Fabric Shopping in Abeokuta and a Visit to Olumo Rock

Today a group of folks, either looking for fabric or looking to get out of Lagos, drove in a company van (with security) to Abeokuta. We were not sure how traffic would be as this is the first day that a section of the Third mainland Bridge, connecting Lagos Island to the mainland section of Lagos, was closed for repair. The bridge will be closed until the end of September (at least) and will wreak havoc on the morning commute for many of my coworkers. Anyway, bridge traffic was fine but the traffic on Ibadan Expressway was bad before the turnoff to Abeokuta. Once off the expressway, the ride to Abeokuta was smooth as the former president Obasabjo's home town was Abeokuta and he made sure his road home was a good one. The 50 mile trip took us about 2.5 hours and we were ready to shop for adire, tie and die, and batik fabric. I like burgundy and blue colors so that is mostly what I walked away with, although I did buy something red.

Susan in one of the fabric shops.

Kay shopping... imagine that!

Fabric from the recent Jankara / Balogun trip and this trip

After shopping for one hour, half of the group went to see Olomu Rock, one of Nigeria's biggest tourist attractions. Abeokuta, the name of the town, stands for "under the rock" in the Yoruba language. Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, around a group of rocky outcroppings that rise above the surrounding savanna. Olumo Rock is the highest of the rocky outcroppings and is a place where the Egba people took refuge during inter-tribal wars in the 19th Century. I was amazed to see there are elevators to got you to the top but we chose to take the stairs which then led to the hike up short ladders between and over the large rocks. Once at the top, the view over Abeokuta was terrific, with the rusted red roofs and the churches and mosques along the winding Osun River.


View from the parking lot... not just one elevator but two elevators to get to the top. Or you can take the stairs and some ladders to get up onto the top.

Mosque near the Ogun River

St. Peter's Church, the oldest church in Nigeria
Another church in the midst of the red tin roofs

The group standing on top of Olumo Rock. Chris was the photographer.

Front - Lisa (me), Namisa, Adebayo (guard), Sunday (guard), Back - Anthony, Bob

Tree growing out of the rocks

Our guide told us about the shrine, where the used to sacrifice strangers, but now they just sacrifice cows... lucky for us! Read more about Abeokuta on the Nigerian Field Society website or another blog posting I ran across.

Here are some other pics of life in Abeokuta.

Woman with baby buying beef

Woman carrying yams on her head