Well, having had Malaria for the second time. And waited for the Angola Embassy to reopen, I was told they were not issuing visas till April. The Angolan visas is the hardest to get. 3 months bank statement, a Letter of Invitation, from someone in Angola. (In Portuguese of course.) Forms and two photos. And not forgetting $100 and then, and only then, you might get a five day transit visa. And in a country much, much larger than the UK. With few roads, that is impossible. And just to finish the moment off. You get a $200 fine for every day it takes longer !!! Never been a scam !
So I left Cocotiers Guesthouse this morning. Had two cartons of wine ( I know I'm soo classy ). With a German girl and two of the lads, from the Guesthouse. Last night, as a bit of a send off.
Due to the above, I left a tad latter than I expected. But made my way, with my trusty home made map, towards Porto Novo.
But I kinda missed my turning off the coastal road. And found myself at the Benin / Nigeria border. Lagos crossing point. ( oops !) But my plan, due to security, was to head inland basically. And cross at a rural crossing point. No foreigners, no big expensive 4x4's. No money. In theory, no bad guys.
Lots of security issues at the Lagos crossing point. 18 million I think in Lagos. Lots of people with money, but huge numbers of broke and desperate men. Who make a living from robbing people at knife point. One method being the illegal road block. Tree trunks over the road,,backed up with a chain attached to spikes. Just as the police have. But home made. You're stopping basically. And welcome to a ' moment '!
So back to my turning and onto Porto Novo. Then up a reasonable road to Pobe. A tiny frontier town. I got a cheap B&B. (£9 including two beers. ) I even had chicken and rice brought to me. Result !Took photos of the kids that came to see me. Very shy.And did my final prep for Nigeria, early in the morning.
Will
