Lagos Yacht Club

So, last weekend I was invited to go crew on a small sail boat in Lagos Harbour. The boats are 3 person, 18', "lightning." This Yacht club has only 2 classes which sail - these sailboats and they have a bunch of Hoby Cats also. So, I got invited out on 'Race Day' and this particular day, we had 2 races about 90mins each.

A bit of background: I don't have a clue how to sail. I have been in a boat before and I have even sailed a boat by myself, but I never really knew what I was doing. So, I was #3 in the boat which means that I didn't have to work the sails or rudder - I just shifted my weight back and forth to keep the boat flat in the water. The wind was quite strong this particular day, making tacking quite fun as the boat moves quickly and you get to hang off the side of the boat to try to keep it from tipping over.

The race course is around about 5 buoys which are all over the Lagos harbour. Of course as this is an active harbour, there are ships moving in and out of the harbour. Most are small fishing trawlers and such but there were a couple LARGE container ships and fuel tankers moving about. At one point in the first race, a very scary thing happened where a 100' trawler drove over one of the sail boats! The crew of the sail boat jumped out of the boat before getting hit... and the Yacht Club rescue boats raced over to pull them from the water! Pretty scary to watch, so none the less we avoided the ships for the rest of the race!

The great thing about it was while we were sailing down wind and there is not much work to do - you really forget about all the hussle - bussle that is going on just a few hundred meters away.


So, we made a few mistakes while sailing - jib lines tangled up and 1 poor Gybe (my fault) which resulted in us placing ~5th or 6th in both races - but at least we finished and had a good time. Unfortunately for my career, the skipper was the Executive Director for Mobil here in Nigeria... so, I had better get back to work to make up for it!

Cheers, RQ

Why no updates?

Sorry again for the lack of updates last week - I will try to keep updating you all with what is going on... But, if you have questions - let me know, it helps me think of things to write about! I also have been taking pictures, but until I get a proper work computer sorted out, they'll have to wait.

So, Shirley Ritchie sent a note and asked:

I love your blog, but where are the updates?? Thanks and Sorry, Sorry - I'll keep it up!

Are you working in an office or are you travelling around? I am working in an office in Lagos, but all the work that I do is for an offshore platform South of Port Harcourt. In the future, I will be travelling to the platform to help out and learn. The reason that I can't go now is that I had to send my passport and visa to Abjula (capital of Nigeria) to get my residency and work permit sorted out. These are required to go and work offshore (they are also required to leave the country - so I hope that they get finished before I leave for Canada!)

What is the compound like that you are living in? So, my housing status is a bit screwy right now... I am currently living in a hotel. It is a very nice hotel (even by western standards), but it still is a hotel. The problem is that our flat in the housing compound (really it is a high rise apartment with a big fence and gate around it) isn't quite ready for us yet. It is a brand new building - right on a lagoon called Kuramo Waters. The building is gorgeous - has a nice pool, pool deck with outdoor bar, pool and foosball tables, indoor bar area and a gym. We were there for a great party on Saturday where one of the guys had a "turkey fry." They put the whole turkey into a pot of boiling peanut oil and fry it for 40mins - awesome Southern cusine! But, our flat is 2 bedrooms, a big living room, kitchen, 2.5 bath and 2 balconys. It has quarters for hired help and a separate entrance for the steward or cook. The building is only 14 flats - so not too big and all the people there are people that I work with. In addition to this building there are 3 others that expats from our company stay at. All told there are about 75 famlies here working for Esso.

Do you find it expensive there? Yea - most things are expensive - especially in the stores which cater to western shoppers because all that stuff is imported from Europe. But, that being said, you can buy pretty much anything here! During a "go-slow" or traffic jam, there are vendors selling everything from woven baskets to CD-Roms to watches to spices. If you need it someone on the street has it! I went to the new movie theater last night - it was just like home... except no Dolby Surround Sound. They just turn up the volume really loud to compensate. So, it cost 1,500 Naira (143 Naira / $1USD) so it is about the same as a movie back home. Eating out has been expensive - it was ~1,800 Naira for a sandwich or burger and fries - about $15Can. But, if you go to the markets and eat in the same places as the locals - it will be much cheaper (but you might run out of immodium!)

Are you eating different foods? Yea, tons of interesting food - though none of it has been Nigerian! I think it has to do with the fact that Nigeria was a British colony so they never got the influences of exciting foods. Most Nigerian food is rice, cabbage or yams, meat on a plate. But, there are tons of 2 generation Lebanese here so there are several good Lebanese restaraunts. There are also Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian and Tex-Mex places - most of them run by people from those countries.

Have you had any exciting discoveries? Not really - I mean other than the disgusting/dissapointing ones... it will take some time to see the rewarding things I suspect. Outside my office window (which faces 5 cowrie creek) I can see "shit rock" that is where the street vendors go to poop beside the river. Then 10m downstream is a lady washing her clothes, while some fishermen pull in some shrimp or crab! Yuk. The garbage is bad in the water - sometimes worse than others. Umm - exciting... well I was surprized by how poor the english that is spoken here is. I was told that it was an English speaking country - not really, they speak pigeon english which is a mix of Yourba and English, which is really difficult for untrained ears to understand. The traffic is exciting - kinda like a slow speed rollercoaster. Honking and weaving - the motorbikes (called Okadas - after a failed Nigerian Airline which was known for its poorly maintained airplanes) weave in and out of car traffic - often the wrong way. You have to look both ways really well before crossing the road because even if the cars are stopped - an Okada might be zipping down the stopped cars the wrong way!

