Abuja, Nigeria

Looking for snakes at the Sheraton Hotel? Yep!

So we left Cotonou, Benin and went to Abomey and to the National Museum. But the guide's English was very poor, though he did try, and they wouldnt let us go round without him so it didnt mean much, except for the old throne which had a human skull under each leg which was a bit scary. There was another voodoo dance, which apparently was a bit better, but i was on cook duty so missed it, which was fine. It rained alot and we had crepes and cakes with a twist.

Next day we left Abomey and crossed the border into Nigeria, after 3 hours waiting at the border. 100 metres down the road we came to an unofficial checkpoint where they tried to bribe us. This happened about 30 times in the next few days. They sometimes but a piece of wood, with nails sticking out, in the road so you have to stop. They show you "permits" that you need tocarry on. Driver Gav is pretty Africa smart and talks his way out of it. And we really didnt have any Nigerian money to give them. The proper police are friendly and dont usually ask for money. They also carry AK47s which they were firing onto the tarmac about 100metres down the road from our bushcamp at 7 in the morning, in between asking us if we had any alcohol for them. 

We then went through Ideban which was scary. We got stuck in traffic until some crazy local guy decided to help us by shouting and screaming at people to get out of our way and hitting their vehicles with a big stick if they didnt move immediately. This created a bad atmosphere and a couple of guys climbed onto the steps of Gavs cab and threatened him and wouldnt go away for ages. But at the same time, the other locals were waving and smiling and shouting "hello" and "where are you from?". Eventually we got out of town. After a long day we bushcamped in a random petrol station, where we cooked dinner by roadside!  Another night we stopped at a random church and they let us stay and we were able to watch soccer in the pub next door. At the church, the truck accidently knocked an ants nest out of a tree and loads of ants fell into the truck so they was a fenzy of squashing ants with our flip-flops. The scenery in Nigeria was good, a few big hills and pine trees and stuff and we crossed the River Niger which we had sailed down in Mali. So I kept my head out of books. The people are really friendly although their English accents are a bit hard to understand.

So it took from Thursday morning until Sunday to get to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Bushcamping, no showers along the way. Now we are staying at the Sheraton Hotel. No, honestly. There isnt really anywhere else to put 25 people and a big truck in Abuja (its a bit like Canberra, purpose built, because the South of Nigeria is Christian and the North is Muslim and they wanted a compromise). So we are camped in the small soccer field at the back of the hotel, for free. The only condition was that we had a buffet meal the first night, which Africa Trails paid for. We were allowed to use the hotel pool for the first couple of days but now they want 20 euros! Stuff that! We have had a few confused passersby asking what we are doing cooking in the car park. Even the chef came out last night, when we had almost finished cooking! The hotel bar is very expensive but the only place to hang out at night. Also, pretty much the only women there are prostitutes. Telling them that you are sleeping on a flat air matress in a tent out the back doesnt seem to put them off. Its annoying really cos they grab hold of your arm and ask stupid questions and for drinks and we cant just chat among ourselves. Clearly though, the Western Busimnessmen are not so bothered.

So we are here waiting for our Cameroon and Angola visas. That has been a bit of a downside to the trip. Sometimes we come to places, just to wait and dont see the rest of the country. There seems to be an emphasis on just getting through to Cape Town and not enough of actually seeing the rest of the country. Today we went to look at the church, mainly cos it is airconditioned (its about 39 degrees outside) and to the mosque but they didnt seem to want us there.

You might possibly have heard that the President of Nigeria has gone AWOL. He has gone to Saudi Arabia for treatment but that was before christmas and nobody can decide who is in charge so now we have a constitutional crisis (they are talking about it on the TV as i write). So the papers are talking about a coup. Also in Jos, about 100kms away, 450 were killed in riots between Christians and Muslims so Nigeria is not that stable at the moment. But there are no signs of trouble around town, except for the long queues at the petrol stations.

Last night i went for a pee behind my tent and spotted a metre long thin shiny green snake. My torchlight reflected in its eye. So i went to the truck to get my camera. I turned my camera on and it took a few minutes to find him again and i was thinking how brave i was to be hunting a snake, but when my camera beeped to say it was turning itself off i did jumpand my heart missed a beat, so not so brave after all! Anyway, i found him and got some pictures, and checked my tent bag was empty before moving it inside my tent....

There are lots of other things going on of course, like the dynamics in the group and the gossip and rumours going round. I guess we each have things that we enjoy about the trip and things and people that annoy us. But some of the people are leaving the trip in 8 weeks when we get to Cape Town and i am already thinking we will miss them......

I wish i could post pix but its just to slow...

Finally, i have a blog follower called Jane....is that Jane as in Brett and Jane?

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