Our last day in the office and our LONG trip home - February 207

We packed our bags, ate breakfast at the hotel and then met our driver for our drive into work. It was a busy day in the office. Bob and I both ate lunch in the cafeteria (separately), which consisted of chicken, rice or potatoes, and some eggplant dish. It was good but not great. At 5PM we headed out to the van for our trip to the airport.

Our trip home took an exhausting 30 hours. We left the office at about 5:30pm and headed to the airport in our caravan (a large 20-person van sandwiched between police escorts), dropping people off and picking people up along the way (staff house, expat residence building, Sheraton Hotel). Once we got onto the mainland, where the airport is located, we saw the more densely populated and impoverished parts of the city. There were many houses packed together on land and the housing extends out into the water (houses built on stilts). I tried to take a photo but because we we moving relatively fast in the van, the pictures came out blurry (have not figured out our brand new camera yet). I will try again in the future. The drive took about 2 hours.

Market on the side of the road on our drive to the airport.

Once at the airport we were escorted into the airport by company representatives, checked in and had our checked baggage searched (all checked bags are searched in your presence) and then headed to the British Airways lounge, which is not near as nice as the lounges elsewhere! It was packed, every seat was taken, and the food selection was not too great (Bob saw a bug crawling inside a plastic bag with a pastry - YUM!). We sat there for about 3 hours until we boarded the plane for our near midnight departure.

The flight to London was good (~6 hours, local time upon arrival 5AM). We both slept a bit, me more than Bob, as usual. Near the end of the flight, the crew sprayed the plane with insecticide to kill any mosquitos that made it onto the plane with us in Lagos. Once in London, we had to change airports (Heathrow to Gatwick, 45 minutes by car) which killed some of our layover time (5 hours) and then we decided the take advantage of the showers available in the BA lounge. In the future we will try to avoid flying BA so that we don't have to change airports in London and our luggage can be checked all the way through from Lagos to Houston. We travelled BA this time because there were no more seats on Air France or Luftansa and our "chaperone" was flying BA. It is not company policy to have a chaperone but it definitely was nice to have someone with us who knew the procedures once we arrived in Lagos. We would feel comfortable flying into Lagos on our own next time.

Finally we boarded the plane to make the final leg of our trip, the 10 hour flight from London to Houston. By this time I think we had watched most of the movies available to us and were ready to get home. Once in Houston, we were picked up by company-hired transportation (Lincoln Town Car) and taken home where we tried to stay awake until at least 8PM in an attemp to reset our internal clocks to Houston time.

Day 3 in Lagos - February 2007

Bob and I went into the office in the morning but them left at lunch to do some shopping. basically we wanted to get an idea of what we could by here in Lagos (food, electronics) and the cost of such items. The first place we went was the new mall called The Palms. In the mall there is a movie theater, a grocery store, a Walmart type store (everything from electronics to furniture to dishes), a cell phone store (Celtel) plus about 12+ other stores. There is a food court and a few restaurants.

In the Walmart type store called Game, we found that electronics are a little more expensive than in the states but we can purchase the items (TV) right when we get to Lagos as opposed to waiting for the items to arrive three months later in our sea shipment. We will be shopping for a TV, a DVD player, a microwave, a few UPSs and transformers (convert 110V to 220V).

We went into the grocery store and found that we can get chicken breasts, minced chicken or beef and pork. It is packaged very similarly to that in the US but it does not look quite as good, the presentation anyway! Many of the vegetables in the store are very expensive because they are imported. A head of iceburg lettuce is about $11. A small container of strawberries is about $6. Large potatoes are about $10/lb. Frozen vegetables are significantly more expensive and canned vegetables are 3-4 time the price in the US. We do not plan to pack too many canned vegetables because we are hoping that our steward or cook can get fresh vegetables at the market for much less money than in the store.

