Nigeria
The Nigerian officials were extremely friendly and courteous and advised us on the best route to Abuja. We then headed off towards Ibadan and were stopped nearly 10 times within a distance of maybe the next 15km by all different officials to check and re check our passports. All very polite and just interested in what we were doing and asking “is it your government or the Nigerian that sponsors you?” and “what is your mission?
At this slow pace we decided to stop and camp wild though all police had advised against it, we found a school in the bush and parked in the playground for the night. A local man walked over and chatted and gave us his name and explained where he lived should we have any problems. The next day we were up early and heading towards Ibadan where we stopped to visit Mapo Hall built in 1923 by the British to administer the Western area of Nigeria, Ibadan being the capital of the region. It was closed but we were allowed entry and given a very informative tour of the building by one of the men working there who explained the history as well as the politics, we even we shown letters written by the British governor dated 1917-1923 to the local “Bale” about local issues. All these letters were just left on top of an old filing cabinet in a disused room.
At this slow pace we decided to stop and camp wild though all police had advised against it, we found a school in the bush and parked in the playground for the night. A local man walked over and chatted and gave us his name and explained where he lived should we have any problems. The next day we were up early and heading towards Ibadan where we stopped to visit Mapo Hall built in 1923 by the British to administer the Western area of Nigeria, Ibadan being the capital of the region. It was closed but we were allowed entry and given a very informative tour of the building by one of the men working there who explained the history as well as the politics, we even we shown letters written by the British governor dated 1917-1923 to the local “Bale” about local issues. All these letters were just left on top of an old filing cabinet in a disused room.
After that we visited the university before leaving towards Abuja via Lokoja. Again that night we camped wild this time on a bike path in the middle of the jungle, we managed to get the Landrover down and it turned out to be a cold night . The next day (Sunday) we had hoped to be in Abuja but it wasn’t to be, as we approached Lokoja there was a road accident and we sat in a traffic jam for the best part of 3 hours which meant that we camped again this time 150KM short of Abuja and the Angolan Embassy which was the main reason for the visit.
Abuja
This has to be the newest, shiniest city in Africa in fact it could be a European city with its lots of tall glass clad buildings and wide streets if it wasn’t for the rubbish. The traffic is less manic than in other cities and it has a good feel about it. We headed straight for the Angolan embassy only to be told to come back on Wednesday, after that we went to the Sheraton where they allow overlanders to camp at the back of the hotel. Here we met Dave and Natalie ( a S.African & French couple) who were doing the same route the other way in the same vehicle as ours but this vehicle had seen a very good time. Dave was full of info having done a few trips on a motor bike before and his Landrover was almost like African lorries and bush taxis fully loaded with everything you can ever want and more, he even had a Bedouin tent on it. We thought we had a lot on board but Dave toped this easily. We hope they won’t have any problems on their way with the suspension and the chassis.
We stayed at the Sheraton for 5 days and applied for the following visas, Cameroon (within 12h, 50000CFA, careful they only except the West African CFA), Angola (30$, 3 working days) and DRC (express same day 25000N). During our stay a couple of bikers from the UK (Darren & Russell) arrived who were also going down to S.Africa and then back up the east coast all in 9- 12 months, so we spent the next few days eating and cooking together each night. On our last night we went to the hotel Casino to try our luck at the Roulette table but Fortuna was not on our side but the free buffet made up for it. (Be there on time before 10 p.m. because the buffet is well visited by locals who load up their plates as if it would be their last meal).
We planned to leave Abuja early in the morning and drive to Jos but were delayed as Wibke decided to rescue a 6 month old puppy from the kennels run by locals next to the Sheraton that hasn’t been out for his lifetime and was obviously treated very badly. He was very nervous & frightened and for sure it will take time for him to gain confidence. But every day he does better and it is a delight to see him step by step behave like a dog of his age should do.
We stayed at the Sheraton for 5 days and applied for the following visas, Cameroon (within 12h, 50000CFA, careful they only except the West African CFA), Angola (30$, 3 working days) and DRC (express same day 25000N). During our stay a couple of bikers from the UK (Darren & Russell) arrived who were also going down to S.Africa and then back up the east coast all in 9- 12 months, so we spent the next few days eating and cooking together each night. On our last night we went to the hotel Casino to try our luck at the Roulette table but Fortuna was not on our side but the free buffet made up for it. (Be there on time before 10 p.m. because the buffet is well visited by locals who load up their plates as if it would be their last meal).
We planned to leave Abuja early in the morning and drive to Jos but were delayed as Wibke decided to rescue a 6 month old puppy from the kennels run by locals next to the Sheraton that hasn’t been out for his lifetime and was obviously treated very badly. He was very nervous & frightened and for sure it will take time for him to gain confidence. But every day he does better and it is a delight to see him step by step behave like a dog of his age should do.
We arrived on the outskirts of Bukuru and met Danjuma an old family friend from when Ben lived in Nigeria back in the 70’s. Danjuma lives in Gindri and we stayed for 2 days at the Missionary Compound. On the plateau of Jos the temperatures were much cooler than in Abuja and during night time it dropped to chilly 12°C.