Are you working crazy hours with no free time or do you have time to explore? My hours of work haven't been too bad yet - but they are quickly loading me up. Typically I work 7-5, 5 days a week and a half day on Saturday. We get a chance to go out and about in the evenings - but for the most part we have stuck to the "easy" places like movies, pubs, British High Commission (great English beers and super fish and chips!). I am a bit limited right now because I don't yet have my own vehicle - so I am stuck bumming a ride from other expats and public transport (taxis - no busses here!) is unsafe.

Is it safe to explore? Yea for the most part is is okay - the company has said that there are some areas that we are not supposed to walk / drive around on our own. But, all in all, that is the same in every large city in the world. There are lots of places in NYC that I wouldn't feel comfortable walking around by myself. Lagos and Port Harcourt are the worst - the rest of the country is for the most part very safe to travel around and explore.

OKAY - just send a note if you all have some questions! I'll send more soon - I have some sailing stories to tell...

International Dining in Lagos?

Sorry that I have taken so long to update with another post. Compared to all the excitement that I had getting here - the last week or so seem so bland. But, in actual fact, there are lots of cool things going on here:

So, I am currently staying in a nice hotel here in Lagos - it is right on the ocean and an enjoyable evening is spent at the outdoor restaurant, by the pool with the breeze off the ocean. The problem with living in a hotel for weeks on end is that you quickly tire of the food at the hotel - so I have had the opportunity to eat Tex-Mex, Thai, Indian, Lebanese, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and even authentic British Fish and Chips! It is actually really neat that there are so many cultures here and all of them have opened up different restaurants to cater both to the expats and the adventurous locals.

On the weekends, the Mobil expats usually have a BBQ at one of the housing blocks and everyone gets together and drinks wine and eats too much food. It is a very close net community and they really look out for one another, which is really nice! The female employees and the wives of other expats are all excited to have Desiree over - I'm sure they will be a great help.

So, Mondays there is a "Hash" where people run around town chasing a "rabbit" and drink beer - they call themselves a drinking club with a running problem. Tuesdays is V-Ball at the British High Commission, Wednesday is "International" night again at the BHC and they serve great fish and chips. On Saturday, they run races in three person "Lightning" sail boats out of the Yacht Club and Sunday has a cruise up to the Mobil beach hut again in the sail boats. It seems like there is something going on almost everyday!

Well - I am starting to settle in (as best as you can when you live in a hotel) and am looking forward to coming home and seeing Desi and all our friends. I have my flight booked back to Calgary on the 8th of Sept! I'll give the update on my housing and vehicle in the next post!

RQ

Finally Here Safe and Sound

So, after a couple days on planes/trains/automobiles I arrived in Lagos - safe and sound. I figured that I would have to bribe the immigration officials and negotiate with customs what I could and could not bring into the country - but no! Suprisingly, everything went as smooth as could be imagined. They were nice and quickly processed my passport and on I went. I was met by a nice fellow who helped me gather my bags... I think it was the first time I was met at the airport by someone with a sign that had my name spelled correctly. So final step is to clear customs and I was still bracing myself... I walked through the door way that says "nothing to declare" and thats it! There wasn't even anyone there to check your stuff nothing! Super - so they take me to the Mobil bus where I happen to meet my new boss who is sitting on the bus with his dog. Once the last of the passengers is loaded on to the bus - we are off into Lagos. But, we are not alone! There is 2 police trucks with armed guards one in front of the bus and another behind - nothing like being subtle.


So out the window of the bus we see tons and tons of people - people everywhere! There are minivan busses all over the place with conductors shouting out the window to passengers; there are people walking with everything imaginable on their heads; there are trucks and cars and motorbikes everywhere weaving and bobbing through traffic, constantly beeping their horns. Lagos is definatley alive!


The roads are bumpy - most of the roads get damaged in the rainy season and it often takes months to get them fixed. The intersections some times have lights - not that anyone pays attention to them when they are working and most often they are not working. You see, Nigeria has terrible infrastructure and it is very common for the power to go out for hours on end.


So, everything has been very new and exciting so far - I'll keep updating as things come up - maybe a whole post on the exciting food!

Cheers,
RQ

This just keeps getting better and better

So, as I'm sure you know - there was a plane crash in Toronto -

The crash happened while we were on route to TO, so they diverted my flight to Ottawa... but the airport was over full with other flights - so we sat on the tarmac for 5 hours... Finally they decided to send us to Toronto! Where we sat for another hour before finally being allowed to get off the plane. All told it took over 11hrs (supposed to take 3hrs 44min). So, then I hustled my way on to a Frankfurt plane that was supposed to leave at 1am... only to have that flight delayed until 9am Wed morning! I guess that with all the diversions and such - they didn't have enough pilots to fly the planes - oops. So it is 3am now and I am sitting in the business lounge - I finally got my flight re-booked so that I am okay all the way into Lagos - albeit 1 day late. I guess there are no hotels left anywhere around the airport - so I'll be pulling an all nighter! I feel bad for the old people - there is this little old lady here in her wheelchair... at least her family is here with her.

I am tired and this is starting to get old - I still have 2 more fights to go and if they are anything like this one - I'm coming home.

RQ