For lunch we went into one of the larger restaurants. It was and italian restaurant but I don't recall the name. This is the first time we really noticed the number of times the power had gone out in an hour and a half. We noticed the power outages here because there was rather loud music playing in the background that would suddenly stop as the lights went out... and then everything would start back up as if nothing happened. The place was very modern and the service was very slow, which I hear is common at most restaurants in Nigeria.

Here are some links with more info on the Palms, the new mall in Lagos.
http://grandioseparlor.blogspot.com/2006/04/scoop-on-palms-first-mega-shopping.html
http://www.wheretogoinlagos.com/where2go.php?VenueName=The%20Palms%20Shoppiing%20Centre

After lunch we went to Lekki Market a market that is mostly visited by expats or tourists. There is some food, meat and vegetables, sold there but the majority of booths contain various crafts. There are tons of beads made in many different West Africa countries. I bought some wedding beads for a very close girlfriend who had recently gotten married. Congrats againg Mr. adn Mrs. Tran! I also bought some glass beads, made in Ghana I believe, for my mom and for some other dear friends that threw a going away part for Bob and I (I will write something about that soon). Thanks to Leslie, Lucy, Shelly and Yvonne! I also bought some wood carvings, carvings out of various densities/hardness of wood as gifts for another very close girlfriend Marcia and my nephews, Jake and Brody. I was a bad friend and failed to get something for Heather another very close friend... I owe her big! ; )

Lekki Market
http://lagos.wantedinafrica.com/area_description.php?id_area=382&PHPSESSID=de5eb93b3da900408596ba4c1946cfe2

Wedding Beads
http://www.authenticafrica.com/malwedbead.html
http://www.fishlips3.com/Trade%20Beads/Wedding%20Beads.htm

On our last night in Lagos, we ate dinner at a co-workers apartment/flat in the complex that we will likely live in. They have a cook who is from Benin, the country just west of Nigeria and he is trained in French cooking. That night we had indian food which was prepared from a cook book and it was excellent. The flavor, the presentation and the chocolate mousse dessert was yummy! I think we got the most important tip of all that night... bring chocolate (chips and baking) in our luggage as it is not easy to find here. That tip may just save our lives!

Mosquitos

Before going to Lagos, I was concerned about mosquitos but once in Nigeria we saw very few. Bob saw one in a work safety meeting and we saw two in the van on the way to the airport. Funny how we were fine outside but always seemed to be exposed in a company setting! Bob got bit by one of the mosquitos in the van.

Our company is very proactive in the prevention of Malaria. Whenever we travel to Lagos we are to take a chemoprophylaxis and we chose Malarone. When we leave Lagos we take with us what is called a "Malaria Survival Kit" which has a test kit and medication to take if you experience Malaria symptoms and are to contact our company medical team ASAP.

Here is a link to the Center for Disease Control site with info on how to prevent getting malaria from the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito, which usually bite between dusk and dawn.
http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/travel/vfr_nigeria.htm

Day 2 in Lagos - February 2007

Finally I am back to continue telling you about your trip to Lagos in February. Bob and I have been extremely busy getting ready for our international move, prepping our house to be rented and stocking up on supplies.

Day 2 Wednesday
We ate breakfast in the hotel, met our driver at 7AM and then started the 45 minute sssslllloooowwww drive into the office. I ate lunch in the cafeteria with some coworkers. Food in the cafeteria is free to all employees and there is a variety of dishes to choose from. There are continental options (rice/potatoes and chicken), national options (some sort of pork of beef dish and pounded yam), and sandwiches. I went for the chicken and rice dish and it was pretty good. I don't think the food preparation is very low calorie so I am going to have to be careful over here! Bob had a meeting that included lunch and he enjoyed the food.

We left the office early (~2PM) to check out some of our housing options with one of the employees who works in the housing group (the man with the keys) and Tina, the wife of a coworker. There are two locations where the employees without kids live, both are apartments, but one is brand new and the other was built in the 1970's (I think).