The next morning being Sunday we went with Danjuma to church, eventually the occasion to wear our smart clothes that we had brought with us just in case. The church was packed with people no seat left, we were asked to stand up and introduce ourselves during mass and Ben was asked to give a short account of the trip. On Monday morning we visited Jos museum & zoo, the village Bisichi next to the old tin mines and the house where Ben and his family lived that is now a ruin. After nearly being scammed a second time by somebody recommended by the kennel owner of the Sheraton in Jos who pretended to be a vet and asked for a ridiculous amount of money for the travel documents for the dog we managed to find a proper vet and got Niger vaccinated and collected all the paper work necessary to cross Africa. The chipping and passport we decided to leave to Namibia. The time had come to say good bye to Danjuma and his family and to start our drive south to Ekok and the Cameroon border.
The next morning being Sunday we went with Danjuma to church, eventually the occasion to wear our smart clothes that we had brought with us just in case. The church was packed with people no seat left, we were asked to stand up and introduce ourselves during mass and Ben was asked to give a short account of the trip. On Monday morning we visited Jos museum & zoo, the village Bisichi next to the old tin mines and the house where Ben and his family lived that is now a ruin. After nearly being scammed a second time by somebody recommended by the kennel owner of the Sheraton in Jos who pretended to be a vet and asked for a ridiculous amount of money for the travel documents for the dog we managed to find a proper vet and got Niger vaccinated and collected all the paper work necessary to cross Africa. The chipping and passport we decided to leave to Namibia. The time had come to say good bye to Danjuma and his family and to start our drive south to Ekok and the Cameroon border.
South to the Border
The route south took us towards Yelwa and then onto Ibi over the Benue river where there is no bridge because the people of Ibi consider the ferry business more lucrative than to have a bridge as one local told us. As we arrived we followed the rest of the traffic onto a track and then across some sandbanks and through shallow water. Someone was holding up a line across the track and asking for payment, being in a Landrover we left the traffic and crossed the water further downstream much to the angry shouts of the man. We then headed to the main river bank and waited to board the wooden ferry, which were not much more than piroges converted to carry 2 cars and a handful of motorbikes.
On arrival 2 vans were stuck on the slope leading off the ferry blocking all access to the boats and so Ben offered his assistance to pull them out. It took a good 40 mins and we were told that as a reward we would get the crossing for free, this soon changed when we came to get onboard and after a bit of haggling we finally paid 1000N. After we had left the ferry on the other side two locals on their motorbikes stopped us and offered us 500N as they had seen us towing the vans out and had overheard the conversation on board and as they did not agree with us having to pay. Of course we refused to take the money. That night we camped in a field next to the river and the next morning stopped off in town to fill our water tanks before heading further south to Ikom via Wukura. The road on the way was good though it did have some pot holes and we arrived at Ikom just before sunset. For our last night in Nigeria we checked into the only hotel, the Lisbon Hotel, it was cheap, very basic but clean and friendly. Here our puppy Niger got his first shower experience and although he was not too pleased he took it as a man and we were pleased about the white fluffy result.
Our overall impression of Nigeria is that the people are very friendly and the police polite and all they want to do is chat. All you need is time and to stay polite and friendly. We were only asked by 1 policeman to give him money and that was on the outskirts of Ikom. He started to shout and told us to unload the vehicle when we refused to pay and we said we would report him and wrote down his number that was displayed on his uniform. We had done nothing wrong. Writing down his number got him very angry and he asked us immediately to hand over the paper with his details obviously very frightened about being reported to his head officer and after a bit more shouting and arguing he said he was sorry and let us go.
On arrival 2 vans were stuck on the slope leading off the ferry blocking all access to the boats and so Ben offered his assistance to pull them out. It took a good 40 mins and we were told that as a reward we would get the crossing for free, this soon changed when we came to get onboard and after a bit of haggling we finally paid 1000N. After we had left the ferry on the other side two locals on their motorbikes stopped us and offered us 500N as they had seen us towing the vans out and had overheard the conversation on board and as they did not agree with us having to pay. Of course we refused to take the money. That night we camped in a field next to the river and the next morning stopped off in town to fill our water tanks before heading further south to Ikom via Wukura. The road on the way was good though it did have some pot holes and we arrived at Ikom just before sunset. For our last night in Nigeria we checked into the only hotel, the Lisbon Hotel, it was cheap, very basic but clean and friendly. Here our puppy Niger got his first shower experience and although he was not too pleased he took it as a man and we were pleased about the white fluffy result.
Our overall impression of Nigeria is that the people are very friendly and the police polite and all they want to do is chat. All you need is time and to stay polite and friendly. We were only asked by 1 policeman to give him money and that was on the outskirts of Ikom. He started to shout and told us to unload the vehicle when we refused to pay and we said we would report him and wrote down his number that was displayed on his uniform. We had done nothing wrong. Writing down his number got him very angry and he asked us immediately to hand over the paper with his details obviously very frightened about being reported to his head officer and after a bit more shouting and arguing he said he was sorry and let us go.
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