Free snacks on the 50 minute flight to Enugu.


A class watching our plane arrive in Enugu.


We stopped by a mall in Enugu on the way to the village to pick some stuff up.


We also got Coldstone, which was refreshing.


My friend had been asking for this for days, yet we couldn't find it. Ended up finding it in a convenience store in Enugu. Interesting story on this stuff later.


Amokwe is about an hour out from Enugu. The roads weren't in the greatest of condition, but it was a pretty uneventful ride.


The family built a compound of houses in Amokwe for everyone (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc). All of the structures were built out of concrete, which differs greatly from what we have in the US. Lots of not straight lines, rough edges, etc.


My room for the next two nights.


The road outside of the compound.



Day 10


Today was another rather uneventful day. The plan was to drive out to Cross River State (about 4 hours) to see some waterfalls on the border with Cameroon. We had everything arranged with the driver but our hosts advised not to go due to road conditions, which are quite poor during the rainy season. Oh well, you can't do everything. We ended up just relaxing most of the day in the house.

We did head into Enugu for dinner and to meet a family friend. No pictures of the food considering it was KFC.


The sun was going down as we were heading back to the village.


I'd be a concerned homeowner if I was the guy on the left.


The sky just exploded, it's too bad I didn't have a better spot to shoot.


Sunset.



Day 11


Today was our last day in Nigeria. Our flight from Lagos wasn't until late at night, around 10PM. We woke up rather early in Enugu to head to the airport and fly back to Lagos. We met up with Fred in Lagos, but we didn't have much of a plan outside of that.


My first time flying on a 737-500. This particular one came from Continental. Going back to the Feyrouz comment. My friend had put about a dozen of them in his checked bag. On the way out to the plane, they pulled him (and effectively me) aside. They pulled out the Feyrouz and basically said that they'd be taking it unless he "helped them out". Unfortunately, he had to pay that one since he wanted to keep them and it would've caused too much of a scene to try to save what ended up being $3. Sad that things go that way, but it is what it is.


The flight was rather uneventful. Some interesting aircraft on the ground in Lagos though.


A 727 hanging out in a field.


Since it was Sunday, some places on our list were closed, but we did find another art gallery (much smaller) to visit.



We decided to treat Fred and his wife to lunch at one of the nicest restaurants in town, located on Victoria Island.


Chapman to drink.


Salmon cakes to start.


I went with the Sea Bass as the main, which was excellent.


We then went out to Elegushi Beach on Victoria Island. We didn't expect much, we were just looking for something to waste some time. Note: The sky was perfectly clear, a stark contrast from our other days in Lagos.


Just a run aground oil tanker, nothing unusual.


Beach food.


Going over the Lekki Iyoki Link Bridge.


Fred then took us to the New Afrika Shrine, which is near the airport.


Fema Kuti, a famous Nigerian musician, performs here.


Drums.


Fela Kuti (Fema's father) started the Old Afrika Shrine, which burned down in 1977.


Decor from the Old Akrika Shrine.


One last bowl of Chicken Pepper Soup at a restaurant near the airport.


On the way to the airport we came up to this round about. The driver infront of us slammed on the brakes, then someone jumped out and threw rebar into a stopped cars wheel on the side of the road. We stopped, Fred got out of the car, and a fight ensued. Apparently the stopped car was an Uber driver waiting for someone and the assailants were a towing company that wanted to tow the car away. A few minutes of screaming and eventually they let the guy go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey2q...ature=youtu.be

Fred dropped us at the Lagos Airport about four hours prior to our flight. The immigrations official tried to extort me, naturally. After I handed him my passport, he tossed it back and said "put something in it" before he would stamp it. I continually refused and he eventually just stamped it and let me go.

The Lagos Airport was a dark and hot place.


Air Peace recently acquired two 777s, so it'll be interesting to see where they send those.


We flew confirmed on this trip and our upgrades cleared into Business class with no issue. Time to head home.


Overall, I really enjoyed my first trip to West Africa. Nigeria was never one of those places that I actively sought traveling to, but I can't imagine there's any better way to do it. Having someone arrange everything for you, drive you around everywhere, cover expenses and provide housing certainly made it easy. Sure, I wish our schedule had been more active and I wish we had done the day trip to Benin and the drive to the Agbokim Waterfalls in Cross River State (which look epic), but you win some and you lose some. Now that I have contacts in Nigeria, if I do return in the future, I'll know where I want to go. A road trip from Lagos to Abidjan with Fred may or may not be in my future plans (cough, hint hint).

Next up is my recent weekend trip to Oregon where I visited way too many waterfalls and took what I feel is my favorite photo I've ever taken. That'll be followed by my trip to the Caucuses coming, which I depart for next week.