After a 9 1/2 hour flight from Vancouver to London, a 9 hour lay over in London, and a 6 1/2 hour flight from London to Abuja, I arrive at the Abuja airport at 4 something in the early morning. It's still dark outside and no one is there to pick me up. There are no problems at the airport, no strange persons with guns or yelling as was pre-warned to me, another's story of traveling to Africa. There are only a small amount of people in the airport, its early morning, and I am the only Baturia (white woman). Lucky for me the woman who was sitting beside me on the airplane is waiting for her husband to arrive, so she sits with me for some 40 minutes and we talk about Nigeria. She lets me use her phone to call Peter from Global Relief and make sure he's coming. He is on his way to the airport. I find out later he only left Jos at 2am (which is about a 4 hour journey to Abuja), and therefore the delay; but I also find out later that this "waiting" would be my daily experience in Nigeria. As spoken by Anne (the caretake at the SIM guest house), in Nigeria, if you want to expect anything, expect delays, and waiting, and for anything and everything to go wrong, especially when you don't want it to.
After about 4 hours of waiting three Nigerian men approach me with big smiles very excited. My ride has come. The men have arrived in Global Relief's new Land Rover. They help carry my bags and we are off. First impressions of Nigeria: its grey and raining, people are everywhere walking and waiting along the roads; umbrellas of every color dot the landscape, red rivers flow thru the mud washed streets, cars and motorcycles move around the road like staggering drunks, the traffic, frightening and unpredictable, and the honking never ceasing. All I can think of is where are we going? Will there be a bed there, I haven't slept in a bed for 2 days now.
Airport in Abuja (Capital City of Nigeria)
Entering Abuja City Center
My first meal/restaurant in Nigeria.
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