The REAL Osun State!

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I’ve had an awesome day today. I think Mr Jerry was quite bemused by how excited I got doing things that to him, are normal everyday occurrences. We were told to meet at the principals lodge to set off at one for the market at Ilesa. We set of at Nigerian one (two thirty) and picked up two security guards at
the gate.

The road to Ilesa was full of the joys of a usual Nigerian road trip. We beeped at children, people with baskets on their heads, goats, chickens, other cars and occasionally the driver just beeped! I’m not sure what the rush is to get everywhere but our driver only had three driving speeds, foot flat to the floor, top speed, foot slammed on the brake. I’m will never bitch about Sunday drivers again!

Once we arrived in Ilesa there was so much to take in. It was a feast for the eyes, all the of colour and crowds of people. Everything was so foreign and alien to anything I had ever seen before. I think I am still processing all of the information. I took quite a few pictures but as the car was swerving and breaking loads of what I took came out blurry.

The market was like nothing else in the world. Everyone was shouting “Oynibo!” and kids were following us around. The streets were very narrow and crammed with stalls selling so many things which spilled out into the dirt track that ran between them. Cars, motorbikes, vans and even lorries still came down these roads and everyone had to drag in their wares whilst the vehicle passed. Our security were really protective of us and, whilst they were really smiley and friendly, I’m pretty sure than nobody would mess with them.

The main things at the market were huge yams, red hot chillies, tomatoes and fabric. The thing that really shocked me though was when we turned a corner and were hit with the most pungent smell you could ever imagine. The street was filled with turned over wooden boxes and dirty old wooden tables which were covered with raw meat and fish. Each stall holder had a few pieces of warm meat which were just put right on to the filthy tables. The meat was covered with flies and today the temperature was in the low 40’s again. As I was walking with Jerry I thought it would be a good idea to double check that he didn’t buy the meat that we eat from the market. I was considering a sudden violent bout of vegetarianism! Luckily he doesn’t!

Worse than the rancid meat, was the raw fish just laid out in the hot, tropical afternoon sun! People were buying it and one of our security guards said that it was his favourite and he usually buys it from there. I think I must have looked at him like he was a tad foolish because he said “don’t worry Nigerian stomachs are much better than Oynibo stomachs!” The fish sellers also sold smoked fish. These fish were whole but they had stuffed their tails into their mouths so they were little fish circles. Apparently you eat the whole thing with pounded yam and chillies. I think, I’ll pass!

I asked Jerry if he knew anywhere locally that sold local art. The security guard started to double up as a tour guide and took us to Oshogbo (pronounced osh-o-bo) which is the capital town of Osun state. We ended up at a full blown art gallery filled with some amazing local art. I could of quite happily have spent hours in that shop. When I had a little word with myself, I moved away from the giant zebra art and over to the table which was filled with drawings and paintings of all shapes colours and sizes. Just as I was shortening my shortlist, James came over and started sighing saying that he wanted to go and that he was bored. Jade and Jim were both loving it but because of the grumpy douchebag child we had to leave way earlier than we’d liked. Jerry did a great job of getting a good price. No matter how much the man dropped the price, Jerry accused him of trying to rip off tourists and that he shouldn’t care about the colour of our skin, he should just lower his price to native prices. In the end he got ₦20,000 off the original asking price. I’m absolutely chuffed to bits with my picture.

By now it was about 6pm and we had to get back into the van and head back home as by 7 its pitch black! Just as we got on the road/track it started to throw it down. The semi-monsoon couldn’t have come at a worse time as every puddle on the road had to be swerved around as the driver didn’t know how deep they were. Hills were like waterfalls and the sides of the roads were torrents. The scariest bit was when the rain was so hard that we couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead, our diver was on the wrong side of the road, doing 60mph going round a blind corner, and overtaking a bus. There was only one thing I could do – shut my eyes!

I’ve had such a good day seeing the real Nigeria. We have been so sheltered and so protected up until today, that we have missed out on a sense of adventure and we haven’t really experienced everyday life. To be honest I don’t think I would want to wander around Lagos willy nilly but out here in the sticks, with two armed guards I think we’ll be just fine! I’ve seen things today which I will remember for a life time and I’ve seen poverty like I’ve only ever seen on the news before. The thing that struck me though were how these people, living in such shocking (by our standards) conditions, were so friendly and welcoming.

Well I’m going to head off to bed now. I’m absolutely shattered and I’m going to the government high school tomorrow to observe lessons. There have been no plans made for it but apparently the headmaster would like to see us “before Thursday” which means that we go tomorrow! I’m hoping that we aren’t there all day – observing maths lessons for 8 hours isn’t the most exciting thing to do!


****Happy Birthday to Paula, Love you ****

Hope everyone has had a good Tuesday

Kate “African Explorer” Robinson
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