problems harder to solve.
Yuki, Riza and I decided to leave our group and travel alone to Lagos and Benin City and then meet up with the truck at Calabar on the other side of the country in about 7 days time. We would not miss anything because the group was bush camping and we were already well versed in the bush camping experience. We needed to experience the craziness of Lagos first hand and immerse ourselves in the distinctly different music, food and culture of NIGERIA.
Benin City was also quite historical and the centre of an ancient empire with a great museum and local food/music scene. We left the truck at Abeokuta before noon and bought a public bus to Lagos. I was very excited because I love travelling alone organising buses and accom as I go but this was even better because I had great company. So far, roads were worse and villages much poorer and crowded. Our hotel was on Victoria Island, the poshest area of Lagos were most embassies and fancy hotels are located. Even though this island is against the Atlantic, the coast is a wasteland, the only developments along this strip are oil wells! And what money they have brought! We saw more skyscrapers and fancy hotels here than in MOROCCO to GHANA. There is money here and a lot of it belongs to Muslim Lebanese (as well as the usual suspects - South African whities) according to our taxi driver. They seem to be everywhere in West Africa.
We spent a whole day discovering the “Nike Art Gallery & Foundation” only 5km from our hotel on Victoria Island and then the CBD on Lagos Island. NIGERIA has a rich and distinct style of art, crafts and music. The Nike Gallery is run by a vivacious Nigerian lady called “Chief (Mrs) Nike Okundaye” and comprises a newly built 4 story concrete building jammed packed with arts and crafts works from Nigerian artists from all over the country. Admission is free and everything is for sale. Mrs Okundaye is an artist herself and runs the place, taking a small commission from anything she sells but also provides support for up-and-coming artists. We met her and she shouted us a coffee and drinks. We also met a young artist from Boston with Nigerian heritage called Stephen who explained the artistic heritage of the country in great detail.
We caught a classic rusty old min-van into the CBD and experienced the craziness of Lagos traffic first hand. The horn is the most overused part of any motorised vehicle. You use it for everything. There are no lanes or indicators - just horn sounds to indicate what you want to do. Everyone drives within 1cm of everyone else and at all speeds! The minivans can clock 130km - very unnerving. Petrol is only $AUD0.42/L. The CBD was a strange unique experience. Nigerians make funny “kissing” sound by puckering their lips when they want your attention. It is a strange practice that we found only here to date.
It is like someone picked up the crowded wooden market stalls of any West African market and plonked them into the middle of New York. There were more modern high-rise buildings in Lagos than in any other major city we had visited to date. As we walked around the incredibly crowded and polluted centre we quickly discovered just how animated Nigerians can be. They literally shout and waive their hands at everything, no matter what the mood. When they get angry they are formidable - one guy’s eyes were popping out of his head when he told me to climb down from a fence when I was taking photos. There is definitely a disdain for westerners. Nigerians are generally serious and not the waiving smiling lot we met in other countries.
Some things however are the same - Fan Ice is available here! The Nigerians also pucker their lips and make sucking sounds when they want your attention to buy something they are selling. Weird.
In Lagos we also visited the house of the famous “Fela Kuti” (1938-1997) who is a legendary revolutionary musician who invented “Afrobeat”, a combination of tribal drums, jazz, funk and Latino drums. Fela had 28 wives but only 7 children.
We enjoyed drinks in a roof top bar on his house and then attended live music played by his eldest son Fema at a huge warehouse style venue called “New Africa Shrine” nearby. Lagos may be over-crowded, polluted but its main attraction is its art, culture and music - well worth the visit.
Our solo adventure continued into Benin City (Pop 2m), 322km from Lagos. We travelled there by a new aircon mini-van run by the company “God is Good Motoring”!!! The south of NIGERIA is very religious and mostly Christian. Benin City was the centre of the large Benin Kingdom since the 12th Century and is famous for bronze sculptures, rubber and palm oil.
We spent 2 nights here and visited the bronze makers, National Museum and The Revelation Palazzo Museum. Sadly we did not see any bronze making itself but plenty of busts for sale.
They use terracotta moulds nowadays but used to use wax moulded on a face then transferred to fired sand as a mood until the molten bronze was poured in. The National Museum was disappointing - not very well lit and not air-conditioned and very unkept.
The surprise of the day, the trip to date and likely the whole Ungowa came with the initially strange and kitsch Palazzo which is actually the private museum of Nigeria’s most successful musician and one of Africa’s greatest called Professor (Sir) Victor Uwaifa (MON, JP). The museum has life size statues in specific scenes such as the Benin King throne room, slave quarters, mythical creatures and even a concrete aircraft with cinema inside. At the same time it summarises the achievements of Prof Victor.
The the most amazing thing happened. The curator introduced us to the Professor himself who invited us to his office and later to his home which was almost a replica of Graceland. It is by chance that we got to visit this museum and meet Prof Victor since it was closed when we arrived but after a failed negotiation with a taxi to leave this area, the curator caught us 2min later and invited us in. Read all about our amazing 2hr encounter with this living legend in the special “POST16 - AFRICAN DA VINCI”.
Professor (Sir) Victor Uwaifa, an Nigerian born musician that changed the face of African music in the sixties, seventies and eighties with musical genres of his own and live performances and a presence reminiscent of Elvis Presley. What makes Professor (Sir) Victor Uwaifa (MON, JP) even more unique and legendary is his extraordinary creativity. He is also an inventor and engineer - dare I say it but an African Leonardo Da Vinci. We interviewed the Professor, he played for us, we had beers together whilst watching highlights of his performances, started the car he designed and built himself, culminating in my singing duo with him in his very own chapel.
Do not miss out one of my favourite posts and clearly the highlight of this trip to date and probably the entire trip unless someone films me putting my head in a lions mouth and I survive! Our stay in Benin City concluded with a great dinner of local food including the famous Gushu Soup (a stew of pounded yam, spinach, dried fish and chilli).
Our journey to Calabar on the other side of NIGERIA the following day was better than we expected despite an aircon minivan “Faith Motors” that was squashier and had flimsier seats than the “God is Good Motors” minivan that brought us here.
