We are now under a little time pressure to get down to Johannesburg so we can fly out to the US at the end of July so we decided to start moving south. We raced across Togo and Benin. We crossed the border between the two just as Colonel Gaddafi was in town with a huge Libyan delegation. Despite our best efforts we didn't get to meet him, but we did get to meet the huge numbers of troops on the road from the border to the capital Cotonou.
Nigeria was not the most pleasant place. Every few miles (literally) we were stopped by police who asked for money. We managed to get through the country without paying out once, mainly by offering them our love in place of hard cash.
Nigeria is a strage place. Once you get over the money thing - everyone is looking to rip you off (no surprise to anyone who knows Tunde) then the Nigerians are very warm and friendly people.
We miscalculated our trip from Lagos to Benin City. Expecting it to be just a couple of hours drive, we went out for a rather late night in Lagos and planned to leave late the following morning. Our 3 hour trip ended up being a 9 hour nightmare, when cars driving on the wrong side of the road, overturned trucks and stomach-churning potholes conspired to create the worst traffic jam imaginable. Driving late at night on Nigerian roads feeling a little tender from the night before is not for the faint-hearted!
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