A GUIDE TO VISITING Badagry

February is Black History month and what better place to explore and share with you than my trip to Badagry. My trip to visit Badagry was a bit unplanned but nevertheless fulfilling because I had a chance not only to hear about history but to get a thorough walk-though of the slave trade in Nigeria. Badagry is notably known for the slave trade to foreigners. I had the pleasure of having knowledgble tour guides walk me through the four key sights in the area over the course of 2 to 3 hours: The first storey building in Nigeria, The Chief Mobee Royal Family Original Slave Relic Museum, Seriki Faremi Williams Slave Museum and the Badagary Slave Route.

The history of the slave trade told of how 40 slaves were sold in exchange for an umbrella to how slaves were kept in inhumane conditions some for months before they were sold and shipped away. I had a pleasure to see history in a way I have never done before and this was indeed due to the impressive tour guides.

Rather than bore you further with a history lesson, I will leave you with visuals of my trip. Please also see here for a short vlog of my trip.

 THE FIRST STOREY BUILDING IN NIGERIA

Standing in front of the first storey building 

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Tour guide at the First Storey Building talking about the quality of the materials then went into the building of the house

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Being shown the safe that was located in the first storey building along with currencies that were used then by the British

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Being shown the safe that was located in the first storey building along with currencies that were used then by the British

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This well is the only drinkable well in Badagry (located in the compound of the first storey building)…of course, I had a taste and have to admit that it tasted pretty good.

 

SERIKI FAREMI WILLIAMS ABASS SLAVE MUSEUM

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The entrance of the museum

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Baracoons are enclosures in which black slaves were confined for a limited period

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Our tour guide sharing history with us

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Some of the instruments of torture

CHIEF MOBEE FAMILY SLAVES RELICS MUSEUM

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Certainly not the biggest museum in the world but holds history nevertheless

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The Museum

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The original drinking bowl from which slaves drank from

 

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Depictions of slave treatment

ORIGINAL SLAVE ROUTE (THE POINT OF NO RETURN)
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Our transportation from badagry to the island of “the point of no return” (approx. a 10 min journey)

 

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On the slave route on the island

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The only official store on the island (where I purchased the cutest coconut bag)
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Arriving at the point of no return (It took approx. a 25-30 min walk to get from where the bought disembarked to reach this point by the atlantic)

What I loved: The tour guides who were very thorough and the closeness of all the sites visited which made it easy to walk and see most things.

What I hated: Not much but bear in mind that the trip to Badagry can be a long one (65KM from the mainland Lagos) if you do not make way at the right time (i.e. traffic-prone times)

Would I go back: Certainly! Especially to showcase to others who haven’t been. It is certainly one of the best tour sites I have visited in Nigeria.

Costs: 

– Boat from Badagry to the island of the point of no return was N5000 for three of us (considering no one else was on the boat with us. Apparently its normally N1000 each if it was busy. N5000 included a tour guide that guided us through out the whole island.

– Each site cost approximately N200 – N500

Travel Tips: (1) Make sure to bring drinks with you to keep hydrated (there were options for drinks but I believe limited)

(2) Costs for all tour sites are negotiable and as such, make sure to bargain according to what you believe you can afford

(3) If you have an issue with walking 25 mins, please avoid going to the point of no return. There were no other means of transporting for tourist on arrival on the island so either you walk or just wait. (My 60 year old aunt came with along with me and was sooo mad lol)

I hope you enjoyed the write-up. Let me know if you haven questions about my trip. As always, I hope that I have inspired you to visit this gem is history.

 

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6 THINGS I NEVER DO ON BEACHES IN LAGOS

The coastal city of Lagos has some of the best beaches in Nigeria. As much as the beach can be a place to unwind and let loose, there are certain things I wouldn’t do on beaches in Lagos. Whether it be Elegushi beach, Tarkwa bay, Eleko or the many likes, my sentiment remains the same. The exception being a super private beach.

1) GO WITH A BIKINI

The beach is a place to show a bit of skin but truth is a considerable amount of Nigerians are quite conservative (at least in public). As much as I may want to look sexy and free at the beach, I simply “leave the bikini at home” or keep it tucked under my dress. Doing otherwise will ensure that I would have nominated myself as the entertainment for the day (And trust me, no one wants to be the entertainment except those ones that are looking for business *wink*).

2) PDA

If you happen to be going to the beach in Lagos with you boo, it is advisable to get over the need to “express your love” (aka konji). Try making out as much as you want before hitting the beach. Lagosians do not take to kindly to people doing the things they assume should be left reserved for the bedroom out in the open. They may not hesitate to express their disgust. 

