> I spy & Nigerian TV
Day 111 – Tuesday 19 January – 10,856 km, Lokoja, Nigeria
Wow what a surreal climax to a tough day!! .... Arriving in Lokoja utterly exhausted after underestimating the distance, I stopped outside a major land mark, the army barracks, to call some contacts from the NGO charity, Sightsavers, who had kindly offered to put me up and before I knew it, I was being detained by some aggressive army officials for spying. Fortunately the guys from Sightsavers, or should I say Cyclesavers, came to the rescue after I had spent 30 minutes trying to prove I was an ignorant tourist, rather than the most inept, colourful, slow moving and conspicuous spy in Africa! Eventually released, I was escorted by the Sightsavers vehicle through the stressful rush hour traffic like some kind of celeb, until we rounded the top of one particularly unpleasant exhaust-choking climb and were confronted by Nigerian TV who happened to be filming in the vicinity. Filthy, dripping with sweat and unable to focus on much other than being (thankfully the TV can’t pick up odour), I had a microphone shoved in my face and fielded questions on my reasons for doing the trip, just as I was starting to wonder the same! The motorcycle mob that gathered to enjoy the spectacle caused quite a jam, which we then had to escape from before the questioning continued back at headquarters. Thankfully Sightsavers have very kindly put me up for the night and treated me to some much needed tasty Nigerian grub.
Comments:
Army Barracks
Rob, suggest that, should you need to phone in the future as you journey south, army barracks and police stations are not the best places to communicate from.Thank goodness for sightsavers.We continue to follow your progress daily and look forward to and enjoy your latest news.Our admiration for the way you are tackling this incredible TREK grows daily.Continued good luck. Jen and David