Calabar (Pop 400,000) is still hot, humid and hazy but it is better kept and a holiday place for working and retired middle class Nigerians. It also is home of the Nigeria Navy and many government departments. It has a rich history being the centre of many ethnic groups and Kingdoms dating back tot he 10th Century. It was also the capital of the slave trade for NIGERIA. I visited the National Museum and Slave Museum here and discovered that at least 8 local Kings and Chiefs were responsible for doing “deals” with the Portuguese and English to get the slave trade going back in the early 1600’s. Here I am thinking that Africans were taken by force but not here - there were guilty parties on both sides. I also took a boat out to Creek-Town, 45min and 8km away where a Presbyterian Scottish missionary called Mary Slessor stopped many local rituals such as the abandonment of twins and triplets, stoning and the removal of limbs for crimes without trial. It is in Calabar that we met up with the truck again and ate some local fish and stews (soups) with pounded yam. The people here put tons of pepper on everything and have a local elixir called “Root” that is fermented herbs and spices - delicious and effective at 6%. From here the truck would stay another night after this post and make its way into Cameroon.
DAY 87, Sun 7FEB16, 240km, Camping/Hotel “Le Jardin Bresilien”, Ouidah Beach to Bush Camping in church grounds of Kpoto village, 20km south-west of Ketou BENIN. Today was our last day and night in BENIN. I wish it was on the beach but the bush has to come back sooner or later! But not just yet.
Today we visited a very unique and interesting community called the “Tofinu” peoples who live in a village called Ganvie (Pop 35,000) on a lake! Yes, you read correctly - a lake. All their houses are on stilts. Ganvie is 5km from the mainland on Lake Nokoue, BENIN’s largest at 218 square kilometres. You get there in a small narrow wooden boat seating 10 in 40min from the port town of Calavi-Kpota. We set out in two boats around 10:30am and spent a total of 2.5hrs visiting Ganvie. Our guide Uberto was very informative.
The village was first populated by refugees from Adjatado in TOGO way back in 1770. Fish is the only food that comes from here. The men fish with nets much like in Vietnam and average 30kg each per day giving the village an annual haul around 400,000 tons. The fishermen sell their fish to the village women, who in turn take it to the mainland to sell to the end consumer. A clever wholesaler - retailer model that fetches a better price and ensures the men keep fishing while the women do the selling. The men even farm fish using dried palm leaves as lining. The tides and wet season bring in different varieties of fish and there is no shortage or danger of over-fishing.
The Tofinu do not pay any taxes but the government has supplied them with solar panels for electricity including “street lights”! They also have several diesel generators for their school, hospital and two hotels owned and run by locals. It is impressive and the people look happy and healthy. Even there is a large mosque and church they all also practice Voodoo and we visited the original site of their landing where there are offerings.
On our way back, Uberto explained the system of Polygamy that exists in BENIN and TOGO. Bizarre. Men can marry any number of women and the women can be married to more than husband. They must over 15. A woman cannot divorce a man unless he agrees. Uberto had two wives and six children from each one! The eldest is 25yrs and the youngest 11mths. His wives know each other and meet regularly to enable the children from both mothers to interact. It is common for the wives to hang out together and most men have 3-5 wives. Any man with one wife is considered a bachelor whilst men without wives are regarded as mentally ill or outcasts. That rules me out as a citizen of BENIN or TOGO. It was a very enlightening day indeed.
Once on land I converted all remaining BENIN money into wine before we headed off to the bush - our aim was to get as close to the NIGERIAN border as possible. Boy was it hot and humid.
So much so that most people could only sleep. Blogging is tough in these conditions. Will need to do it in the morning drives and at night. Our afternoon drive was interesting - Yuki told us that he was leaving the truck for Lagos instead of bush camping through the country. Riza, Doug and I were interested in the idea since we would see nothing but bush with no water for the next 7 days versus air-con, local food, live jazz and even a beach in Lagos. Easy decision except for the safety issue. We would all do some homework for a decision the next day. Our bush camp was in the grounds of a Catholic Church belonging to the village of Kpoto called “Sanctuaries Marian Diocesan de Kpoto”. The miracle of this place was that I found a water tap nearby but out of sight - I would shower here tonight and after my run here tomorrow morning - great! Before dinner, Vit and I reviewed Post 14 of my blog with Doug kindly donating the wine - he obviously wants tone part of the culture club very much. After dinner I snuck away for a shower under my new-found tap and decided to sleep while I was still clean. There was no breeze inside the tent so Doug kindly offered his mozzie net and I slept underneath it outside our tent where there was a lovely breeze. Did not take long to sleep.
DAY 88, Mon 8FEB16, 80km, Bush Camp in the church grounds of Kpoto village, 20km south-west of Ketou BENIN (Run3) to Bush Camp 25km east of Meko (border) NIGERIA. Even though I got to sleep quickly, the mozzies murdered my toes at night - they had slipped through the net and the little bastards had bitten each toe! At least I got instant relief when walking in my boots since the socks ruined them! I will have to figure out a better way to secure the net for future use.
During the morning drive Riza, Doug and I studied our Lonely Planet and conferred with Yuki and decided we would ALL leave the truck to go to Lagos - the prospect of travelling alone, catching public buses and doing our own thing was exciting. It took only 90min to get to the border and we slipped into Nigeria very easily - only 30min at both posts. Waiting in the truck to clear customs and get passport stamps was tough with no breeze. Then the opposite happened.
Only after 20min of driving in NIGERIA we stopped at a police checkpoint for 1.5hrs and then another 1hr at an immigration checkpoint only 5min down the road. It took every ounce of energy out of us, having to sit in the truck in the heat without a breeze, then having to stand in the sun waiting for officers to verify us against our passport. We also had to fill out 3 extra declaration forms on the hot truck for NIGERIAN officials and it was not even the border.
Apparently NIGERIA is full of police checkpoints and small villages. This is why Andi/Grant asked me not to run in the evenings but in the morning since they do not want the police to stop me without a passport or have some villager follow me to the truck. At least in the morning we are due to leave 30min after I get back from my run. Mornings are also better for me since I was buggered after a whole day on a hot truck and the mornings were reasonably cool.