3) MOVE INTO CROWDS

Unless I am planning to donate to pickpockets and petty thieves, I avoid crowds at beaches. It is advisable to remain far away from crowds. If people gather around you, RUN! #ThatSimple

4) SMOKE

I am not a smoker but some have said that the beach is best experienced when high. If you happen to be a smoker #notjudginghere, I would not advise you do so at the beaches in Lagos as you can’t predict what is in that roll up.

5) SWIM

I know what you’re thinking, “That’s the reason I ventured here in the first place” right?. I don’t (and no one does) take chances given I know people have drowned in the past (The overly adventurous ones). And truth is very few of our beaches have coastal lifeguards stationed around the beach so why take such a risk.

6) LITTER

A number of the beaches in Lagos are undeniable untidy because of the inability of visitors to refrain from dropping litter. So whenever you visit any of the beaches in Lagos, try as much as possible not to drop any litter.

 

The beaches in Lagos are beautiful places to relax and really switch off from the bustle of Lagos during the weekends. I think to sum up, I am simply advising you not to lose yourself and think you’re abroad in the west. Understand Lagos beach etiquette.

Have you been to a beach in Lagos? Any thing stick out to you. Let me know

CHECKING IN: LA CAMPAGNE TROPICANA BEACH RESORT (DAY TRIP REVIEW)

With the value of the Naira diminishing every day, it is the case that many Nigerians are re-thinking their annual Dubai and US holidays. The truth is that many Nigerians do not feel they have gone on holiday until they have checked-in their luggage at Murtala Muhammed airport and jumped on an international flight.

There are many gems in this country of ours as alternatives and it takes just a little research to unearth them. One of these gems for me was at the La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort based in the Ibeju Lekki. I went to this resort for a day and below is my visual diary and review of my trip at the end. Here also is a video I made of my trip. Enjoy!

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The cute corner in the reception room at the resort

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The bus that drove my cousin (pictured) and I from the reception area to the beach and back (about a 10min walk so certainly walkable). 

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The gorgeous beach beds that can be rented for the day or night

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Activities were vast at the resort (above was pool volleyball)

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A snippet of the really long CLEAN pool with pool bars

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An island in the pool

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Beach vibes

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“Yoru’bar” – One of the many bars at the resort (The name playing on the yoruba tribe name)

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One of the accommodation areas. LabaLaba village hosts huts like the ones below which were gorgeous but if you are looking for luxury, I would say to upgrade to the other accomodations.

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In front of “Laba 5” (one of the cheaper yet decent accommodation options)

Review of the resort:

Accommodation: I didn’t sleep overnight as I went on a day trip but I did request a tour of the “Laba” and “Obieze” rooms. They were certainly impressive and I was tempted to stay the night.

Activities: So many options from kayaking to basketball to volleyball to many other games.

Cleaniness: I was impressed by how clean the beach and common areas were. There were an abundant of staff on ground everywhere I turned which created the impression that there was always someone around to help.

Food: I had no experience of the food served as our group came prepared with our own bbq spread.

Security: I felt quite secure just because there were “serious” security guards on entrance into the resort.

What I didn’t like: Nothing much to say to be honest as I had not set my expectations high but I was blown away.

Would I go back: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Perfect for: Honeymoon, girls retreat, company retreats. I would also recommend people to stay overnight as I felt that was the best way to get the most of the resort.

 

Hope you enjoyed the write-up. Do let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

 

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The Lagos Chronicles: The Travails of the “Danfo” Bus Passenger

The ‘Danfo’ bus is a passenger bus that operates in Lagos and carries approximately 16-18 passengers. They play an essential role in the lives of millions of Lagosians, including myself (I used to board 7 of them on average every week whilst I was younger, growing up in Nigeria).

As much as these Danfo Buses are useful, most of we the passengers have lots of tales of woes to tell and sometimes the drama is not necessarily from the crazy Danfo drivers and their conductors. It is from the well “interesting” passengers.

These buses carry a mix of characters i.e. “The gentle”, “The angry, “The born-again” (aka serious Christians) and so on. Are you ready to find yourself among this list below or at least to be entertained (if this whole concept and experience is new to you as you are chauffeur -driven)

– THE SCREAMERS

Are you that passenger that is always with N1000 or N500 note for just a N50 bus fare? Then when the conductor proceeds to give you change less that N50, you would start screaming at the top of your voice for N50 change? Please behave yourself please, everyone is looking for change so please find your change before entering and disturbing us or didn’t you hear “enter with your change?”
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Image: techcabal

– THE SLEEPERS

If it’s around 5am-7am, it’s acceptable to sleep but for those who use their heads to disturb people’s shoulders at 12pm or 6pm, I tire! You entered the bus single and now you have bae. If you are one of those who can’t but sleep, please do it with swag aka style. Don’t always hit your head on the person in front or beside you. Remember, you are not in the four corners of your home.

