Lagos 1

Some inconsiderate idiot played a drum machine in Room 6 late into the night. I slammed the door of my dorm in anger. He must have heard and played softer afterwards. I left at 0930 and caught the train for the short ride to Lagos.

On approaching I looked out at the marina from the window and already I liked Lagos. But it was very very touristy. I noticed that the local radio station used the first few bars of Santana's hit, Europa, as station identification. In town I got a haircut and delivered the note that M and I had asked me to pass to S, a Portuguese artist they had met in Lagos who worked at the Hong Kong Chinese restaurant. We agreed to meet up later. I had a satisfying lunch of chicken stew at the Adega Ribatejana.


It was breezy in the courtyard of the hostel and a great place for dolce far niente. Lagos seemed to be a party town. I guess the word got around by bush telegraph.

The hostel was handy to the beach, they even lend you beach mats. At the beach I met C and other beach belles, including two South Africans working in London, B, another German girl, a few bronzed Aussies, and H, a Norwegian girl taking a break in Iberia before heading to Nice for studies.

I joined R and N, the South African girls, in grocery shopping for a group spaghetti diner and helped with the cooking. From left to right, C, H and B. After dinner C brought out her guitar and played a little while B sang. H tried her hand at a tune.

Then we all headed into a music bar in town where a Peruvian band was playing. I was exhausted by the end of the night. It bound to be quieter the next day as the girls were leaving early.