After 3hrs worth of border and checks we thought we were done and enjoy some breezy relief of a long drive. Wrong. Stopped again but this time by a shamster or phony! This guy in civilian clothes surrounded by what looked like his wife and brothers made us sit around him and approach him to explain our job and then he checked our Inoculation Card (also called Vaccination Card or more commonly, Yellow Fever Card). In most African equatorial nations this card is just as important as your passport - "no yellow, no travel" is what they say! He took his time processing everyone whilst screaming at passing cars to stop.
He kept four cards including mine and told Andi and Grant, who were always there, that our cards were not acceptable because they had some details crossed out and some had multiple passport numbers. Andi explained to him that because yellow fever lasts for 10yrs, we had used our cars with now expired passports and some of us had two active passports, like me.
This guy would not budge because he was expecting a bribe! Grant then cleverly asked for the cards so that he could read the terms and conditions and prove to the guy that changes were allowed or not mentioned. Once Grant had the cards in his hands and went through the motions of reading and explaining, he stood up and said words to the effect: if there still is a problem, call your boss or the police otherwise we have spent enough time with you and it is time to go.
As they say, possession is nine tenths of the law and with those cards in our hands, off we went. He did not do anything to pursue us proving his phony status! The other important detail was that this phony was drunk another were times that he became very aggravated. He could have done anything.
We got stopped two more times before camping and we had only travelled 25km from the border. Welcome to NIGERIA. Now I understood why Andi/Grant asked me not to run in the arvos. I also started to see why NIGERIA has the reputation of being a dangerous, unpredictable place. We made a brief stop at Ikome for a cold drink after all that time stopped in the heat. Doug and I found a makeshift are and enjoyed a cold beer with around a dozen locals. They were so animated. Loud voices and big hand gestures. I asked about life in NIGERIA and almost raised a riot. “Too many people” shouted one. “No jobs, no money” shouted another. “Bad government” a third. It was becoming clearer to me that this was a troubled country with a lot of desperate and angry people - this would explain the crime.
People wore their frustration on their sleeves. Very different from the countries we had visited so far. On the other hand, many people welcomed us and wished us safe travels. I am sure that Lagos would sort this out for us and show us the real NIGERIA. Camping was good tonight because it was cool and the humidity had decreased. Riza, Yuki and I prepared our day packs for our big adventure tomorrow...
DAY 89, Tue 9FEB16, 190km (solo), Bush Camp 25km east of Meko (border) to Hotel “Charlie’s Place & Suites”, Victoria Island, Lagos NIGERIA. I was so excited. Today was Lagos day and independent travel day! After a good brekkie (we did not know where or when our next meal would be), we set out for Abeokuta with the truck were we would be dropped off to catch a 2-3hr mini-van or car to Lagos (there are no buses or coaches). After 2hrs and 5 police checkpoint stops (no getting out of truck) we arrived in Abeokuta (Pop 1.5m) which was chaotic, polluted but full of activity, noise and energy. This was a taste of what was to come in Lagos.
Yuki went off with Andi to get Nigerian SIM cards so that we could stay in touch whilst Riza and I went to the train station nearby to enquire about trains to Lagos. The train was due to leave at 12:30pm but was delayed 5hrs so we abandoned that idea. The train staff then suggested a minivan or car since there are no buses.
After returning tot he truck we grabbed our stuff, farewelled our group and got into a taxi to take us to the “motor park” which was like a huge supermarket parking lot with hundreds of minivans and cars all bound for various places in Nigeria. We negotiated a deal with one of the cars and it was not long before our car of 7 people was screaming down the crowded highway towards one of the craziest cities on Earth! I thought Italy and Russia were bad but these Nigerians drive at horrific speeds in tinny cars, bumper to bumper, weaving in and out with no regard for any lane markings.
On the way I used Yuki’s hot spot SIM to find our accom and our car took us straight there. I thought the highway was bad - you should see Lagos city. It is simply crazy. Cars, trucks, motorbikes weave in and out of each other whilst plumes of black smoke emerge from most of the exhaust pipes. What a cocktail!
The usual thick white haze sits over everything but you can make out endless apartment blocks and shanty dwellings. Lagos is spread out and out and out. It is stinking hot and humid. Our hotel was near the centre and we noticed several tall office buildings and fancy hotels - more than in MOROCCO or GHANA. This is obviously a place of money. We realised this when we saw twin oil platforms just metres from the freeway and city fringe! Petrol here is only $AUD0.42/litre - yes this is no typo!!!
Just about every oil company in the world has a head office here. It was 4:30pm before we settled into our upgraded aircon room - we booked a room for three but they were short of single beds so we got the superior room for our first night. Our first job was to locate the nearest Shoprite and stock up on wine, cheese and olives. We also decided to do a “picnic” dinner on our hotel bed tonight since we were buggered. It was a great evening of gossip, jolly rice and various meats. We also noticed how many times the power failed in our hotel apparently this is commonplace in Lagos. We must have dosed off around midnight and it was a miracle we had made it that far considering the event of the day…
DAY 90, Wed 10FEB16, 0km (solo), Hotel “Charlie’s Place & Suites”, Victoria Island, Lagos NIGERIA (Run1). Today was another double milestone. 90 days away and running my 66th country! A good solid morning run despite the pollution and lack of scenery beside a major freeway - at least there was a footpath and crappy shoulder. It gave me a chance to observe the chaotic, crappy traffic - vehicles everywhere. Most locals use crappy 1000yr old vans to get to where they want to go. Some carry 12, others 20 and they travel fast! There are buses but they look like they were set on fire the day before and pass every 3 days (exaggeration - not often enough!).
At 11am Riza and Yuki got a KFC attack and had lunch there before we set off for the much acclaimed “Nike Art Gallery” approx 5km down the freeway from us - I actually ran past it this morning. This place exceeded our expectations.
