Happy new week in Lagos

People also wish you happy new week in Nigeria. Although I don’t know if it means they want something from you or they are just friendly.

I waited until travel time shown by Google for the distance of 13kms to Ericsson office will decrease from 1hr 15min to something more bearable. After 9am the time was 45mins and I thought I could move. I ordered Bolt (formerly known as Taxify), it seemed cheaper than Uber. We drove a bit longer than 30mins, I paid N1100. I waited a bit for Sola and we did the money exchange transaction. I handed over 3 $100 bills, she gave me 108 N1000 bills.

Sola was asking me if the taxi driver who brought me to her house and waited for me for 3 hours and took me back asked for any extra money for the waiting. When I said he didn’t ask for anything she said it’s because I’m white. That for a black person the driver wouldn’t even want to wait. I also told her how the Uber driver yesterday let me go for free when he didn’t have change, she also said that’s because I’m white. I wonder. But I have no idea.

I walked on to the Cameroon Consulate. Inside a man sits at a sort of reception. The building is big but rather dilapidated.

The visa in this consulate costs N45,000, so a bit more than €100. The price on the visa is 50,000cfa which is a bit more than €80. No receipt is given. The man asked for passport photocopy, 2 photos and I had to fill the form. It was 11am and the visa would be ready by 2pm. Also, the man said that the only border crossing through which the foreigners would be allowed to cross is Gembu-Banyo. Which is quite North. I was planning to take the ferry from Calabar to Douala but apparently the ferry lands in the English-speaking part of the Cameroon and these are off limits to foreigners. He said the Nigerians would let me out but the Cameroonians at the port wouldn’t let me in and they would “spoil my visa”. Visas he meant, coz how would Nigerians let me back in?

Well, there is a Cameroonian consulate in Calabar, I can always ask there. From what I read on iOverlander people were forced to buy the ferry ticket in order to even be able to receive the visa in that consulate. But perhaps situation is changing. We shall see.

The visa the consulate in Lagos is giving is only valid for a month from the entry date that I put as 13 May, a bit optimistically. And the type of visa is “temporary”.

After I dropped the passport I took a walk along Kofo Abayomi street. These are streets I know well from the times I used to come to Lagos with work. Nothing has really changed. I was walking to Goodies supermarket, which is Lebanese-owned and which has a bakery section that used to serve espresso. The supermarket is no longer called Goodies but Hartleys, it’s still Lebanese-owned and does serve coffee. Espresso costs N800, not too cheap. If was not too bad, although it was more French style – more water than it’s supposed to have. I bought a bar of black soap and bottle of water and left.

There is a small mall nearby, Mega Plaza, in existence since I remember. I saw there was a coffee shop now there too. Not bad.

I walked towards Victoria Island Post Office. I had no postcards from Nigeria but I have two unused sets of postcards from previous countries so I could send them from Lagos. The stamps were expensive though, at N550 and the stamps needed glue to even stick to the surface.

Out of the post office, to lunch. I stopped a tricycle (Indian style moto rickshaw) and asked to be dropped near a cafeteria which also I remember since forever and serves good food: Mama Cass. I didn’t ask for the price before I got in and of course when 15mins later we stopped I heard the price N500. I just gave the man N200 and went on. These rickshaws take many passengers – but of course if it’s an oyinbo it has to be hired car – and they normally pay N50 for a short hop.

Mama Cass was almost empty. I took jollof rice, egusi soup, efo riro and a gizzard and water. I paid N2250. Crazy price! It’s funny how the perspective changes. Before, me, with work, I wouldn’t care much. Now – an outrage! The food was good however. But then their generator tripped, light went off and we were sitting sweating in a greenhouse.

From Mama Cass back to the consulate, tricycle this time asked for N100, fine. I waited a bit for the visa, it came out before 3pm, chatting to the reception man. He did explain the route I should take quite well. There is a possibility I may have to take the train in Cameroon, which is kinda exciting. Trains are good.

I took another bolt back to Surulere, trying to rush before traffic will grow. I paid N1100 again.

As I was walking around my area looking for maybe beer in this heat I saw a familiar face in a car. Another former work friend, Mudia! Oh man, Lagos is a small city.

She reprimanded me for wanting to drink beer in the heat, telling me instead to drink water and I listened. And I came back to the hotel.

In the hotel the receptionist listened to my story. She thought I’m here for work. I was explaining the concept of a tourist again. But I think she got it and she perhaps is no longer disappointed I don’t order food and drinks in the hotel but I go out.

I went out again to buy groundnuts. A bottle cost N500. On my way back, at the church that’s next door to the hotel a man named Michael (Mimy says English – that is Christian – names indicate Michael is an Igbo man) approached me and told me he was also selling groundnuts. I told him I didn’t see any groundnuts on his small stand and he said I should have asked. Oh well. I poured some groundnuts into his hand and in return he shared some of his groundnuts with me. I think his were better than mine.

The security man didn’t want any groundnuts, which was unusual, everyone normally keeps asking for some groundnuts and they are really nice, salty without salt. The receptionist, who of course took the groundnuts, said maybe the security man was fasting. Ramadan just started.

I was planning to go to National Stadium and get some roasted fish. In the consulate we were arguing which roasted fish is better, the one in Cameroon or the one in Nigeria. I said the one in Lagos but truth is in Cameroon roasted fish is everywhere. In Nigeria not so. But then Mimy started calling me that we should get together and I thought maybe I can find some snail to eat. I walked to a cafeteria called Sweet Sensation that I also know from long ago as better and more expensive than Mama Cass and I remember they had very good snail. Unfortunately this one didn’t have snail, so I ordered the usual: jollof rice, egusi soup and gizzard. It was all very tasty and cost half price of Mama Cass. N1150. Location location.

Mimy & Amyn picked me up from the street and since we couldn’t decide if we want pepper soup or snail we settled on suya – roasted meat. Amyn went out and picked a mix of beef, chicken and kidneys, N2500 for a pack and we went to their house, stopping to buy drinks. The meat was delicious, soft and juicy. I used to eat suya a lot but now I pass meat stands without paying attention to them.

We hung around in the house and around 9:30pm I called for an Uber and I went back to the hotel. N510, I paid N500 and I have the driver a horribly overused N100 bill and I even warned him about it. He took it. I wonder if that’s because I’m white.