Nigeria Part 1

Jonny and I are in Nigeria now. We flew from Accra (Ghana) into Lagos (southern Nigeria) on wednesday and then onward to Jos on Thursday. We had a bit of trouble picking up our tickets on wednesday morning, they simply wanted more money and made us sit there until about 20 minutes before our plane was due to leave. Then they suddenly popped up from behind the desk, offered us bananas and plane tickets and we were on our way. The flight over was uneventful, but the airport in Lagos was a zoo! People everywhere and its a lot scarier than other airports. Thankfully we had someone to meet us and they got us and our luggage safely out of there. We had missed our connecting flight and had to spend the day at a guest house in Lagos. We got on a flight early thursday morning and sat on the tarmac for a while until they had sold every seat on the flight. Apparently it is normal for people to show up outside the plane with a wad of cash and simply buy a ticket out on the runway. The pilots here have a very different way of flying, so we were excited when we landed safe and sound at the Jos airport.

We're staying with friends (Mark and Joc) here at their house in the missionary compound. Its like a little cottage, quite comfortable and has a beautiful garden. We spent the weekend at a game park about 4 hours out of Jos (Yankari National Park) with a group of students from the high school here. The main draw at the park is the warm springs which flow into a river just below the camp and where you can swim. Its warm (31 degrees, or 88 F) and a beautiful blue color. There are sandstone cliffs at the head of the spring and you can watch baboons playing in the trees there. The baboons are everywhere in the park, they get into the cabins, climb on the cars and make a mess of everything. They are quite fun to watch, and as long as you are male, they stay far enough away. The aren't afraid of me so I always went around with Jonny!

We went safari-ing on saturday at the park. Our early morning safari was a failure, we didn't see much except a few monkeys and birds. But, we tried again in the afternoon and saw hundreds of elephants! It was absolutly amazing to watch them, a herd of about 100 crossed right in front of the truck and stood around, eating trees and scooping dust up on their backs. We must have taken 60 pictures of them, from babies right on up to the big bulls. Definatly the highlight of the weekend. We also saw some waterbucks (like a big elk), bushbucks (like deer) and a dead croc.

The drivers in Nigeria are unbelievable. They have NO road rules other than you mostly drive on the right hand side, but its not uncommon to see people on the other side. There are hundreds of motor bikes on the roads and they just drive where ever. We are always amused by people passing us on both sides at the same time!

This part of Africa is quite different than what we saw in Ghana. Its not humid and almost cool at sometimes. There are amazing rock formations, so if anyone knows how they got there, they can let us know! We're up on a plateau and there are actually "mountains" around us. There are also lots of nomadic cow herders and those traditional looking villages near by.

Not much else to report. We're both healthy and eating well. We plan to stay in Nigeria for another couple of weeks and do some touring around here with Mark and Joc. Hope everyone is well. Until next time!