We knew NIGERIA was rich in arts, crafts and music and this place proved it. It is run by a vivacious Nigerian lady called “Chief (Mrs) Nike Okundaye” and comprises a newly built 4 story concrete building jammed packed with arts and crafts works from Nigerian artists from all over the country. Admission is free and everything is for sale. Mrs Okundaye is an artist herself and runs the place, taking a small commission from anything she sells but also provides support for up-and-coming artists. We met her and she shouted us a coffee and drinks. A positively firm but lively woman. She has won many government awards for this initiative and it shows. The place is immaculate and the staff very professional. We wandered around for an hour looking at all the works and picking out our favourite. There were oils, waters, reliefs, wooden and metal and tyre rubber sculptures of images of people, animals and landscapes depicting Nigeria and Africa.
The highlight of our visit was Riza’s discovery of an apprentice artist called Stephen from Boston who had black African background and was sponsored by Mrs Okundaye to spend 9mths in NIGERIA learning the art of weaving and screen printing which is his specialty as an art student and teacher. We sat down together over a coffee to discuss his background, artistic specialty and his plans in Nigeria and beyond. A very enthusiastic person and full of detailed knowledge of the cultural and artistic history of NIGERIA. Easy to listen to since he was born in Boston but you swear he was NIGERIAN by his love of the place. It was a very interesting visit and very satisfying.
From here the gallery guard gave us excellent directions on how to catch a mini-van into the centre of Lagos City called “CMS” and off we went in the heat and humidity crammed in with 20 other people including a preacher who just wouldn’t shut up for the whole 40min it took to get there. It was such a relief to be walking out in the open air again, even if it was polluted, at least it was not a sardine can!
We started with “Freedom Park”, also known by the locals as “Tinubu Square” which we could not find initially because I kept asking for the former but when I asked for the latter, suddenly everyone on the street knew where it was! The centre was like nothing I have never seen before. It was like someone had taken the wooden shack vegetable markets of Bangkok and plonked them in the middle of New York City and then removed every traffic light so that vehicles and people became one jumbled mess. Add the pollution, noise, garbage and Olympic sized crowds of people and you have Lagos! It must be seen and experienced to be believed.
Freedom Park is enclosed area in the middle of a huge intersection commemorating the independence of the country. No one was inside and so I climbed onto the fence to photograph and film the monuments and statues inside. Suddenly a huge civilian dressed black man rushed up to me screaming and shouting.
I could barley make out what he was saying but he was so angry that his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets and spit was spurting from the corners of his mouth. Another older man, came up to calm him down and explain to me that climbing on the fence is not allowed. This guy was a civilian. This is not the first time ordinary people have screamed at us in Lagos. It was here I realised the underlying anger here and a dislike for westerners.
After collecting ourselves we proceeded to St John’s Anglican Church on our way to the “Jankara Markets". The streets suddenly became narrower and the number of plain stalls and people increased sharply. By the time we got to the markets we could not believe our eyes. Here we were, immersed in a sea of stalls on dirt roads with flooded gutters and dead things in them, construction rubble and SURROUNDED BY SKYSCRAPERS!
Never seen this before. What a contrast. It is almost like someone built modern Lagos around classic old one. The markets were the same that we had seen in any other place. Frantic. Noisy. People tripping on people with cars and motorbikes honking their way through the mess. You need to focus on the activity and what is happening around you to enjoy it. The minute you focus on the heat and humidity and the noise and smell then you loose it. Big time.
From the Jankara Markets we walked to the “Central Mosque” which was quite a huge imposing golden structure with strange, almost space-age, style minarets. Some people wanted their photos taken with and without us and many got angry. It was hard to tell what was driving this behaviour. What was consistent was how animated Nigerians are. No one is calm. Everyone speaks loudly, with passion and with plenty of hand gestures. I was at home here except when people got angry and not knowing why?
It was a short distance to the "Balogun Markets” from the mosque but took ages given the shear number of stalls, people and vehicles. The "Balogun Markets" were the nicest we have seen - very colourful and more organised (if there is such a thing in Africa). We then walked some way to reach the mini-van depot to get back tot he hotel. Just as the guard at Nike Gallery had told me, there was a queue a mile long so we decided to take a taxi.
It was getting late and we were exhausted so we decided to go straight to Shoprite and buy hot food to take to the hotel. A shower after a day out in Africa is the greatest pleasure and relief. After dinner, made plenty of calls due to a strong hotel internet. The hotel itself is inside a walled compound with two guards 24x7. Safety is an issue in Lagos. All hotels were like this. Tonight I spent 90min on Skype with Telstra to fix my mobile’s message bank - my brother told me that it went silent some days ago. I discovered Telstra had given me credit with a 1mth expiry instead of the 12mths I asked for and it took them 90min to figure this out! That means my mobile was silent since 1DEC15 and I did not even know it. I calmed myself with some Rose before fatigue took its toll on me...
DAY 91, Thu 11FEB16, 0km (solo), Hotel “Charlie’s Place & Suites”, Victoria Island, Lagos NIGERIA (Run2). Same highway run this morning but a lot tougher - hotter and I had drunk more Rose than planned due to the long Telstra call. Despite this I made it back in one piece and in OK time. Today we planned to go sightseeing around 1-2pm since we were targeting sights in a distant suburb of Lagos that we would eat in and attend live music. We used the morning to book our hotels in Benin City and Calabar and bus transport in between. It took over 2hrs to get to the suburb of Ikeja where “The Kalakuta Republic Museum” and “The New African Shrine” are located. The former is the preserved home of a famous African musician called Fela Kuti and the later is the venue where his son and other artists now perform in his honour. More on Fela in a moment.
The trip out here was indeed memorable. It started with a another noisy mini-van ride to a big bus station just outside the city. We met an elderly book publisher on the van who by miracle co-incidence was traveling to the same suburb we were so we stuck with him on arrival to find the right bus - lucky we did because it was not obvious to find. In Nigeria there are no timetables for anything except flights. Once a vehicle fills up with people it goes! Took 30min to fill the one. Then another 40min rattle and shake ride to Ikeja. The bus dropped us on the side of a freeway and we literally run across it to get to the other side - without trivialising the immense danger involved - it was very funny watching a myriad of bus people running their way across a busy road, weaving and occasionally swearing. We laughed. What happened next though was no laughing manner. We walked another 15min in the wet heat with our publisher buddy who then hailed a taxi to take us the rest of the way to THE WRONG PLACE! Instead of ending up at the museum we ended at the nightclub, our second destination for today and tonight! We were pissed off.
