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Other entries in Abuja

Red tape & more red tape....

We crossed into Nigeria on the 18th of Jan but it took an eventful few days to get to the Federal capital of Abuja.

After the border crossing we rapidly hit some police checkpoints. Now we have driven through many of these in the other countries we have been but there were nothing compared to these. The first one was a series of men lying on camp beds without any uniforms on but they had guns. Thiemo nearly drove past them all but then they called us back. They got a bit pedantic and made him go and talk to each of them separately. After that one we then drove through a few more, all of them with men with different uniforms, guns and some only about a kilometre apart. This was our welcome to Nigeria, and at this point we all wondered what we had got ourselves into.

The next two days was spent trying to make our way to Abuja. More ad more checkpoints, slowed our progress. One of them also made each and everyone of us get out and present our passports individually. They love their bureaucracy here!! What is funny about it, is how they wave and smile while holding their guns as we drive away. Especially after they seem so aggresssive at first.

We drove into one large city in an attempt to obtain some local currency and get some food supplies. We were told to turn around and leave the city as the military were about to protest in the streets and the police thought we could get caught up in it. Will we ever get any where here ??

While on our way out of that city we drove down one main road that had some very low power lines. We hit a few as we drove along and we sat very nervously in the back as we saw them swing all over the place. As we expected we finally brought one down. I watched in horror as a few people on the ground scattered away to avoid it. The cross bar also hit a man on the back. As usual practice in these situations we drove on and tried to get out of the city. Unfortunately the man who was hit finally caught up with us and blocked our way out with his car. Luckily for us it was right in front of yet another police checkpoint. Theimo was taken back to scene with the police to assess the situation. We waited for an hour at the truck with various horror stories floating around in our heads. Would we ever see him again or would he be beaten up in a Nigerian prison ?? Anyway in the end the power company were called out to look at the wires, and as the poles were not regulation height Thiemo was found without fault. Thiemo offered the injured man 10 USD for his discomfort and to shut him up. After protesting more to the police, the victim was told that he should take it and shut up as it would cost more to bury him if he was dead!!

Eventually on the 20th Jan, after almost 2 days in the country we were able to change some money so that we could buy things that we needed. Finally a cold drink!!

On the 22nd we arrived in Abuja. We stayed at the Sheraton hotel. Yes, they take campers!! Well it was in the bus carpark, but it was still the Sheraton. We got to use the showers (our first hot shower in 2 months!!) & toilets. Unfortunately it was about 1 km to get there. Up the street and through the staff entrance. This required a lot of forward planning if you needed to go in a hurry!!

Although in the carpark we had a nice view of the very large mosque. Unfortunately I was woken up every morning at 5.30am by the prayers that are played on the loud speakers. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything!

The plan was to stay in Abuja so that we could obtain visas for our onward journey.

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