Don Post 4 - Abuja to Benin Border

Our view of the National Mosque, Abuja

Abuja – “the city of prostitutes”.  Sure that’s a bit of an exaggeration but it does have a nice ring to it. Actually Abuja was a nice surprise considering some of the other Nigeria cities we have passed through. It does seem to be stuck in the early 80's in terms of architecture, but that’s understandable considering bands like Bon Jovi – it was a great decade. The capital of Nigeria was moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991, and because it was a planned capital it is really easy to get around and the road network is excellent. We arrived in the city center in the late afternoon after the drive from Yankari NP, and drove straight to the Sheraton Hotel because we had heard about this free camping being offered to over-landers. We were directed to the back of the hotel where we stumbled across a mini Woodstock. All that was missing was a stage, but there was a big rubbish dump and some dog kennels so it was basically the same. We bumped into people from two commercial over-landing trucks who we had first met in Kokrobite in Ghana almost 4 weeks before. We also met some cool folk from www.tracksinafrica.com.  Abuja is a big stop for overland tours in west Africa because it is where most of the embassies are so it’s a good place to organize visas. That was our “mission”, organizing Burkina Fasa visas.  We spent 3 nights camping there, during which we used the time to catch up on some admin, do some shopping for the next leg, and get that $100 stamp in our passport.  Every morning we were woken at about 4 AM by the call to pray from the huge national mosque just down the road. It was pretty impressive, especially at night.

So Chris has already mentioned his experience with the ladies at the Elephant Bar. It was good fun watching him squirm, the man really doesn’t know how to say ‘no’ in a way that is even remotely convincing. I’m sure Sebaz will teach him a lot though over the next 2 months, but it might be on how to say 'yes'.

Southern section of Kainji Lake

After a long morning of packing up our explosion of a campsite, we headed west towards Lake Kainji National Park, our last stop in Nigeria in terms of mapping. The drive took us the whole day with badly potholed roads slowing us down. After a WARM night in the southern sector of the park, Sebaz and me headed to the northern section where we were told there would be an accessible road network. By the way did I mention that it was WARM! On our way up we passed Kainji Lake, the largest dam in Nigeria, and also the country’s primary source of electricity. We took a slight detour to check out the lake since the road we were on didn’t have any good views. No sooner had I taken a couple textbook snaps when we heard the shouting of some military dudes running towards us. Now I have to admit there is something strangely intimidating about a huge guy dressed in a vest and camo pants, holding a AK47, smoking a joint, and shouting “WHAT IS YOUR MISSION IN NIGERIA!!”. Now I can understand them being bummed that I took pictures of the dam wall considering it would be a good hit for any terrorist, but the logic all goes to shit when they insist we pay them for the snaps. Anyway we deleted the pictures of the wall and left them pretty unhappy when we drove off without giving them anything from South Africa. But our fun didn’t end there. We headed along the edge of the lake to a village with a pier where we bought some fish and Sebaz took some snaps of fishermen. The same guys obviously saw us from their post and next thing there were two armed military dudes on a motorbike down the pier demanding that Sebaz hand over the camera. Again we had to explain that we were were tourists and this is what tourists do – take pictures and wear big hats. These guys were persistent though and followed us along the pier while they lit up another joint. But typical Nigeria, by the end of our walk they were trying to organise a local fisherman to take us to the middle of the dam where we could get the best snaps! We politely declined their offers and left them unhappy once again. It’s a tricky thing dealing with a stonned man with a big gun, so I think we did alright for ourselves.

Lake Kainji NP was a sweet spot. We spent two nights there in rooms straight out of the 1970s. Chris came down with another case of turdalightus and spent the first night in drolliesdorp while we ate some fresh fish off the braai. Let me tell you about Groundnut oil - heavy stuff! The best part of Kainji NP was that we didn’t need a guide, so we had the freedom to drive when and where we wanted. This was great for mapping and we got a lot done in our time there. It’s a savanna park with some cool drives along the river and we saw a fair amount of game. We passed through the village of Wawa on our way out and had the intention of making it to the Benin border that evening, but those intentions were soon crushed. About 5km out of Wawa the 160L diesel tank of the Landcruiser 70 fell off. The brackets holding it to the car snapped at the tank was ripped out and left lying on the road. We made the call to salvage what diesel we could from the leaking tank into our jerry cans, and gave away the rest to passer bys. Within 5 minutes the road was packed with people trying to help us out and get some free petrol while they were at it. Check out the pictures – they tell the story best. With the broken tank strapped to the top of the roof rack, we towed the 70 back to Wawa, where we were lucky to find a bush mechanic with some great skills. In the end we only lost a day, and were back on the road by lunch the next day. The road to the border from Wawa is really rough, but it did take us through some of the coolest scenery in Nigeria. Didn’t make the border that day but found a great spot to bush camp and have some pina coladas. The next morning we woke up to a crowd of people watching our every move and laughing at us. It was cool though, and by noon we were stamped out of Nigeria and heading towards the Benin immigration office.

The scene 10 min after the diesel tank fell out outside Wawa

Nigeria has been different from anything I have experienced before, and that’s what I liked most about it. From rainforests to roadblocks, mosques to mudhuts, it was all new to me and I feel lucky to have experience it. Would I recommend Nigeria as a travel destination – sure. Would I go back to Nigeria? No – they don’t sell chocolate milk.

Ride the big one
Don