Just how a publisher could confuse a museum with a nightclub is besides us. We politely cut him off and continued alone. After finding a taxi we travelled for almost 15min and suddenly he puled over and let all traffic by. When we enquired why, he pointed out a police roadblock ahead that was checking the condition of cars and their regos - our driver pointed to a broken back window in his car and said he would be fined and that we had to wait. No go. Not our fault. We gave him half the fair and jumped out. Finally we located a three-wheeler that knew where the museum was located and in 10min we were there. What an epic. TIA (This is Africa)!
Fela Kuti (1938-1997) is what Bob Marly is to Jamaica and Elvis Presley is to the USA. He is a musical miracle and legend. The reason is that he invented “Afrobeat”, a combination of tribal drums, jazz, funk and Latino drums - a brand new musical genre. Fela’s instrument was the saxophone but he also payed many others.
He was also a revolutionary figure in Nigerian pop culture and politics. Always in trouble with the police over his lyrics and antics, he was arrested in 1997 and died under suspicious circumstances - this cemented him as a musical revolutionary hence the name of the museum we visited. It is actually his house and looks like a small 3 story block of units. His grave is in the entry (as in Togo and Benin, Nigerians can bury their dead at home). He was neither Muslim or Christian but native African and as a result married 28 women, 1 in 1958 and the other 27 all in one ceremony a decade later.
He only had 7 children, two of them are now accomplished musicians inter own right and perform all over the world. We just missed one of his sons - he had just left the museum before we arrived to play in Chile! A few minutes earlier and we would be photographed with the equivalent of Bob Marley’s son!
Our guide took us through Fela’s house, which had furniture and contents preserved as they were at the time of his death. Photos adorned the stairwell each with a story to tell. At the rooftop - a bar - full of locals enjoying palm wine and beer to a setting sun and the sound of Fela’s music. We joined them on a plastic table in front of a huge wall mural of the singer. It was a great recovery from today’s travel and around 6:30pm we made our departure for the nightclub. On the rooftop, Yuki had met a local from Benin City which was our next destination - we got a hot tip on transport and he negotiated a three-wheeler to the venue.
After 20min we were there. What a place. A huge warehouse style building with massive stage and half a footy field of space with plastic tables and chairs. On the sides were little food stalls selling most local dishes and a bar at the back. Music started at 7pm with full light show and comprised classic drums, African drums, sax, trumpet, trombone and 3 female dancers/backing vocals.
We enjoyed the music to a large grilled fish and plenty of cold local beer. The music was loud and much like southern USA blues with a distinct African beat. As a matter of fact this venue reminded me of the “Ground Zero Blues Club” live venue in Clarksdale Mississippi owned by Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis that we visited during my film “Root69" in 2013. By 9pm the place was full and pumping.
People danced in a huge empty space in front of the stage whist the drinks waiters were run off their feet serving drinks to ladies dressed in immaculate colours with head arrangements and slick dudes with pyjama like coloured tops and bottoms. Fela’s son Femi Kuti came on early and wooed the audience with some antics. For me, he was nothing special but the crowd loved him. At 10:30pm we made for the door since we needed to be up at 5:30am the next morning to catch our mini-van to Benin City. What a contrast the return trip was. A single taxi, 40min and air conditioned! Why did we not do this on the way there?
DAY 92, Fri 12FEB16, 322km (solo), Hotel “Charlie’s Place & Suites”, Victoria Island, Lagos to Hotel “Merit Motel”, Benin City NIGERIA. Waking up was tough. Have never been so tired on this trip the night before - going to sleep last night was instantaneous given how long we were in the harsh Lagos climate. I had organised and negotiated a taxi the night before to take us to the bus station in a suburb called Yaba. The taxi driver was on time but wanted more money. I threatened to call another and even walked off to try and find street-side taxis but no luck so I settled on a slight increase to prevent us missing our bus. It took only 30min to get to Yaba under the darkness of early morning.
The minivan company we were using was the one Yuki’s mate advised called “God is Good Motoring” or GIGM. I am not joking. The operation is very modern and impressive. Brand new aircon terminal, automated queuing (using numbered tickets), staff dressed in clean uniforms. Our transport was a near-new Toyota mini-van carrying 13 passengers in aircon comfort. Our 322km to Benin City would take 4hrs and cost only $AUD17. We slept for the first 2hrs but struggled. The road beyond the freeways of Lagos were terrible but at least there were no police checks. We made a brief stop outside a large town with two petrol stations and a whole bunch of street stalls selling fruit, grilled meats, pies and drinks.
We arrived in Benin City at 12:30pm, 5hrs 15min in all. Our driver was kind enough to take us to a man to change money and then to another aircon minivan company that travelled to Calabar (where we would rejoin the truck). We bought tickets and caught a taxi to our hotel approx 10km away. It was in a back street and in need of a serious renovation. Clean with a very old window style aircon that barely kept the room cool but it had a fridge and private toilet/shower and was only $AUD17.50 per night for the three of us! It reminded me of a village home in the mountains of Greece - low ceilings, old wooden furniture and a bed spread that was definitely my grandmother’s.
We settled in and given the heat and time of 3pm we decided to spend the afternoon in the brand new “Kada Mall” that we had spotted on our way here. It had cinemas, cafe, restaurant, sports bar and even a “penny arcade” amusement centre complete with a small dogem car ring! Yuki and I decided to watch the movie “Eden” with plot line based on the classic novel “Lord of the Flies” about a soccer team stranded on an island after a plane crash. Heaven. I could not believe that we were in another very modern aircon cinema in a secondary city of hot and humid and harsh Nigeria!
After the movie we decided to have dinner at the sports bar in the complex. We caught a rickety minivan to the hotel which was an adventure on its own. 15 people crammed into a van with 8 seats travelling at ridiculous speeds and the door open so that the money collector could hang outshouting the destination and inviting roadside travellrs to climb aboard. Hilarious. Inside, people of all ages chattering away, making jokes, some dressed to the hilt. Thank goodness the room was sufficiently cool to relax and sleep. You have to shower every time you go out and return. Stayed up quite late and made plans for the next day in what seemed like a mini Lagos.
