Africa – Nigeria – Lagos; Not for the Faint Hearted
Remember those movies? You know the Indiana Jones' movies where he'd go to all these exotic countries in Africa, India, find some rare artefact, defeat the bad guy and ride off into the sunset on an elephant, camel or tiger?
I wish I'd known… how misleading it was. Okay, I kind of did already.
Every since I was a teenager, I'd always wanted to go to Africa, see the African sunset, a blazing ball of fire hiding behind some mountain whilst looking at it from the back of my shiny black Arabian horse. After over a month of planning, I finally did what many people like me had been planning on doing. I travelled to Africa. This was an eye opening experience; I went to Morocco, to Nigeria then back to my humble abode within the confines of Great Britain.
The country I have to say stuck with me permanently was Nigeria.
Now, people have heard things about the country, e-mail scams and what not, but despite the protests of my friends and family, I went anyway.
I stayed in Lagos, and believe me when I tell you that Lagos is like an explosion of colour, noise and traffic. It's so overwhelming that if you're not careful you will be swept away in all the hustle bustle of it all. It is not for the faint hearted.
The experience was so incredible, not like any Indiana Jones movie.
So what is Lagos really like?
It's like a maze; the good things are hidden in places unheard of. Luckily, my guide knew a lot of these places so I didn't miss out on anything. You'd literally find small traditional African restaurants lodged in-between some inconspicuous building and a clothes shop. There was a man who made wooden sculptures hidden within the depths of the local market so far behind I wondered how he ever sold anything.
It's beautiful. Despite what western media propagates about Nigeria it is a beautiful country. There are so many people, and many of them are friendly. Lagos is riddled with shops, and people hawking the strangest things especially in the traffic. A man tried to sell me a baboon while I was stuck in a "go slow" on my way to Lekki. I was shocked to say the least but my guide just laughed it off, saying "It's very common, people sell everything from parrots to food to baboons."
It is filled to the brim with culture. Despite how the west has influenced almost the entire world, you see ladies wearing traditional clothing all the time, aso-oke and geles (head ties) are commonplace amongst the locals. They've somehow managed to blend in the west and mix it with Nigeria.
Food tastes richer. I never realised how bland everything tasted especially fruits until I had some watermelons, pineapples and bananas from the market. Sometimes you can see the dirt of the soil still on as though to prove that this is straight from mother earth to you. It's so… rich; you can taste the food with so much flavour.
The cuisine is different; spicy and seasoned.Nigerians love their pepper. Something that we may call normal they might say "eh, bland". I recommend you try the dishes called "pounded yam and egusi soup" and "eba and afang", the best delicacy I had was something the locals call "suya". Its basically meat, or chicken but made over a grill outdoor and garnished with onions and vegetables. Delicious stuff. It's a must, if you go to Nigeria.
So what should you do before braving the heat of Nigeria?
Get health insurance. Secondly, get yourself to a doctor so you can get inoculated, and immunized. Our immune system was not built for that part of the world. You don't want to realise that the hard way.
Book in advance. I cannot stress on this more than enough. Book everything bookable; your flight (even do the online check ins too), your accommodation, your cab service. If I could book my meals, I would have. When I was leaving for Lagos, I left my serviced apartment a good three hours before and I would have missed my flight if it weren't for the fact that I had checked in online. There was so much traffic that I was going at a mile an hour.
Despite all the preparation I still made a few mistakes; number one was allocating how much money I was going to spend. I figured, since it's an African country it would be affordable. Right? No. If anything, it was more expensive than living in the U.K, things we take for granted such as the local Chinese restaurant, is an exclusive delicacy over there. Spring rolls came in servings of six for as high as N4500, which is basically about thirty dollars or 18 pounds. Can you imagine paying thirty dollars for six spring rolls? Sadly yes, because that is exactly what I did.
The second mistake was not regarding the population. This was a major setback for me. I found out the hard way that Nigeria had over one hundred and fifty million people (150,000,000) living in it. There was so much traffic that the highways looked like one lane streets. In some places, people just walking would overtake me in my car. If you're going to Lagos, prepare to spend about a quarter of your time on the road.
Luckily I took advantage of my serviced apartment's free airport pickup. Being a foreigner, you basically have a target on your back, or dollar signs on your forehead. The locals will take advantage of the fact that you're a tourist and you don't know how everything works. Luckily, the airport pickup and car service that Amara suites provided made it a lot easier for me to get around.
Getting a tour guide… now this is a little tricky. It has to be someone that was recommended to you by a trusted source. Lagos may be beautiful but it's also dangerous. Not all the people are friendly; they don't all have big smiles and traditional African wear welcoming you into their country, some of them will take advantage of you, so you have to do what I did: hide behind the skirts of your guide, or a friend that happens to be a local, until you can hold your own.