The first place we looked at was the older complex, which is on a decent size of property with tennis courts, a gym and a pool. The apartments are about 2300 sq.ft (larger than our home in Houston) with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms and are well furnished with basic furnishings. Here are some pictures of one of the vacant apartments.

Pictures coming soon once I resolve my picture posting problem!

We definitely liked the new apartment complex better but the best apartments have already taken and while it is much newer (nice stained wood accents, granite countertops in an upscaled kitchen) the remaining rooms are near the ground floor and have bars the windows. The new apartment complex in on a much smaller piece of property (also has a pool) so we would prefer to live higher up in the building so that we have a view of the surrounding area and don't feel so cramped behind the walls of the compound.

Here are some pictures of the new apartment complex. While they are not the best
pictures of the place, they will give you an idea of what the place is like.

Pictures coming soon once I resolve my picture posting problem!

Both apartments had plumbing problems. I don’t meant to be negative about the work done there but they need to set some higher plumbing standards. There was at least one wall in each place (old and new) that will require some upkeep due to some leaky pipes behind the wall.

After home hunting we were planning on going to la Pizza for dinner with Tina, Kelvin (Tina’s husband), and Bob (another co-worker) and his boys. We were a little sweaty after looking at the apartments, many of which did not have the AC on, and we were ready to go back tot the hotel. Unfortunately that did not happen. We heard tha the traffic was terrible and we should head straight over to the restaurant. It was about 5:30PM when we left the apartments and we got to dinner about 7:30PM and Kelvin made it there a little bit later. Bob and his kids never made it as they turned around after getting fed up in the traffic. The pizza was great and so was the local Star beer (brewed in Nigeria but owned by Heineken). The meal was a bit pricy, about $25 a person (including the pizza for Tina and Kelvin’s driver who had been waiting outside the entire time we were eating), but it was worth it.

Pictures coming soon once I resolve my picture posting problem!

It took us about 15 minutes to get to hotel, the same drive that took us about 2 hours a little earlier I the evening. Near the restaurant was one of the movie theaters, where Blood Diamonds was showing. Tina mentioned that there is a nice bookstore there and I plan on checking it out soon. I will let you know how it is!

Arriving in Lagos, Day 1 in Lagos

We arrived in Lagos on Monday evening, February 19th. The plane touched the ground at 8:20PM and it took some time to get to our gate as we had 3+ miles to travel on the ground to get there. We went through immigration and customs and then waited, for what seemed like forever, for our luggage. Since Bob and I are planning on moving there soon, we picked up two very inexpensive suitcases to fill up and take with us on this first trip. Well, as the minutes ticked byand we had waited for over an hour for our luggage, we started to wonder if it was ever going to show up. At about 10PM it finally showed up on the luggage belt and suprisingly enough the wheels on the cheap luggage still worked! From discussions with many people who live here, very few if any bags do not show up... it just may take forever for them to show up! As we exited the airport, we passed two employees guarding the gate with rifles. The weather was warm and felt just like a warm, humid Houston May/June evening.

Tangent - I mentioned we packed two big suitcases full of stuff. We brought an assortment of items because our sea shipment can take 3-6 months to arrive in Lagos. We packed pillows, sheets, towels, toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, conditioner, tennis rackets and tennis balls (possibly our new sport in Lagos), and chocloate, to name a few items. With the move, we are also entitled to an air shipment (can take more thatn 3 weeks) but we can take extra luggage in lieu of the air shipment. We will probably check 5 bags each when we move there.

Back to the Story - Our drive from the airport was in a large van that is part of a caravan, sandwiched between police vehicles that drive with their flashing lights on, and some times their sirens on. Since we arrived at night we did not get to see much of the country as we stopped at hotels (Sheraton)dropping of those that arrived on either the Air France or Brittish Airways flight. At about 11PM, we were dropped off at a hotel on Ikoyi (on Lagos Island) called The Moorhouse or the Hotel Sofitel (see link below), which was very nice, similar to any hotel in the US or Europe.