DAY 93, Sat 13FEB16, 0km (solo), Hotel “Merit Motel”, Benin City NIGERIA (Run3). Today marked my third calendar month since leaving Sydney for this epic adventure and today the word EPIC took on new meaning. Benin City (Pop 2m) is a relatively prosperous city, spread out and centre of the Benin Kingdom started in the 12th Century and with an “Oba” or King to this present day. The King is considered to have mystical powers and considered a bit of a deity.
The Portuguese traded here from 1485 for pepper and slaves and the British occupied the city and exiled the then King in 1897. Benin produces rubber and palm oil, mainly for domestic consumption. It is also famous for its bronze sculptures. Benin is also a University city, with three of them plus a number of colleges and grammar schools.
My day began with a run and involved a lot swerving to get out of the way of the myriad of minivans pulling over to trade passengers. We set out at 10:30am for Igun Street where the bronze makers are located. Lots of things to buy but not much by way of workshops to show you HOW these things are made. Most are cast from moulds made from terracotta but the original technique involved wax and sand. Next to the bronze sellers is the house of the Chief of Benin who reports to the King. There are chiefs all over the country like in GHANA and these meet to advise the King and government of the day.
Our next stop was the National Museum which is located in the middle of a huge round-a-bout that is called “The Kings Circle” or most commonly “Ring Road” to all the locals and minivans. The museum was a disappointment. Dark, falling apart, hot and the displays in random order. Our guide took too long to explain things and did not context anything - you might as well read the labels.
On display were a number of tools, weapons, manuscripts and sculpted adornments from the Benin Kingdom over the years. We bumped into a pack of primary school kids and it was very amusing listening to their English in strong African accents. Even funnier when they spoke the expressions of the digital age like “OMG” and “LOL” - all that was missing was their mobile phones - but I am sure that is coming.
Our last visit for the day before a rest and dinner was the “The Revelation Palazzo Museum”. Little did we know that this would become the highlight of our trip! It took some time to find it. I had it located on google maps the night before and carried a screen print on Riza’s iPad - this is how we found most places since Lonely Planet has stopped providing detailed maps on secondary cities.
It was easy to spot. Very kitsch with all sorts of statues and objects in the courtyard, punctuated by a huge stone aircraft in the middle. No one was home. We pottered around until one of us found a door in the museum complex slightly ajar and swinging it open revealed a young man dressed like he was a DJ. He turned out to be a student recording producer and explained that he was sponsored by the owner of the museum and “Graceland” looking mansion next door belonged to a very famous musician called “Victor Uwaifa”. He took us into his studio and demonstrated some very high-tech software and played some loud digital hip-hop sounds. He explained that hip-hop is now the most popular genre amongst the youth of Nigeria. He also explained that the museum is closed Saturdays - we were disappointed since we had read that it had a umber of very interesting “sets” or “scenes” inside showing slavery, rooms from the Kings Palace, statues of famous Nigerians and many more.
We took some photos and walked back up “Victor Uwaifa” street thinking that this guy must be famous to get a street named after him! We negotiated with a taxi driver to get a ride to the Kada Mall and Cinema Complex to ride out the rest of the afternoon being 3pm and stinking hot. No deal. The taxi drove off and 2min later a tall well-dressed local emerges from Victor Uwaifa Street asking if we were the ones that had just visited the closed museum. This was one of those life-changing moments, a flicker in time where you are at the right place at the right time and a single spilt second event changes the course of the future. We would remember this moment when a failed taxi negotiation opened the door to a unique, unplanned, freaky, once in a life encounter.
READ ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE SPECIAL POST “POST16 - AFRICAN DA VINCI”. It covers our 2hr encounter with the most famous African musician of the sixties, seventies and eighties and still recording and performing now. What makes Professor (Sir) Victor Uwaifa (MON, JP) even more unique and legendary is his extraordinary creativity. He is also an inventor and engineer - dare I say it but an African Leonardo Da Vinci. We interviewed the Professor, he played for us, we had beers together whilst watching highlights of his performances, started the car he designed and built himself, culminating in my singing duo with him in his very own chapel. Do not miss out one of my favourite posts and clearly the highlight of this trip to date and probably the entire trip unless someone films me putting my head in a lions mouth and I survive!
We were in a daze, had wobbly knees and euphoric as we walked back up Victor Uwaifa street to repeat our taxi ride attempt but this time not to the mall but to the “Two Sisters Restaurant” which our minivan driver told us was the best in town for local food. It took some time to get there due to the peak 6pm traffic. We picked one of the glass tables under the fan and assembled around the kitchen to be shown the available dishes as there is no menu. We decided to share a number of dishes. Gushu Soup (a stew of pounded yam, spinach, dried fish and chilli), Turkey, Jolof Rice and the specialty of the house “Bush Meat”, which is actually a huge rodent like animal. Surprisingly good - probably because we did not see any pictures of the rodent! The other dishes are good too and all washed down by the local “Hero Lager Beer” - only $AUD1 for a 660mL bottle! We celebrated our celebrity encounter with several Heroes and by the time we got to the hotel we were on such a high we were ready for Rose and cheese. It was the best day of the trip and a highlight of my life. Something that I was happy to take to a short sleep...
DAY 94, Sun 14FEB16, 488km (solo), Hotel “Merit Motel”, Benin City to Hotel “Naks Hotel & Towers”, Calabar NIGERIA. I barely heard the 5:30am alarm announcing our 6-8hr trip to Calabar today, near the CAMEROON border. Our taxi did not turn up at 6am so we had to walk to the main road and catch a minivan to the Ring Road followed by a taxi to the ‘Faith Motors Ltd” terminal.
