Eleko beach on Sunday

selling snacks and contemplating the sea

Eleko beach is located on the Lekki peninsula, half an hour away from Lagos Islands. The access is controlled by area boys who are asking for a standard fee of 500 naira per person (visitors) but if you are asking for a receipt you can actually spend much less because then the money goes directly in pocket of the recipient (and perhaps a few other guys who are more senior). One side of the beach is where every goes and the other side is dedicated to beach huts set on a small pieces of land facing the ocean. The huts are on stilts.

sea and shipwreck, should we stay or should we go?

The one we visited belonged to someone we did not know but the one looking after was happy to rent it for a fee to us. He organised a barbecue with a few fishes, not so big but fresh from the sea.
The beach itself was fairly empty, if not for all the plastic wastes. A sea of shoes remains mingling with all sorts of plastic bottles, etc... Curiously some plants managed to grow timidly through the garbage. Nature is by nature optimistic. It is adapting to the local environment.
Some artefacts sellers came by, posted for the afternoon. Girls on the beach were carrying plateaus on their head with some snacks for sale.

fresh fish but already eaten

One man dressed in a thick jacket was enjoying his joint sat on the sand facing the ocean. Probably a motorbike driver. And yes it was cold by local standards, perhaps only 27 degrees celsius.

peace and warmth

Comments

The Ogiamien family in Benin City: about wood and history

Roland Ogiamien in his wood-carving workshop Wood Roland Ogiamien is a renown wood carver. He is now retired in his home town of Benin City and is now in his 80s. We met him in his simple workshop, a barn opened on the surrounding greenery. A part of the studio is used to store wood pieces and make sure they are well dried. He is using a collection of german ustensils to carve and polish the wood. He spent most of his career working out of Lagos before relocating to Benin. Roland was explaining that the wood he uses today is different that the one he worked on in his early days. Ebony has become rare and wood carvers have had to switch to other types of wood. Traditional heritage is a large part of his inspiration which he translates on wood with his own particular style, exploring various techniques for the finish of his pieces. Roland Ogiamien and two of his favourite masks History Ogiamien is the name of an important royal family in Benin Kingdom. Towards the end of the ...

The mysterious stones images of Esie

turned into Stones Chief J. Agbo Ooye had been waiting in the shade of a large tree, in front of the National Museum of Esie, dressed in ceremonial costume with a velvet hat incrusted with crystal beads sown in the shape of his title and his name. He was sitting next to his wife on a bench, expecting our arrival. His wife, he would tell us later, was his best friend and she was actually demonstrating it by guiding his frail body from one place to another and guiding his hand when it came to sign autographs of his books. Chief Agbo Ooye is the author of two booklets on the Esie Stones. The first one, called A Personal Account of the Esie Stones is giving an overview of the differences between the scientific and the traditional interpretation of the Esie Stones. The second one is called the History of Esie and gives a brief account of Esie's history from the early settlement of Yorubas in various groups (Esie, Oro, Eku Apa, Igbonla, Edidi, Igbesi, etc...) to the present...

Lagos Island - Balogun market

hot sales Lagos urban area is said to count around 20 million inhabitants. 1 million additional everyday. People say Lagos is like a giant market and one of its epicenter is Lagos Island. Besides former colonial administrative buildings and the banks and insurance who built skyscrapers along the Marina, there is a large area devoted to trading and markets. The densest one is probably Balogun market which is located between the central mosque and Tinubu square. Three or four floors of shops, people, goods all so tightly packed that cars are not welcome and motorbikes have a hard time moving. pick what you need During the day 4 million people are coming to Lagos Island to do business. They will rent a space for an hour, half a day, a day or longer and trade. hen lost in the clothes section One can find pretty much everything, one needs only know where things are. But generally organised by specialized clusters. There is so much happening that one can only get a small glimps...

Nigeria, the land of plenty

Search This Blog