Thursday, March 31, 2011

I'm On A Boat

A few weekends ago, Christine received an invitation on behalf of all four of us "Americans" to enjoy a Saturday afternoon "get-away" at the Lagos Yatch Club. Since none of us are really the "yatch club" type, we were a little reluctant to go but, when faced with the alternative of doing nothing all day at the apartment, we half-heartedly called a cab. Little did we know, "Lagos Yatch Club" is actually code for "private villa on an island in the Lagos Lagoon" ....

We showed up at the Yatch Club and looked around with disappointment; hardly any one was around and, those who were around didn't seem that engaged in anything. On the plus side, there was a bar and, with a bar, there is always the potential to drink some excitement into any given situation. Our host arrived in a white polo shirt, white shorts and boat shoes and said "Lets go for a ride on my boat." We got into his boat - a speedboat, mind you - and prepared ourselves for a short jaunt around the bay. Hence my surprise when the boat sped past the bay, past the cargo ships, and into the lagoon where small fishing villages and palm trees took turns hugging the water. I thought maybe we were being taken on a silent tour of Lagos water ways...

Lagos Island from the water

A speed boat rushes past a fishing village

A random pier in the middle of nowhere

In true African style, a full family can fit on an ATV

A kind little cooler courier - working on the weekends to pay his school
fees. 


And then the boat stopped, at a random pier in the middle of no where. We got off the boat and followed the children down a well-worn dirt path through the palm trees. I asked them where we were going and they pointed into the trees - and, seeing nothing but trees, I assumed we were visiting a bar-b-que pit for a hidden beach picnic. And then, just like that, the trees parted and there was a row of private, thatched beach villas.


Beyond the pool, the Atlantic Ocean

A small piece of thatched paradise

Children playing near an abandoned fishing boat
(If you're wondering what those clear-ish-white spots are on the ground...
those would be plastic bottles that have washed up on the beach)

Looking over fences to the shipwreck in the distance

At the kind expense of our host, we enjoyed a traditional Nigerian lunch of jolof rice and snails accompanied by several bottles of French Champagne while we listened to some R&B rap music. It was such a wonderful change from Lagos: peaceful and quiet, no traffic, fresh, cool air....a pool.... and we felt totally relaxed.

Then, half an hour later, the party arrived on an ATV from a neighboring villa. ... And that's when we got to see another side of Nigerian culture: how marriages really work among the too-rich-and-almost-famous.

Lucky for us, we had to be home before sundown.

Fishing with the cargo ships at sun set

Another sinking ship... I see a trend

Cargo ships in the setting sun

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