Road Trip!

 An offer was put out a month back to any people in Jos over the summer who wanted to accompany a family of five on their summer holiday to Obudu. With a desire to see more of the Nigerian countryside I gladly stuck up my hand to be included. So at 6am last Saturday morning a group of nine of us embarked on a massive 10-hour trip across Nigeria, crossing state boarders, being pulled over numerous times by the Military, and having to stop to relieve ourselves in the bushes along the way (being weary of snakes in the long grass!). We only had one occasion where we were forced to pay for some incomplete paperwork, which at the time made me furious, but in retrospect was very good going…..I think the fact we were a car full of sweetly smiling white women helped our situation at a lot of check points!

Our first night was spent in Obudu town ship. We found hotel with a double bed to sleep 3 of us girls, a toilet with no toilet seat and a fan which we were promised would run all night on generator, but which turned off at 1230am leaving us hot and bothered and unable to sleep!

The second day we headed up the famous Obudu mountain. It was muggy and overcast at the bottom, but as we drove the 11km up the winding road we entered into fog and fine misty rain. We were literally in the clouds! We wanted to stay up top but to our disappointment, the luxury accommodation was WAY out of our price range (we got a tour around the presidential suite just for fun, which also has a helipad!) at the Cattle Ranch Hotel, but a nice tour guide showed us a little village 5 minutes from the Ranch on the other side of the mountain top where we found adequate rooms for a lot cheaper. By this time I was FREEZING! I never imagined Africa could be so cold, and I certainly hadn’t packed for this climate (not that I had many clothes back in Jos that would have suited the weather anyway!), but considering we were 1600m above sea level, I guess it made sense.  We moved our bags into the hostel (which again has a double bed for us 3 girls, a slightly bigger bathroom WITH a toilet with a seat (horray!), but again it was cold bucket showers and intermittent electricity and generator from 6pm-5am. Fiona and I thought we’d make the most of the colder weather and run down the Obudu Mountain. The Obudu Mountain Race (OMR) is a very famous uphill race which people from all over the African continent come to run once a year in November.  I couldn’t even comprehend running all the way up, but would have taken part in a relay race and offered to do that down hill leg! Well that is until the next day, when I could barely walk my muscles were so sore from the 10km downhill. It wasn’t the length of our run that was the culprit; cardiovascularly I was fine - it was the repetitive jarring motion on my joints that was the killer. The next morning I almost fell over trying to get out of bed, my calves and glutes were in agony. Both Fiona and I walked like we’d been seriously injured for 2 days!  We look the gondola back up the mountain, which was lovely; we had beautiful views for about three quarters of the trip until we were enveloped in cloud once more.

Half way down the mountain...a glimpse through the clouds.

We had sensibly packed a lot of our own food with us, so purchased a few fresh veges and made do with spaghetti and sauce, Indian red curry and a bean and rice meal which was a huge saving financially….and probably safer on our sensitive Western stomachs than eating the local cuisine (no offense intended of course).

The next morning, we had hoped to be able to go for a hike, or at least have the fog and rain clear so we could see where we were staying! But alas it persisted, so our back-up plan was to go down the mountain (which literally has a completely different climate) and spend the day at the Obudu Water-park. I won’t even try to compare the park to the kind we’re accustomed to back home because it loses it’s appeal, and you won’t be able to appreciate how novel it was to visit, but the two metal waterslides and diving boards kept us entertained for most of the day.

We had hoped to visit the Drill Monkey Ranch (a reserve you can stay at and see the massive Drill Monkeys - a cross between a gorilla and a baboon in my opinion!) but one of the bridges on the road to get there had been washed out due to all the rain the previous few weeks and even if they had fixed it in time it was only accessible by 4WD and only one of our vehicles had that capability, so sadly we had to think of a plan B.  We decided to stay one more day, get out of the rain and do some exploring of the neiboring towns in Obudu region. Our tour guide had suggested a visit to a waterfall a few hours away so with time on our hands we drove the 2 hours through the rural African countryside to a small village called Ikom. Asking various locals for directions periodically, we finally found the waterfall and it was gorgeous. We all jumped out of the cars and began snapping pictures. Suddenly we were surrounded by a large group of Nigerian youths (about 9 males) who were telling us to stop taking photos and step away from the edge. After some tense dialogue, we concluded that they wanted money, that they were ‘responsible’ for the waterfall and hence we had to pay to take pictures and walk down the bottom for a closer look. They demanded an obscene amount per head for the tour, which after phoning our original tour guide for advice we bartered down to a semi-reasonable price, then preceded down a small path to the base of the falls. The whole experience was sadly negatively tainted by the uncomfortable and confrontational nature of the youths and that fact we discovered they’d been taking footage and photos of us with their camera phones. But the falls were still worth the visit, even little Isabelle (9 years old) was enjoying herself before she saw a snake and had a panic attack!

Our last night was spent at another hotel in Obudu, this one claimed to have air conditioning in every room (which we later found only worked when they had strong supply of electricity-very rarely!) and generator all night (again it cut out leaving us sweltering midway through the night), but I don’t think there are any laws in Nigeria that prevent false advertising, or if there are, they’re not enforced! The one upside was a huge TV in the main lounge area, which had music videos blaring (in true Nigerian style), so we could have a dance party as we cooked dinner over the gas cooker. I’m still perfecting my butt shuffle, but the nice hotel manager gave me a few pointers J

We rose early to get a good start on the road the next day and only met 3 sets of ‘nail boys’ on the way (men who stop cars with big planks of wood with nails hammered into them) who attempt to find some problem with your car paperwork or claim you haven’t paid certain state taxes . But again we thankfully managed to escape without too much drama. I think it helped that we had a huge ‘Missionary’ sign painted on the truck we borrowed for the trip!

