Touring the world had always been something I’ve been enthusiastic about. I grew up wanting to see different places far from what I saw on television. I knew beyond what was shown to us on TV. There had to be a certain uniqueness to different places around the world.
When I started making a living, I made a vow that I would get to visit a place every vacation time. For every break from work, I would go to a new place in the world and never repeat a location until I had ticked off all the places I have on my bucket list.
One of the places I knew had been portrayed negatively by the media was Africa. I knew that for the people to be as happy as they seemed to be, there was something the media was not telling — one summer vacation to visit different countries in Africa and document them visually to show my friends. I set out for this trip with my best friend, who you all know by now, Sharon. She was supposed to be my sidekick on this vacation, and if we are lucky, we will find an African prince of our own! Sharon was as excited as I was to be on this trip. The difference is, I was excited because I would get to see a different lifestyle from mine. She was excited because of the prospects of meeting a Nigerian boy.
Our first stop was Nigeria. You see, this particular country is usually in the news for one vice or another. My prior thoughts were that I would be entering a “kumbaya Kumbaya” jungle sort of airport. What we saw on arriving at Lagos, which by the way is their famous state, was jaw-dropping. It wasn’t what we saw on TV. It was like every regular modern city in the world. Upon arrival, we were welcomed into one of the entertainment capitals of Africa, and we made a mental note to enjoy the nightlife as much as possible before moving on to another city…or country.
We made our journey to the heart of the city. The place is called Lagos Island. On this island, we lodged in an amazing 5-star hotel. Before anything, I would love to tell you guys about the food! Yes, Nigerian food is super amazing!
After our rest, we went down and asked to be given a special delicacy. Prior to this period, I had heard about Jollof rice. Yes, the famous Jollof rice. One of our goals on this vacation was to make our own judgment on whose jollof rice was better. Nigerian or Ghanaian! So we were offered this amazing meal.
Here are protip guys, if you ever plan to eat Nigerian jollof rice, you have to get your taste buds level up! It is so spicy! I mean the good kind of spicy. It’s hot on your tongue, but you cannot stop taking it! That’s how great it is. Sharon made sure she had jollof rice more than once during our stay in Nigeria.
After that, we tried another meal. They basically call it Swallow. You use your bare hands to eat it! Haha. You roll it into a ball and dip it into a soup. They have got a variety of soups. We ate one called Afang. It’s a soup from the Southern part of Nigeria. It is really nice. At the end of it all, we were so full that we could not go out to have fun that night.
The next night, we were treated to one of the greatest nightlife in our lives! I’ve got to say this for everyone to know. Nigerian music is amazing! We took a trip down to the mainland. To the capital of the city called Ikeja. I grew up listening to Fela and reading about his political activism. So being in Fela’s African Shrine, which is where he essentially performed when he was alive, was special to me. We had a lot of pot to smoke. We were treated to the finest of Afrobeat music! It was epic. The frenzy was outrightly insane. For a moment, I could not find my best friend. I later saw her with an African Huncho. She gave me a wink, and I knew it was on for my baby girl.
Safe to say I had the time of my life in Nigeria. I know I said I wasn’t going to repeat a place, but coming back here will not be a bad idea.