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Image: naij

– THE ARGUERS

You won’t even know what caused the argument. Before you know it, you will just start hearing noise “Buhari is this…”, “Fashola is that…”. Please, if you are one of them, stop disturbing the Danfo community and if you are just an onlooker, please don’t interfere o, because before you know it someone can start breaking bottles.

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Image:  adelove

– THE AMEBO

You would think you and this person went to the store together and bought 50% of your phone. They have no shame in ogling at your chats or whatever you are doing with your phone at that particular time. They even have the audacity to give some advice based on your personal chats #Facefrontbusybody!

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Image: aderonkebamidele

– THE LYING LIONS

The confident way this person will keep lying to the person on the other side of the phone that he is at “Jibowu” when in fact he is in “Festac” would surprise you. You would even want to be double check that you boarded the right bus.

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Image: zikoko

– THE PASTORS

Yes, the pastors! They literally turn the entire trip into a complete Sunday service with testimony and offering. Once you hear ‘Praise the lord”, get ready. Can we just travel in peace? Telling them to be quiet will be like telling God you don’t want to hear his word so you just suck it up #NoOneIsReadyToOffendGodHere

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Image: encomium

My mantra whenever I used to enter the Danfo bus was to respect myself, hold my change, plug my earphones in my ears and listen to my music. No drama for me please.

Which category do you belong to? Got any Danfo Bus story? Sharing is caring *winks*

5 REASONS WHY TRAVELLERS IN NIGERIA NEVER SLEEP ON A ROAD TRIP

Have you ever wondered why travellers in Nigeria don’t blink an eye during a long distance road trip? Truth is that we travellers here have trust issues amongst other reasons. We are very well informed about unfortunate incidents that occur on some of these trips and we like to keep our names out of the media  (if our names ever make it, that is) .

Here are the 5 top reasons travellers in Nigeria never sleep on a road trip:

1. AGGRESSIVE TOUTS

From time to time, there may be touts ready to scare passengers and extort them of money. Naaa not us, we want to see them coming (not sure we would be able to do anything but still better to be aware than not).

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2. BAD DRIVERS

Truth is when you’re asleep, you are not able to judge the state of your driver. There are some great drivers out there but are you really going to take that chance? Stay awake and you can caution your driver when he starts driving like a drunk Lewis Hamilton.

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3. PASSENGERS STEALING YOUR POSSESSIONS

Whilst everyone thinks that you need a high staged robbery to get robbed, we travellers are well aware that the person sitting next to us can also be a petty robber if the opportunity arises. And again, we are not taking that chance.

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4. DESTINATION DOESN’T CHANGE

Your driver might want to visit another location for his own pleasure (Perhaps his girlfriend told him to quickly drop by home to give her some money). You need to stay up in order to monitor your drivers’ movement so as to prevent any unnecessary delay.

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5. NOT WANTING TO MISS OUT ON SHOPPING OPPORTUNITIES

Passengers are always on the look out for good buys for their own use or for their relatives before they reach their destination. Retailers and hawkers are not always present in every location but are seen at market points not even known by passengers. This is enough reason for them not to sleep on a road trip (Any excuse to bag a bargain).

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What do you think about the reasons? Are they valid enough or not? Nevertheless hope you enjoyed the read.

A GUIDE TO VISITING Bwari Pottery Village

Truth is I ventured to Abuja to visit a friend for a long weekend with little expectation. A fellow junkie traveller of mine had mentioned that there was a pottery centre near the Nigerian Law School that was worth visiting. So I dragged my reluctant friend along in an Uber and set on the 35 minute journey to Bwari to see what this pottery village was all about. Here is my journey:

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Quick pit stop to admire the beauty around 

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Approaching the pottery village. The Nigerian Law School in Bwari was a few hundred metres away from the pottery village

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Yay, we arrived but sure that last mile was a bumpy ride.

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The workshop at the village where the owner “Stephen Myha” met with us and gave us a free tour of the village and educated us in the process of pottery 

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My potter gadget 

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Off to the kiln

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Chilling by the Kiln. Its impressive how they use traditional techniques to ascertain the temperature and define where exactly products go.

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Local products used to color products. Stephen explained to us that all raw materials for creating the products are sourced locally (This is what we need in Nigeria)

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Yours truly making her own “Sassy” branded bowl which I have to pick up once processed.