Little taste of home

Last weekend I had my first weekend out of Jos for some much needed rest and relaxation. After an intense few weeks of ministry, it was perfect timing and the week prior I was literally counting down the days. The journey to Abuja is not a particularly nice one, not just because of the huge stretches of pot-holed road that needs to be navigated and the multiple military check points, but the driving itself requires undivided attention, especially when overtaking enormous 18-wheeler trucks at regular intervals. Once in Abuja, trying to find our way around the unfamiliar city would have made the trip stressful rather than stress relieving, so in light of all these factors, we decided it would be wise to hire a driver for the weekend. Amos, a reliable and lovable SIM driver was only happy to oblige us, as the extra income for his family was always appreciated.

We arrived in Abuja Friday afternoon with minimal dramas along the way, although I did receive one marriage proposal and also an offer of a military escort to Abuja by two separate Police and Army officers. I politely declined both generous offers.  First stop once we arrived was to find espresso coffee (and yes this was my bright idea…much to Fiona’s disgust as she was eager to get into the pool!). We found a supermarket down the road that had a café of sorts at the back and I ordered my first latte in Africa. I’m positive that it would have tasted average when compared to the coffee back home, but in that moment, with only Nescafe with powdered milk as my immediate comparison, it was heaven! We perused the supermarket in search of treats we couldn’t find in Jos and excitedly discovered some cheapish breakfast cereal, tinned tuna and yoghurt (trust me, these staple items made us bizarrely happy!). SIM missionaries are very blessed to have an arrangement with one of the nicer hotels (by Nigerian standards) in Abuja where we get free accommodation during the weekend. Rooms cost about $300 USD a night, so obviously this would be out of the question as an option if the owner didn’t gift it to us. We found our room and realized there was one bed for all 3 of us. Just as well it was a Nigerian king sized bed and all 3 of us girls could quite easily fit on it without touching. Nigerian beds are also incredibly hard so there was no need to worry about ‘roll-together’ either.

Three in the bed and the little one said......

We spent the afternoon by the pool reading and swimming and then went out to dinner at a restaurant, which was recommended to us by a missionary in Jos. I had a Greek Salad, which actually had REAL feta cheese! Another very exciting experience, especially after ordering the same in Jos and getting grated cheddar soaked in mayonnaise! Mmmmm. Even watching cable TV that night back at the hotel room was a novelty, especially when you haven’t watched television for 5 months! The Nigerian soap operas are hilarious!

The next morning we attempted to start our morning early as to make the most of our time only to find that nothing was open until 12pm due to ‘sanitation’!!?? When I asked what they meant by ‘sanitation’ it was explained to me that once a month all retail shops take a morning to do a thorough clean. Who knew! Anyway on our second attempt to start the day we went to a big park in the middle of the city (meticulously manicured and quite beautiful) for a picnic. I found some fresh smoked salmon at one of the many supermarkets we visited and took it to the park and I ate it straight from the packet! Next stop was SilverBird mall (a large Westernised mall) for some window-shopping, another coffee and a movie. Walking out of the movie theatre I almost forgot where I was…..until I saw all the Nigerian youth milling around and looked out the window at the African landscape!  It was a really lovely little getaway and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed such simple everyday pleasures, which I completely take for granted back home. I thought perhaps the little taster of home comforts would make me home-sick and maybe more frustrated with life here and more aware of what I don’t have, but it’s only made me appreciative of the time I have left in Africa.

I got my first flat tyre the other day. It was lucky that I wasn’t in a hurry going anywhere at the time and that it happened when I was parked at the SIM/ECWA headquarters. Even with my confidence that I could change the puncture myself, five Nigerian men came to my rescue and insisted on taking over. Who was I to argue? I thanked them profusely 10 minutes later when my spare was safely in place and I was on my way. Flats happen so frequently here that Nigerians are real pros at changing them and take no time at all. The day after I went to get my puncture mended and stopped at the corner I’d been directed to where a young guy sat with two little boys who I presumed were his apprentices, and watched in amazement as they went about their work as I waited. It took all of 15 minutes before it was fixed and back on my car and cost a total of 300 Naira ($2 NZD) for their service. I felt a bit bad paying that much, but they will definitely have my custom in the future!

A few months ago I was put in touch with a Nigerian dentist called Ambrose who works for an American NGO called ProHealth. He expressed an interest to do some volunteer dentistry for our kids in the ministry. This Saturday we organized a session out at Gyero to assess the kids and do some extractions, filings and cleaning. I have come to the conclusion that dentistry is not for the faint hearted I’ll tell you that much! I thought I’d seen my fair share of gore, blood and guts as an Emergency nurse, but holding a child down while a dentist extracts a tooth was a new experience for me and one even I wouldn’t volunteer for again in a hurry! We saw a number of children and will schedule another clinic day to get through the rest. It really is such a blessing having Ambrose on board because dental is very expensive here, and unfortunately the ministry cannot afford regular check ups which means that I end up taking kids to see the dentist at the hospital when they get infected teeth well beyond saving or oral abscesses. Hardly ideal. 

This won't hurt a bit......!

Anyway, as I write this we are under curfew on the compound due to attacks in outer Jos by Fulani herders on indigene villagers. A Challenge pancake breakfast this morning was a nice start to the day but the disruption to normal routine is frustrating to say the least. Please pray that these tensions resolve and we can have a return to the relative peace Jos has seen for the last few weeks.