So I found a Guesthouse in Llorin. A Guesthouse is not a victorian 3 storey building, run by Dot and her elderly husband Burt. It's two tennis courts in size. Has an eight foot surrounding wall. And a row of rooms,similar to a US motel. There is always a Guardian or Security.
This one had a bar and some food. Having had my ' shower '. ( me stood in a big bucket,throwing water over myself from a second bucket. ) I went to the ' restaurant '. Well....I mean I'm a fussy eater in England. I'm always getting moaned at over it. So eating in Africa is not easy for me. I asked for rice and chicken. ( its a safe bet.) ' No chicken '...just beef. Result. I thought. Out comes my rice and ' beef '.....ahum. it was cow spine and chilli soup . " hhhhm...always fancied a bit of spine " !
In the guesthouse complex,I sat with twenty or so locals. Watching Nigeria v Morocco. 4-3 Nigeria. I was the centre of attention. No annanimity here for a white man. You are constantly being watched . Akin to an alien has landed. We actually had some deep conversations. These Nigerians tend to big guys. I simply keep it simple. I'm respectful, I have my knife in my left boot. I do stand my ground. But without any attitude. It works.
I had a quick two hours out and about in Llorin. A guy from the Guesthouse glad to 'help' me. Which is code for,you pay me after. Almost, almost no 'help' in Africa is for friendship alone . Taxi moto, is a taxi motorbike. They are all Chinese, the bikes,not the riders. Cost 100N for a short journey. The taxi moto in the photo took me to the damn. Wasn't too exciting. Nice crash helmet though ...because that won't come off. ;)
Nigeria is apparently the 8 th richest country in the world. You'll need to check that. Well, the roads are terrible! ! The drivers insane. Don't be surprised to see cars and bikes driving on the wrong side of the road. And boy have I had some close shaves. Mental.
Yesterday, I'm riding centre of my side of the road. A truck heading towards me on the other side. A truck behind that one. It takes a look to over take. He can't bloody miss me. Head light on,im in the middle of the road. He over takes anyway. He's coming directly at me. No room left on the road for me. Just me being splattered on his bonnet. No joking. He was say, 200 m away now. Head to head and only one winner. No road left. I had to jump the bike off the road and onto the dust track,some two feet below the actual road. Nice moment. Liked that a lot. !!! Happened again today. Hey ho. Mad, mad and more madness.
My bike has been almost un rideable today. Spluttering, no power at all . Big problem for me. Middle of the Nigerian bush, with a broken bike. Just what you want. Some sort of fuel blockage. I cleaned the air filter and changed the plug. And still splutter,splutter, splutter. 5 mph.
I just managed to get into Jebba. Having spluttered my way through an illegal road block. ( That had the bottom twitching. ) " work. ...go..work.." splutter ,splutter. Whistles blowing and shouting, as I ignored their road block.
My bike came to a halt outside a hut, with Chinese bikes being repaired . 20 minutes later my carb had been cleaned, my chain adjusted. And whilst far from running correctly, is now workable. Of a fashion.
I'm now on my bed in a house. A Guesthouse. About 1 km outside Jebba. It's THE house with water. As it had a bore hole dug. Er...for water. So all the local houses come here to use the outside tape. They come with big trolleys, carrying 20 lt water containers. As a result, I've had a few conversations in English, with some of the locals. All good. One girl arrived for water. Her name ? Loveit! Had to smile inside. " reaaaally " .
My bike = ..." ...I've changed the head twice and the handle three times. .....but it's still the same broom..."
' ...onwards and upwards Rodney. ...onwards and upwards. ...'
Tomorrow Abuja. X
Will