One thing I'd have to say is that Lagos teaches you to be patient. The temperature is scorching, the traffic is crawling, the noise is deafening sometimes, and if you let this get to you, you will go nuts. So I forgot about the little things that would usually annoy me and let myself enjoy the experience.
I wish I'd known… how misleading it was. Okay, I kind of did already.
Every since I was a teenager, I'd always wanted to go to Africa, see the African sunset, a blazing ball of fire hiding behind some mountain whilst looking at it from the back of my shiny black Arabian horse. After over a month of planning, I finally did what many people like me had been planning on doing. I travelled to Africa. This was an eye opening experience; I went to Morocco, to Nigeria then back to my humble abode within the confines of Great Britain.
The country I have to say stuck with me permanently was Nigeria.
Now, people have heard things about the country, e-mail scams and what not, but despite the protests of my friends and family, I went anyway.
I stayed in Lagos, and believe me when I tell you that Lagos is like an explosion of colour, noise and traffic. It's so overwhelming that if you're not careful you will be swept away in all the hustle bustle of it all. It is not for the faint hearted.
The experience was so incredible, not like any Indiana Jones movie.
So what is Lagos really like?
It's like a maze; the good things are hidden in places unheard of. Luckily, my guide knew a lot of these places so I didn't miss out on anything. You'd literally find small traditional African restaurants lodged in-between some inconspicuous building and a clothes shop. There was a man who made wooden sculptures hidden within the depths of the local market so far behind I wondered how he ever sold anything.
It's beautiful. Despite what western media propagates about Nigeria it is a beautiful country. There are so many people, and many of them are friendly. Lagos is riddled with shops, and people hawking the strangest things especially in the traffic. A man tried to sell me a baboon while I was stuck in a "go slow" on my way to Lekki. I was shocked to say the least but my guide just laughed it off, saying "It's very common, people sell everything from parrots to food to baboons."
It is filled to the brim with culture. Despite how the west has influenced almost the entire world, you see ladies wearing traditional clothing all the time, aso-oke and geles (head ties) are commonplace amongst the locals. They've somehow managed to blend in the west and mix it with Nigeria.
Food tastes richer. I never realised how bland everything tasted especially fruits until I had some watermelons, pineapples and bananas from the market. Sometimes you can see the dirt of the soil still on as though to prove that this is straight from mother earth to you. It's so… rich; you can taste the food with so much flavour.
The cuisine is different; spicy and seasoned.Nigerians love their pepper. Something that we may call normal they might say "eh, bland". I recommend you try the dishes called "pounded yam and egusi soup" and "eba and afang", the best delicacy I had was something the locals call "suya". Its basically meat, or chicken but made over a grill outdoor and garnished with onions and vegetables. Delicious stuff. It's a must, if you go to Nigeria.
So what should you do before braving the heat of Nigeria?
Get health insurance. Secondly, get yourself to a doctor so you can get inoculated, and immunized. Our immune system was not built for that part of the world. You don't want to realise that the hard way.
Book in advance. I cannot stress on this more than enough. Book everything bookable; your flight (even do the online check ins too), your accommodation, your cab service. If I could book my meals, I would have. When I was leaving for Lagos, I left my serviced apartment a good three hours before and I would have missed my flight if it weren't for the fact that I had checked in online. There was so much traffic that I was going at a mile an hour.
Despite all the preparation I still made a few mistakes; number one was allocating how much money I was going to spend. I figured, since it's an African country it would be affordable. Right? No. If anything, it was more expensive than living in the U.K, things we take for granted such as the local Chinese restaurant, is an exclusive delicacy over there. Spring rolls came in servings of six for as high as N4500, which is basically about thirty dollars or 18 pounds. Can you imagine paying thirty dollars for six spring rolls? Sadly yes, because that is exactly what I did.
The second mistake was not regarding the population. This was a major setback for me. I found out the hard way that Nigeria had over one hundred and fifty million people (150,000,000) living in it. There was so much traffic that the highways looked like one lane streets. In some places, people just walking would overtake me in my car. If you're going to Lagos, prepare to spend about a quarter of your time on the road.
Luckily I took advantage of my serviced apartment's free airport pickup. Being a foreigner, you basically have a target on your back, or dollar signs on your forehead. The locals will take advantage of the fact that you're a tourist and you don't know how everything works. Luckily, the airport pickup and car service that Amara suites provided made it a lot easier for me to get around.
Getting a tour guide… now this is a little tricky. It has to be someone that was recommended to you by a trusted source. Lagos may be beautiful but it's also dangerous. Not all the people are friendly; they don't all have big smiles and traditional African wear welcoming you into their country, some of them will take advantage of you, so you have to do what I did: hide behind the skirts of your guide, or a friend that happens to be a local, until you can hold your own.
One thing I'd have to say is that Lagos teaches you to be patient. The temperature is scorching, the traffic is crawling, the noise is deafening sometimes, and if you let this get to you, you will go nuts. So I forgot about the little things that would usually annoy me and let myself enjoy the experience.