Nigeria
Trip Start
Mar 11, 2009
1
19
50
Trip End
Jan 05, 2010
Abuja,
Nigeria
Friday, June 12, 2009
Upon leaving here we were told that the road to Abuja wasn't in the best of conditions - how right they were. To make it clear for you readers - after leaving the tar sealed road we literally had to use a river/road, road for the majority of the time but it had a chanel dug out by the rains. As no other overland truck had passed through this way it was a challenge to even find the right path at times. When we passed villages the locals would wave excitedly in our direction and the kids in one particular village ran after the truck till we got to the next one before turning back. We bush camped on the road and Chris had to repair the front wheel before it got dark. This was the best driving day of the trip thus far.
Dist. cov. = 172 km
27th - Still 500km or so from Abuja, and we're still not on any good roads. I really enjoyed today's drive over the very bumpy roads. We did eventually hit tar sealed roads and could manage a decent speed until Chris avoided a large pothole on the road and we hit a tree branch. Usually this wouldn't be much of a problem except this time the branch ripped part of the roof rack clean off, although we broke the tree branch off Chris and Gary spent some time removing 3/4 of the original rack and dumped it on the side of the road.
Tree = 2 points
Truck = 1 point
Drove through a town hitting rush hour traffic of lorries before stopping for a bush camp.
Dist cov. = 261 km
28th - Finally drove into Abuja and Gary went off to the Angolan embassy and we went to the Sheraton Hotel to camp in the grounds and since some people had upgraded to rooms at a 50% discount (still US$160) everyone could use the facilties. Bad news on visas, we have to wait till Wed 3rd June to apply for visas.
Dist cov. = 328 km
29th, 30th and 31st - R&R in the Sheraton Hotel and around the grounds.
June 1st - Today is the last day for Ian, Kirsten and Jen who are flying to Calabar tomorrow so that they can be in Cameroon in plenty of time for their flights, this is due to the delay in visas for the rest of us. It's also Ian's 25th birthday today. Walked to the National Mosque nearby and we were allowed inside and we could take pictures also walked into the National Christian Church just up the road from the Mosque, both were really good. The Church for example had a revolving floor for the priest, both buildings could accomodate around 5000 people.
2nd - Ian, Kirsten and Jen left at 9am for the airport and then the rest of us filled in application forms for Angolan visas. It`s a shame that 3 of our group are leaving, a few tears were shed and Ian & Kirsten have left Donk behind for the remainder of the trip, to be returned to them around January.
On a personal note: the "African Diet" is working - I`ve lost 15kgs in 12 weeks.
3rd - Left just after breakfast to head to the Angolan embassy to hand in our forms. Luckily we were not required to do the interview. We should be able to pick up our visas on Friday 5th and then hand in our Cameroon visa applications.
4th - R&R day at the Sheraton.
5th - Hurray! We got our Angolan visas and Gary went to submit our Cameroon ones. We are staying for an extra day since Chris is ill.
6th - Finally leaving Abuja and the Sheraton Hotel, Gary is behind to pick up the visas, and we`re headed for Jos. While at Jos for a few hours I went to the Jos National Museum and the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture. Both were interesting to wander through. The National Museum had a large collection of pottery, including some that are over 2500 years old of Nok origin. The Architecture Museum has full-scale reproductions of buildings from each of Nigeria`s major regions. Bushcamped for the night before Bauchi.
Dist cov. = 341 km
7th - Stopped at Bauchi to do a food shop before driving into Yankari National Park. Everyone went to swim in the Wikki Warm Springs, which is supposedly kept at 31C, I`m not too sure on that. Stayed there for around 4hrs or so as we had to stop to buy food, the market in Bauchi wasn`t really open. Bushcamped on the road to Gombe.
Dist cov.= 288 km
8th - Drove into Gombe where most spent their remaining Naira or to a degree of this. Had a long drive to where we would ultimately bushcamp, long drive in time as opposed to distance. The road had a large amount of potholes of various sizes. We are camping just before Numan and nearby the Benue River. It`s a nice little spot with some trees on one side and quite a bit away from a village.
Dist cov. = 263 km
9th - Drove through Numan and on to Yola, where we would wait to pick up Gary and our Cameroon visas. It`s always great to see how much attention our truck gets when we pull up into a town, there must`ve been around 100 people around our truck. Motorbikes were stopping just to watch us sit there.
After leaving Yola we drove towards the border town of Belel and bushcamped just short of it. Also Brad has fallen ill with malaria, the 1st person of the trip.
Dist cov. = 135 km