Our minivan was still a Toyota but not as slick as the one we caught hThese minivans make these trips daily so the drivers know most of the guards and the guards know them. ere. 15 seats instead of 13, no headrests, luggage in the aisles and very squashy. Luckily I sat up front between the driver and front passenger - a little pressed but right next to the aircon outlet - good compromise. Our journey of 488km took a total 9hrs to cover. We made few stops. Road was below average with many pot holes along the way. The scenery changed little from the bush with palms and the white wet heat haze was always there. It was 35C outside and humid. I wondered if there were any times of the year where you could see and enjoy a clear NIGERIA. Our driver was good and the guy next to me a student.
Riza was comfortable with her front row seta immediately behind but poor Yuki took a hit for team sitting in the second last row next to a fat lady and big boned man but at least he had room for his feet in the aisle. Lunch was in Umuahia and there were half a dozen police stops because Calabar is near the border with CAMEROON. These minivans make these trips daily so the drivers know most of the guards and the guards know them. At one stop, the guard did not know our driver and got into a heated argument with him. I think the mere fact that our driver asked "why he was stopped” made the guard irate.
Eventually the guard’s boss let us go because he knew the driver. We had to show our passports at only one stop closer to Calabar. Driving into Calabar (Pop 400,000) we noticed how much neater it is and it figures - it is full of government building including the National Navy Base. The taxi ride from the minivan depot to our hotel was short and we stayed in a newly built wing with another wing under construction. It was now about 5pm so we decided to wash up and relax in our room before going out to dinner. We noticed the main road in front of the hotel starting to fill up with people since it was Valentine’s Day and this is celebrated in NIGERIA. We were also lucky because our hotel was on the road with all the night clubs and street food. We found a stall opposite the hotel and enjoyed a huge fish and cabbage salad for only $AUD7.50. The 600mL local beers were also cheap at only $AUD1.50. We even managed to squeeze in some dancing. By the time we got back to the hotel we were drenched and exhausted. Another round of showers for sleep.
DAY 95, Mon 15FEB16, 0km (solo), Hotel “Naks Hotel & Towers”, Calabar NIGERIA (Run4). Running in Calabar was OK. The sun was not hot at 8:30am but it was still humid. The first thing I noticed on my run is that 6 out of every 10 cars are Audi A4s. Mainly at the end of their lives. It was the equivalent of Mauritania where most cars are Mercs. Also, Calabar has lots of round-a-bouts with monuments in them and is a lot neater.
Riza, Yuki and I set out at 11am in a taxi to take us to the Marina Resort by the Calabar River so that we could take a ferry to Creek-Town. It turned out that the ferry was actually a long large wooden boat with planks as seats and it departed from a small dock next to the Marina Resort which was a private development on government land with an entry fee. The wooden boat left at noon and too 45min to cover the almost 9km journey to Creek-Town which is hidden on the mainland on the opposite bank. The river had oil slicks in it along with a variety of garbage - definitely not for swimming. We passed a floating refuelling station i the middle of the river plus a sunken goods ship. It was bloody hot and the boat was uncovered. It was packed with villagers of all ages including babies and lots of supplies. Only the breeze created by the moving boat kept us sane.
Creek-Town itself was very small with just a hand full of shops at the wharf. We started to walk inland but did not see any other offerings except for churches, mission schools but we eventually came across a small shop that sold cold drinks. It was heaven. We had walked about 3km but were melted. Lucky for us we met an old retired local school teacher in the shop and she told us all about the area including a very well-known nun called Mary Slessor. A Scottish Presbyterian who moved to Calabar in the mid 1850’s to educate children in the area. Ended u in Creek-Town because the local Eki culture here abandoned twins and triplets believing they were evil since they looked the same. They also stoned people and cut off their limbs as punishment but without trials. Mary dedicated her life to eliminating these practices and was successful. She died in 1915 and is now buried in Calabar. Her house was only 10miles from the wharf.
We caught the 2pm boat back to Calabar. You could also catch a speed boat bit had to wait some time before it got its necessary quote of 16 people. I culled photos on the way back to kill time and sat under a plank with people on it to keep out of the sun.
Once on shore we caught a tri-wheeler to the neighbouring Marina Resort and walked along its riverfront length to some cafes shaded by palms with tables and chairs on the water. This “resort” had two large restaurants/cafes, a cinema and a bunch of outdoor bars in the palms. It was the first time we had seen a properly developed waterfront but sadly it was bereft of people - probably because of the admission fee.
We settled down to a relaxing “Root” which is a local drink made from herbs and spices with 6% alcohol. From here it was the same 10min taxi ride to the hotel.
We spotted our big yellow truck parked in the large grounds and walked over to greet our group. They were glad to see us and we shared some highlights. Getting some of our stuff from the truck was a shock - it was grubby and smelly after 4 bush camps - you do not notice this when you “are a part of the bush camp experience”. It was now about 6pm so we decided to wash up and catch up on gossip with Roberto in my room. Roberto took Yuki’s place. We then all went out to enjoy some street food. This time we had skewers of beef and mutton. Half were good and the other half were fatty or too chewy. Both were covered in pepper! The Nigerians simply love pepper - everything is covered in it and it burns! Had to rely on more beer than usual to help eat the food! Back at my room it was time for another James Bond film to celebrate our solo trip through NIGERIA and our reunion with Roberto!
DAY 96, Tue 16FEB16, 0km, Hotel “Naks Hotel & Towers”, Calabar NIGERIA (Run5). Another drenchy run. Lucky for me, Riza put me on to a great local soap that lathers profusely and smells terrific so that I can clean my running gear while I shower - I walk in with my gear on, wash it while I am wearing it and then remove and rinse and wash myself. Thanks to the plastic material and the icon it is dry way before my next run - this way I always have clean running gear! Today Roberto joined RIza, Yuki and myself to visit more sights in Calabar. Caught a taxi to the National Museum (also called the Calabar Museum) only 10min away.
Stopped at an interesting sculpture of two huge iron hands arguing and the classic “Calabar-Calabar” roundabout. The museum is inside the old British colonial headquarters that was also the home of the Governor. Built in England and then re-assembled here in 1884 of timber.
