I had planned on going to the beach today; however, the 5 or 6 people coming from the nearby hotel had other plans. They instead wanted to spend more time shopping and hanging out on Victoria Island. It was fine with me, I’ll just hopefully get to go to the beach next Sunday. The whole day turned out to be a blast and a eye-opening experience.
About 30-45 minutes late as usual, the Arik Air bus picked me up at my hotel, and I saw some familiar faces from the nearby hotel and they then informed me of the plans. As an Arik Air Q400 pilot, others often laugh and joke about how we have been sitting around doing nothing (waiting for our aircraft to arrive) while they have been here flying earning money so we get paid! hahaha. The bus took us to the Arik Air facilities where a few other pilots from the other side of town hopped on the bus and we were off towards V.I. for a day of fun!
It took us about 45 minutes to get to our first stop, which was a large outdoor market with many many small shops. Immediately after stepping off the bus, several boys started following us, and some didn’t stop until we got back on the bus an hour later! They were hoping to get paid for helping us carry our bags, or showing us certain items in stores. Relentlessly I was encouraged by shop owners to look at there merchandise, I must have said “no thank you” 1,000 times.
I picked up a few items I thought would be great Christmas gifts and picked myself up some sandals and fake Mont Blanc sunglasses. I didn’t bring my camera in the market because I wasn’t sure if there would be security guards or police that would try and fine me for taking pictures (I have heard of another pilot being fined 10,000 Naira). There weren’t any, so next time I will be sure to take pictures here. The picture below is of me eating a local banana which almost looked orange but tasted ok. I really liked the sandals, I hadn’t seen any like them before – they have soft fur on them.
Our next stop was the shopping mall. Lagos Island and Victoria Island both seemed completely different from the area near the airport. Much more clean, and “Western” if you will.
The shopping mall was very nice, looked like any other mall I am used to seeing in America. There was a bowling alley, theatre, two large stores that had a little of everything like a Wal Mart almost, and several other outlet stores. I will take more pictures next time I visit the mall. For lunch, I had a frappachino and Vegetarian Pizza:
We had a fun group, it’s always interesting hanging out with pilots from other countries. After lunch, we got to go bowling, and even play air hockey and pool! Those are 3 things I thought I’d never do here in Lagos!
I did terrible at bowling of course, but this is just one of those games where it’s all about the people you are with, not how well you do. Air Hockey was real intense, the puck flew off the table on several occasions and we had a small crowd at times with smirks on there faces amused at how crazy and fast we were playing. We played 2v2 pool and Chris (737 First Officer from the UK) and I barely won.
Cost?
Bowling cost 1800 Naira ($12 US) for one game each. Both Air Hockey and pool were 300 Naira a game I think. A Pizza that fed two was 2800 Naira ($18 US) and my Frap was 600 Naira ($4 US).
Later on…
We started walking through the stores and once I saw this…
I had to get one of these! (Chocolate Sundae):
After the tasty sundae, I bought some shampoo and a bar of soap. The local shampoo I bought was working fine but I missed the kind I was used to. Around 4:45PM, we were soon heading home after a fun day of fun and games. Visiting V.I. and driving through Lagos Island definitely proves to me that there are much more beautiful parts of the country then the areas near the airport. I hope during my time here in Nigeria that I get a chance to visit other cities and check out what is our there!
Dinner
Well I was surprised to see the hotel actually had ice cream tonight! It was a very creamy Vanilla ice cream complimented by some Spaghetti. I took my daily anti-malarial pill with dinner and don’t believe I have been bitten at all yet.
Tomorrow
The other Q400 pilots and I are heading in to the offices to see what we must do next now that the 2nd Q400 is here. After the briefing, I plan on jump seating and actually operating the radios for practice instead of just listening/observing like I have in the past.
PilotRose
The shopping experience sounds somewhat like here in Korea. Except in Korea they will forcibly grab your arm and pull you into their shop, I had to fend off a couple old ladies doing that to me this last weekend haha.
By: Brian Novotne on November 9, 2009
at 8:00 am
Nice! About the photography: Sure be careful photographing. One: Some people actually get offended. I took a picture of a lady selling tomatoes in Calabar’s market. She started yelling about “the free photo” and insisted I buy her produce. I’m not easily intimidated but was afraid I would attract too much attention (as if the dozens of young boys running after me shouting Oyibo! Oyibo! wasn’t enough!) so just bought some tomatoes, took the picture, and walked off!!
Two: Photography is only illegal around sensitive structures, like police hq, port, etc. So it sounds like your friend was ripped off by the police. Careful, many of them are corrupt and would gladly lie and use their authority to defraud you so sometimes it also helps to be gutsy and ask for some credentials. A smile ALWAYS helps, here’s a trick just say “I’m poor Oyibo = I’m a poor white guy” they will laugh it off and just let you go. Nigerians are also very religious, they will love your flattery if you say “GOD BLESS YOU” with a smile. “Well done!” (well “dohn”) is another complement even if they haven’t done anything just say it and they’ll love you! Heck use it among your Arik Air colleagues and already you’ve amassed some fans lol
By: Flugmax on November 9, 2009
at 10:46 am
Glad you getting out and about. I can’t imagine how claustrophobic it must be hanging around the hotel most of your free time. If you think Lagos Isl., Lekki, VI is nice, you should try Abuja. Though not quite as exciting as VI, Lekki etc it is levels above in terms of how nice it is. Obudu Mountain Resort (used to be called ‘Obudu Cattle Ranch’) from what I’ve seen and heard is a nice vacation spot in Cross Rivers. I think you will be pleasantly suprised at some of the great things Nigeria has to offer.
Happy Flying.
By: Onyi on November 9, 2009
at 9:24 pm
Brian: Well I am glad I wasn’t physically forced to go anywhere!
Flugmax: Great tips! Thank you very much!
Onyi: I definitely plan on going to see places other than Lagos, it would be a waste if I didn’t while I am here in my opinion. And I know others here feel the same, they want to check out what Nigeria has to offer.
By: PilotRose on November 11, 2009
at 10:59 pm