I am about 2 days behind my posting now. Having problems uploading the images.
This posting is about the 5 hrs journey to Akure from Lagos. Its about 300 km only! The route was east and then north. Probably thats the problem as it meant heading towards the Delta area where the militants seem to enjoy blowing up oil platforms. As a result, there were police checkpoints almost every 2 km ! They were checking for smuggling of arms though some must wonder at how effective it was as we saw a car without a license plate waved through after some cash being shoved through the window. We did not have any problem as our police escort was a great "passport". Note in the pic are tree trunks used as barricades.
The other main cause of the delays were the poor quality of the trunk road, uneven and with potholes. Some of the pothole were so huge that they caused the destruction of a tanker. Not a good idea to drive at night. Some of the drivers took to driving on the other side to avoid the potholes. Apparently the primary cause of the potholes are endless heavy fuel tankers.
What is evident is the fertility of the Nigerian land. Its the same variety (visibly anyway) as the red earth much favoured by gardeners in Kuching. Here its everywhere!
Street vendors are plentiful and they all smile ! One didn't like her picture taken. I was told thats a reaction to some of these photos being used in posters or magazines !
The dense population in towns are quite evident in some of the pics. Note our transport van in one of the pics. This was one of our pit stops. And the toilet was quite clean! I am sure Malaysians should be ashamed at themselves.
Going North was easier as this branched off from the coastal road away from the main tanker traffic. In addition, the checkpoints completely dropped off.
When asked what the predominant bush meat is, the unanimous answer is the grasscutter. See this for a description. Apparently the quality of the meat is very high and an important source of protein as it adapts well to breeding.
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