So much to say, and so little words to say it.

So I'll just let the pictures do the talking, and you do the reading!

Enjoy! ^^

01: Ethiopian Sun

This is the first picture I took from this journey. As the plane landed in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, the Sun was just rising above the horizon. I thought it was a prettiest Sun I've ever seen...

02: Lagos International Airport

This is the first picture of Nigeria I took, and already I ran into trouble with the police. Two uniforms and one civilian clothed police came and stopped me from taking pictures. They asked why I was taking photos, and asked me in rough voice if I was a journalist. I just said sorry and walked away, fearing they might confiscate my camera...

03: Scary dude in suit and sunglasses

Of course, I wasn't going to let a few policemen stop me from taking photos in this once in a life time journey! So I took out my camera and started shooting from my taxi, and that guy (red arrow) saw me taking photos and he started to run towards my taxi!

He shouted and pointed his finger at me, and when he came near the taxi, he banged his hands on the roof of the taxi!

Then my taxi driver shouted something back, and the tall dude walked away, still shouting and pointing his finger at me. Now, that really made me put away my camera... At least for now.

04: Lagos Airport Hotel

This is the hotel I stayed through out the trip. 120 US$ per night. Damn expensive for an old, dirty, stinking hotel... I learned that there was Sheraton and Hilton somewhere in the city, but I was never going to stay in those fancy joints anyway...

05: The Internet Center

This is where all the Nigerian Scam mails are written and sent out through out the world. Nah... I'm just kidding... They were only making fake passports...

At first they were kinda rough, but on my second visit, I bought half a dozen of beers and shared it with these guys, and they became friendly. We had some good talks over the beer... They charge you 200 Naira or 67 Baht per hour.

06: The Guard

Although he doesn't look that friendly, he is the friendliest guard in the hotel. While others were busy stopping me from taking photos, he actually posed for me! He needs to work on his smile though...

07: Red Neck Lizzard 

They have a lot of these funny fellows in Nigeria. They're like the Nigerian version of 'Jing Jok', only 10 times bigger. They change colors too!

08: Olafemi Awolowo Street 

This street was named after one of the most respected (ex) president in Nigerian history, Olafemi Awolowo, who was born in 1909. He served as the Nigeria's president in the 1960's, and is hailed as one of greatest leaders of Nigeria.

09: Nameless street in Lagos

This is where I had my lunch one day... I had a bag of popcorn and peanuts, with a bottle of malt drink. Oh, and I had a green apple too... It was delicious, but it didn't fill half my stomach... After I bit a bite into the green apple, my friend whispered to me,

"This apple is imported."

He says everything in Nigeria is imported. That's why they're so expensive. To have an idea about Nigerian price, see the below list...

A green apple = 50 Naira (17 B)

A bowl of fried rice in Chinese restaurant = 550 N (183 B)

A piece of fried chicken in Chinese restaurant (half the size of KFC piece) = 300 N (100 B)

Outside the hotel, in a restaurant, a bowl of fried rice with a piece of chicken = 500 N (167 B)

750 cc of bottled water = 50 N (17 B)

1800 CC Honda Civic (The newest model) = 3.2 million N (1.06 million B)

Mentos (the candy) = 100 N (33 B)

A dozen of eggs = 330 N (110 B)

This month's edition of Reader's Digest = 1,000 N (333 B)

1 can of local beer (Star beer) = 120 N (40 B)

1 round of golf (for members) = 2,000 N (667 B) * Tip = 500 ~ 1,000 N (167 ~ 333 B)

The only thing cheap in Nigeria was the price of gasoline, at 70 N (23 B). Strangely, the price of diesel was more expensive, at 95 N (32 B)

My friend explains,

"Nigeria has lots of crude oil, but it only has 4 refineries. Not nearly enough to meet the local demand. So we export crude oil, but import refined oil... )

10: My neighborhood

This picture was taken from my hotel window.

Poverty has strange effect on human emotion. At first, it brings tears to your eyes, but after enough exposure to it, you feel nothing.

11: The children

Taken at the church on Sunday morning. The kids were amused by the apprearance of an 'OYIBO' (foreigner) with a camera, but their parents were not very entertained.

12: Street merchant

In Nigeria, you can find just about anything on the street. From bread rolls to foreign exchange service, you name it, and they have it.

This particular guy was trying VERY hard to sell his sausage roll, so I bought it at 50 N (17 B) per piece. Others in the car seemed to enjoy it very much, but for me, it was just awful...

13: My Nigerian Gang

My gang of Nigerians used my hotel room as their meeting room. In this picture, don't I look like one of them? ^^

14: People I met in Nigeria

These guys are HUGE! They were from the Yoruba tribe.

But these guys are small! They were from the Igbo (reads 'yi-bo') tribe...

15: Glorious Golf

Ah... the lucious green... the sand bunkers... the fairways... God did come to Nigeria and played golf...

Vini Vidi Vici!

As the Nigerians don't really like photos, I used 'self timer' to take this picture. At first, I just took the photo of myself, but they came and asked me if they could come in the picture as well. 

So I took the golden opportunity to take more photos with these friendly guys.

The guy in the middle is OJO YAKUBU, my caddy for the day. He's 34 years old, just one year older than me, and his handicap is 8. (I'm 20...)

* For non-golfers, handicap of 20 is good. But handicap of 8 is VERY good!

After this, other guys flocked to take photos, and I happily obliged, but soon, the manager came shouting something to these African dudes, and they all scattered and started doing something... one went off sweeping the floor and the other went off the wash some clothes... I was left alone, sort of embarrassed, but happy to have taken these photos. :-)

16: Nigerian Sunset at Fisherman's village...

As the cooking gas (LPG) in Nigeria is very expensive, about 3 times the cost of gasoline, normal folks use wood to cook. Hence the thick smoke above their roofs...

17: Nigerian Religion - Harmony

A Muslim mosque...

And right next to it, is a Christian Church. They live in relative harmony...

18: Last look at Nigeria

After long hours of delay, the plane finally took off... And I got the last look at the country I just spent my last 10 days in, and I couldn't believe I actually had come to Nigeria... 

So much I had seen... So much I had learned... My eyes were so much wider now... If it wasn't for the hungry stomach and some rough experiences, I actually would have missed Nigeria.

But there's no place like home, and I was glad I got on the plane leaving Lagos in one piece... Farewell, Nigeria... goodbye Africa... I shall come again, but I'm not staying in that old, dirty, stinking hotel again...

The end.

Bonus pictures!

Did you know Michael Jackson's ancestors were from Nigeria? I'm not kidding. This guy was better than Jacko!

Cool move! :-D