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Scenic dusk
All those little lights on the horizon are fire plums from rigs. Kinda pretty in an odd sort of way.I'm making a bad habit of slipping off into my own little world far too often. Sorry for loss of contact. So I'm offshore at the moment, right off a place called Escravo, Nigeria. Pretty area, if you can stand the giant plums of fire bellowing out from the various rigs dotted about the water. The barge I'm on carries a compliment of 10 armed securit guards and has two machine gun nests "just in case". So very different from my usual treks around the globe for work.
Anyways....My flight into Nigeria was long. So long. In the process I missed one flight due to another flight being delayed 5 hours, but after running around airports I managed to get myself to Lagos. Very pretty looking from the airplane, but once i gathered all my luggage and went through immigration, it hit me like a sack of doorknobs. "I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto" (or however the famous movie line goes). Lagos is a giant city of around 10 million people and is pure chaos at the best of times. The streets have more cars and motorbikes on them than I have even seen before, and the pedestrians saunter to
Me
Blurry picture of me. Behind me lies work, which I strive to avoid. and fro, just narrowly avoiding getting run over. Stop signs and road rules are just suggestions here.
I was greeted by my driver to be shuttled off to a "safehouse" for the night. On the way, we went through some pretty rough neighborhoods. Rough as in, the buildings look like they may collapse anytime soon. This one lady with a baby on her back was so desperate for money that I had to give in. What was even worse was that the kid on her back didn't move much at all. Hopefully just sleeping I guess.
I spend the night there in Lagos, and the next day flew off to a place called Port Harcourt. Was greeted by some goats and pigs at the terminal (soo cute), and then was whisked away by another driver through the maze of streets. We past areas I can only describe as extreme poverty, and it made me thankful for all the things I normally take for granted back in my little life. Bombed out ruins of buildings, sheet metal shacks, and images that conjure up those late night tv commercials about third world countries. Seeing it all with ones own eyes...well
Machine gun
Machine gun almost within arms reach...Hope no pirates come by. it is hard to describe.
Almost too many situations and events to type down here without this become a short novel. Crazy motorists weaving in and out of situations that made me cringe, flaming wreckages on the side of the road, garbage everywhere, yet the people were all very friendly. Every second store seemed to either sell softdrinks or be a church. People somehow scratch a living together on very, very little, and it can be upsetting to someone like me who has it alright back home.
In a sense in pisses me off since I'm heading to work out in the oil/gas fields and the giant companies pay soooo much money to the government, yet the people who truely need the money get screwed. Nigeria has enough natural resources to be insanly successful, yet corruption and greed kept it from becoming so much more.
Sadly though my camera was in the trunk of the car or in the bowels of an aeroplane (doh!) so I didn't get to snag any interesting pictures...just boring ones and work related stuff. All of the pictures you see here were taken in one day, and I'm still kicking myself for
Port Harcourt
Right across the river. all those lost oppurtunities. Pictures say so much more than measely computer print. Still, if you want an idea of exactely what I saw, use your imagination.
I may not be an update for a bit since I'll be working and not exploring for the next forseeable month. Fear not, as this intrepid adventuring plans on fully wandering around and getting lost at some point!
Toodle lee doo for now!
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