We received an English guide and the artefacts and placards inside were heaps better than Benin City. We did not realise how important Calabar was a centre of culture and trading, even though it is several kilometres from the Atlantic. It is home to at least 3 major African Kingdoms (cultures) and was also the key port for slave trading in NIGERIA. Today Calabar is more like a holiday spot were many NIGERIANS spend their holidays and many with money retire. Even though it is still hot, humid and hazy, you can see that it is more pleasant, better laid out and not as congested as the there cities. It also has hilly areas with views and not just dead-pan flat like the others.
After a great museum visit we only had the specialist Slave Museum to see in the Marina Resort and it was only 1:30pm so we decided to watch a Nigerian film at the cinema complex next door. Tickets were only $AUD3 but we quickly found out why. The movie was the worst I had ever seen. It was in English (with strong accents) but had terrible acting and a very weak storyline about three couples sharing a holiday house because the husbands are best fiends and each with marital problems. Yuki and I had a great sleep in the air-conditioned cinema! Like India, NIGERIA makes a lot of movies and is referred to as “Nollywood”. We had to experience it for ourselves.
After the movie, Riza and Roberto headed to the waterfront cafe and Yuki and I visited the Slave Museum. It was great. Started with a film about how the trade got started and the conditions people suffered. This was followed by sound and light driven displays with life size figures showing the terrible crammed conditions aboard the sailing vessels, torture, life on the plantations, branding of slaves and slave auctions.
There were also several rooms, each dedicated to a phase of the timeline of slavery - how it started, how it grew, transportation, life in the new world, escape attempts and finally freedom. There were also rooms dedicated to the six biggest ethnic groups or cultures in NIGERIA. The biggest pickup in this museum that the others failed to present were details on who participated in starting the slave trade from both sides.
This museum listed the names of at least 8 local Kings and Chiefs of the Calabar area that acted as “collaborators” with the Portuguese and English to kick off the slave trade in NIGERIA and grow it. Our guide explained that these local collaborators were bribed and offered alcohol and tobacco and promised that the slaves would receive clothes and housing and have a better life in “the white mans world”. Some believed it and others just took the bribes. I asked if these Kings and Chiefs were now ostrasised from NIGERIAN history like Hitler but not so since it was important for the truth to be known.
This was indeed an eye opener for me since I was led to believe that the Europeans took the slaves by force. Whilst some were, the majority were part of “agreed deals with these local collaborators”. Yuki and I talked about this a lot with Riza and Roberto as we sipped some Root under the palms of the waterfront cafe. At 5:30pm we called it a day since Riza and Yuki were both on cook group (back to the overland slog). Roberto decided to eat on the truck since Riza was cooking rice but I went across to my favourite fish man and came back with a huge grilled fish with coleslaw that I gobbled up in my room to the movie “Star Trek - Nemisis”. Calabar had turned out to be a very interesting place to visit.
DAY 97, Wed 17FEB16, 0km, Hotel “Naks Hotel & Towers”, Calabar NIGERIA (Run6). It was a shit sleep. It was hot and muggy. The power to the rooms had failed sometime during the night. Riza informed them as soon as it happened with no action until early morning. Not good enough. We ganged up with the intent of not paying for the rooms - not even the fan worked. Slept only a few hours but it did not stop my run.
Today was especially muggy since I returned completely soaked. Today would be a rest day, wash day and blog day so visited the truck to pick up clothes and more electronics for the hotel room. Washed and hung an number of clothes and then blonde solid through lunchtime and the afternoon. Also cleaned runners and boots and charged everything in sight.
The power failed again sometime before noon and stayed that way for several hours - not good when you are blogging solid. Managed to make it through with a few drinks and even coffee when I started to nod off. I then visited the "Drill Moneys" just next door. These are monkeys that have the body shape and ret of a Baboon but a head that resembles a Gorilla! A strange animal and very endangered.
The facility I visited is actually a privately funded “sanctuary” where these creatures are bred and preserved. On return I posted this blog and got ready for our departure tomorrow.
PS: A LITTLE ABOUT NIGERIA:
NIGERIA (Pop 170m) is the most populous (dense) country in Africa. Many consider it to be two different countries in one. The Muslim north and the Christian south. The country’s recorded history extends back before the 10th Century under several “kingdoms” such as the “Kanem-Borno”, “Kano”, “Zaria”, “Nupe” and “Yoruba”. Origins are from the “Nok Civilisation” around 500BC.
The Portuguese we’re the first Europeans in the south in 1485, trading pepper and then slaves and colonised the south whilst the British were the first in the north in the 19th Century. The main back African ethnic groups are the “Yoruba”, “Hausa” and “Igbo” accounting for 60% of the population. The French also tried to colonise the country but Britain won out. There is more English spoken as a result. There are many more ethnic groups and some 250 local dialects. In 1960 NIGERIA became an independent commonwealth nation and the coupes started one after another including civil war. The oil boom of the eighties did not help.
Although the economy started to surge due to related industries, government corruption increased to the point that the most notorious General, Abacha, amassed a staggering $USD1-5billion before he died of a heart attack whilst shagging two prostitutes in 1995. The other emerging problem is “Boko Haram” (Muslim jihadist group wanting to impose Sharia Law everywhere) which has been bombing Christian communities since 2009 and still represents a threat today, especially in the north east.
This is how the current President, “Goodluck Jonathan” came to power in 2011 in the first clean election after his predecessor was murdered by Boko Haram. Even now, Nigeria has a reputation for being dangerous with plenty of kidnappings, murders and lots of scams and theft. On the flipside, music and art flourishes. Famous musician Fela Kuti (1938-1997) literally invented “Afrobeat”, a combination of tribal drums, jazz, funk and Latino drums. Lagos (Pop 25m) is the largest city and was the capital up to 1991 when Abuja (Pop 3m) took over. Lagos has the reputation of most super-cities. It has more people than Australia! It is over-crowded, over-polluted but a cultural gem in terms of food and music. Nigerian food is especially starchy with most meals eaten using Pounded yam, cassava and jollof (gluggy plan oil rice with tomato & pepper). Typical dishes are “stews” of meat and starch with toms of pepper.
PPS: INTERESTING FACT ON AFRICA:
Did you know that Cameroon won Gold in soccer at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games! Soccer is easily the number 1 sport in Africa.
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