After a poor (Lisa) to good (Bob) night of sleep, we showered, ate and met our driver at ~7:20AM to start our ~3km drive into work, across the Falamo Bridge over Five Cowrie Creek, to Victoria Island. The drive had been described to me by many others and I must say that it was very similar if not better that I had expected. Driving in Lagos is an art! I describe it as controlled chaos. I was amazed how close the cars and scooters (called okadas) got to each other without a collision. The drivers use their horns to communicate with each other so honking is constant background noise, something I will have to learn to tune out. The ~3km commute took about 45 minutes mainly due to the traffic leading up to and over the Falamo Bridge. This type of a traffic jam is called a "go slow". Street vendors use the go slow as an opportunity to sell goods, and quite a range of goods do they sell. I saw drinks, phone cards, toilet seat covers, socks, belts, snacks (plantain chips, nuts, mantos, gum, etc), car floor mats, an ironing board, watches, sunglasses, pens, to name a few items, being sold. One sign I noticed on the bridge that said something like "No urinating or defecating off of the bridge" and luckily for us everyone was abiding by the rules!

Street Hawkers

We reached the office after about 45 minutes of driving (remember that we only had to travel ~3km) and were greeted by many Nigerians that we knew and by many others we just met. A common greeting I got when many heard this was my first trip to Lagos was "You are welcome", and I did feel very welcome.

Lunch time rolled around and a cworker took Bob and I to a restaruant/ gourmet bakery called Chocolate Royale where we had a burger and fries. I enjoyed a drink called a Chapman, or a fruity soft drink, made of Sprite, orange soda, Angostura Bitters and black currant cordial (concentrated juice). It was yummy! The burger was OK but I must admit that I was not too hungry and was feeling a bit jet-lagged after the long travel and less than desired sleep last night. The service was great but slow, something I will have to get used to, and lunch lasted over an hour just for the service to be complete. As we walked out we saw all of the gourmet goodies (chocolates, cakes, pastries, and ice cream) and I am sure we will be back to visit once we move to Lagos.

From the 9th floor of the office building I could hear the cars honking as they navigate their way down the road. The office I was in looks over Five Cowrie Creek and I could see the water taxi, a small oared boat, that many use to get from Ikoyi to Victoria Island to avoid the "go slow" on the Falamo Bridge.

View from the Office

Our drive home from the office (left at ~5:30PM) took about 45 minutes and it was very similar to the drive into the office. Scooters everywhere. Scooter taxis. Entire families of four on one scooter! Bob noticed that the handlebars of many of the scooters were rotated up to decrease the width of the scooter and make if easier to maneuver between the cars.

We ate dinner with two coworkers at the Sofiel and enjoyed pepper soup, a very common and very spicy Nigerian dish, steak and prawns. The end of my meal was very interesting as I had taken an Ambien-CR to aid in a better night of sleep and it start to take effect while I was at the table. That stuff is good but be warned that it kicks in within about 15 mintues! ; )

More to come about the rest of the trip soon!

http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fichehotel/gb/sof/2770/fiche_hotel.shtml

First trip to Lagos, Nigeria 2/19/07-2/23/07

Bob and I just returned from a 4.5 day business trip to Lagos. In the next few posts that write over the next few days, I will describe what we did and saw on our trip. We experienced very different sights, smells, and sounds than we are used to in the US. Based on our experience in Lagos this past week, we are still looking forward to moving there. It is very different than what we are used to, that is for sure, but living some place this different will be a great growth experience.

More on the trip to come...

Moving to Lagos, Nigeria

Bob and I are being relocated by our company from Houston, TX to Lagos, Nigeria for a three year assignment. This will surely be a huge change but we have heard many great things about living there and we are really looking forward to our upcoming adventure. We hope to learn as much as we can about the country, its people and the culture and we hope to get out and travel parts of the world that will be much more accessible to us in our new location.