Day 3 -Akure

Me and Greg - or Tolu as I must now learn to call him

Yams for sale - the staple food in Nigeria

A selection of drinks at a corner shop


One of the many weird and wonderful churches around Akure

Tolu and his friend the baker

I think I mentioned the rain? It was really heavy - a tropical storm - and woke me a few times in the night. But as I lay in bed about 7.30 this morning, I was also disturbed by the most amazing and persistent rhythmical drumming. I got up and dressed, determined to discover the source of the drumming, and Titi informed me that it was assembly at the local school. We went to investigate and found that the school right behind Gregory's house is a large Anglican junior and high school. As we got there, assembly in the open air had just finished. I met the vice principal and arranged to go back in there on Friday morning to meet the children at assembly. Back for a breakfast of omelette, bread and tea - very nice - and to various introductions to the neighbours. One of the striking things is that there is very little concept of privacy. There are four apartments in our block, and it is almost like one big family. Everybody comes and goes into each others apartments and at first it is very difficult to work out whose children are whose! The next thing that you notice is that there is lots of laughter! Everyone is very alive and it really is invigorating to be around.

After breakfast, Saka, Titi and Mary brought me to the cyber cafe where they looked over my shoulder as I wrote posts 1 and 2.....

In the afternoon Gregory took me to town to see his office and to do various errands including getting a small job done on the car and buying me some sandals. As Gregory's office is headed "Tolu Olopete and Co" I finally got to the bottom of the name thing and discovered that this is his real name and that in fact "Gregory" was made up for European consumption! So it is Tolu from now on!

Wandering around town included photographing a yam stall and various interesting looking shops, most of which would be classed as shacks or sheds in the UK. We witnessed a traffic accident between a car and a motorcycle (known simply as an "okada" here) which is not uncommon in this traffic.

When we walked along the main road we took about one hour to pass all the markets and traders and it was totally amazing to soak in the atmosphere. Nigeria has three main tribes - the Yoruba, the Ibo and the Hausa. We met them all along the road and I began to understand a bit more. Tolu changed money with a Hausa money changer and bought me some sandals. We went to a western style supermarket which I presume is out of reach of most pockets here. By the way, I felt totally safe the whole way. And indeed I have not felt unsafe since being here.

We took a taxi back to the office and by the time Gregory's car came back from the garage it had gone dark (about 6.30) and it was time to get home. I wish we had gone in the daylight! I have witnessed anything like the driving to get home. Apart from the fact that they drive on the right, there are NO RULES! There are no traffic lights and no courtesy. Gregory - I mean Tolu - had to turn left against oncoming traffic. It took FOREVER. Add that to the pollution, the ruts in the road, the lack of street lights, the fact that many cars do not put on their lights at night, the countless "machines" weaving in and out of traffic, the power cuts meaning that everything is pitch black - and it is nothing short of a miracle that anybody ever gets home. We did, however, and when we did supper was ready and once again it was eaten by kerosene lamp.

The Joseph family next door however have a generator and so can supply their own power during the frequent power cuts. After dinner we retired next door to watch the Nigerian soap SUPER STORY. It is just like all soaps and there were shrieks of laughter all round.

The power came on just before nine but once again I was too tired and went to bed soon after. By the way, I have yet to meet a mosquito!