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The gems
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Gems for sale at very reasonable prices

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A shot with my travel companion.

What did I like?: Everything about the village. Such an authentic environment and process. Also the drive from Abuja (not too long).

What I didn’t like?: I didn’t get to see the furnace and painting in operation. But I believe I could have called in advance to find out timings.

Would I go back?: Not necessarily unless my mission was to buy products for my future house. Nevertheless it was a lovely day out and would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

Do you know of other gems like this which are “off the beaten path” that we all should definitely explore either here in Nigeria or abroad?

Check our my video diary here.

A GUIDE TO VISITING POP BEACH CLUB

On a beautiful Saturday weeks ago, myself alongside my fellow blogger Bidemi (www.bidsingraceland.com) and her friends took a jetty boat from the Lagos boat club in Ikoyi to venture on a 25min bumpy ride to Ilashe. Ilashe is located along badagry creek. This was my second time in Ilashe. The first time, I had come to celebrate a private birthday at a private beach house (which was a blast btw, anything that gets me away from the hustle and bustle of Lagos has my vote – Great company and positive vibes is all you need to have a great time in the crazy city). This time my experience was as great as the first but certainly had a different kinda vibe.

Arriving at the dock with “Akin” the owner of the beach club, we took a 5 minute walk to the club. I was met with a basketball court, a ping pong table, colorful art work and a cool hippy vibe. Pop beach club is an exclusive sports club in Ilashe. It has that unpretentious vibe that most clubs I have been to across the world seem to lack. This vibe seemed to just allow people to be who they are and have a good time. It also seemed to encourages individual mixing out of their groups (something I notice Nigerians don’t seem to do much of – “If I didn’t come out with you, why am I talking to you?”)

I spent the day unwinding, munching (at the goodies and snacks we brought from the mainland shore), swimming, reading me some paulo coehlo and having good conversation. At 6pm, we set off back to Ikoyi contented. If you looking from a cool chilled vibe away from home with a few friends, Pop beach club is the one. The owner was a great host, the grilled chicken and fries delicious and the vibe 100%

Pop beach club also has accommodation for night stays so a perfect staycation out of the bustle of Lagos.

I hope I didn’t bore you too much – If I did, I hope the images below compensate. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And please if you have cool spots you believe I NEED to see, please share.

Much Love

#SassyFunke x

 

 

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A VISUAL GUIDE TO VISITING AWOLOWO MUSEUM AT IBEJU LEKKI

Too often many of us to do not appreciate our own history and we spend considerable time and money flying ourselves to other countries to learn about their history. When a friend of mine decided a while back that we should embark upon a trip to a beach in Ibeju Lekki, a beach with historical significance, I was sold. Ibeju Lekki is located east of Lekki. The beach of Ibeju Lekki was near the Lagos Free Trade Zone, a zone I had never been aware of. It took us approximately 2 hours from Victoria Island. 2 hours later, we stumbled upon an historical gem.

Rather than bore you with the history of the Awolowo museum at Ibeju Lekki (Chief Awolowo was one of the founding father of Nigeria btw) and the remains of the Regis Aine Factory (a slave trade company) which laid beside the beautiful beach, I’ll leave you with pictures and captions which am sure will be much easier for you to digest. Also I have a video of a Shrine we located alongside the beautiful beach. As always, I hope you enjoy and get to see a little more of my homeland and hopefully one day, make a visit.

#SassyFunke

The Shrine on the beach

Chief Awolowo On Self-Discipline
“I will, more than ever before, subject myself to severe self- discipline. Only men who are masters of themselves become easily masters of others. Therefore, my thoughts, my tongue,
and my actions shall be brought under strict control always.”
– My March Through Prison, 1985

 

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A GUIDE TO VISITING SUNTAN BEACH

This post is all about my day today in lagos. I went to ‘Suntan Beach’. Suntan Beach is a government owned (public) beach west of Lagos city. It’s located about a 15 minute car ride from the border of Benin Republic. We paid 300 naira (approx. 1 pound) for parking and 500 naira each for entry. Anyone that knows me well knows that I love Lagos and I am always bragging about how amazing it is here…whether you want nightlife, culture, FOOD or amazing open-hearted people to hang with, we have it. Lagos is definitely rough around the edges but that is why I love this city, so perfect in its imperfection #NowhereComparesI hope one day you’ll have a chance to explore my city if you haven’t already. All I will leave you with today is some pictures from my day at ‘Suntan Beach’ #Enjoy #Indulge #VisitLagos #SassyFunke