Nigeria, the land of plenty

fishing couple The late afternoon sunlight was diffusing through a thick layer of air-born dust brought by the Harmattan, a wind blowing from the Sahara. December is the month when it starts in Lagos. The horizon blurs or sometimes completely dissolve in a thick white veil. The space is confined to shorter distances. This creates a feeling of intimacy and mystery at the same time. It was the end of 2017 and we took a banana boat to cross the entrance of the Lagos harbour down to the lighthouse which marks the access to the ocean. That afternoon the city was rather quiet on this holiday period. Many people had travelled to their family "villages" or abroad. As we reached the lighthouse beach, very few people were out by the shore making us feel we had the whole place to ourselves, hidden from the ship lined up at a distance from the shore waiting for their turn to enter the harbour. sunset walk Two silhouettes took a walk along the water, one of them had a large dre...

connecting between mother Earth and Heavens Waves are crashing remorselessly on the sand of the ocean-shore beach, westward of the entrance of Lagos harbor. This stretch of sand is protected by the stone wall which extends into the sea up to a lighthouse to signal the entrance into the Lagos lagoon. As a result, the water current is deviated from the coast such that sand declivity into the water is minimal. It is a good place to safely go into the water. A group of women, aligned on the sand, stands on one leg. They are looking at their yoga instructors who are currently standing on their heads. The women, who wear the same dark blue sweater, after having exercised for ten or fifteen minutes soon retire under their light shed to have some food and some drinks. The two instructors, meanwhile, carry on executing more advanced positions. a fairly quiet sea The sun has actually disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds forming to the outer rim of a storm positioned...

16.30 - fun time at Elegushi Beach Harmattan is filling the air with thin particles of sand. Lagos skyline is blurred as if there was fog and sun at the same time. It is the last of day the year. Victoria Island and Ikoyi are asleep, most Lagosians are busy on the outskirt of the city to prepare the New Year celebrations, be it at Church or with their families. And the Young sleep in anticipation of the night to come. Lagos Island though is still alive, particularly the Balogun market which buzzes are usual, perhaps a little less because of no deliveries being made that day. Customers and sellers were still out and about to buy and trade goods of all sorts. 12.00 noon - gingery view at Balogun market I was looking for a hat, of the kind of Panamas. A year ago, I had got one chinese paper-made that looked nice at that time. This time, going through the market, it looked like the latest version of something similar to a Panama hat was everywhere the same (paper-made bu...

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... C...

Happy New Year! New Year's Day in Lagos, what can one do? Going to the beach is obviously an option. The sun shines as usual and this is where many of us are going to have a good time. so let's do it! The day will go by easy, for most, while some will go the extra mile to have fun. Acrobats taking advantage of the piles of dead plants that invaded the lagoon in the past few weeks, some kind of water jacinth, to jump and do saltos. wishing you a safe landing this year Some will play football with the tenue de rigueur ( yours underpants must be clearly visible above your shorts). it's cool to show you're wearing underpants Some others will prefer a warm bath at sunset. taking a happy dip In any case don't neglect your style. flower power

coconut treats for sale Tarkwa Bay is a stretch of divinely fine sand at the exit of the lagoon into the ocean, it is shielded from the high sea by a seawall of huge stone blocks which provides to the beach goers a bit intimacy from the tankers entering the harbour of Lagos. a beach with a view Opposite the lagoon entrance is a vast construction work for the birth of a new city, Eko Atlantic: 250,000 people will live there on 9 million square meters. This will be a new center for finance and energy sectors, built on reclaimed land. It will be powered by its own power grid, independent of the rest of the country which produces about 20% of what Nigeria needs everyday. So far three towers have come up the ground. Eko Atlantic: one, two, three Well, back to the plastic strewn beach. it is a quiet getaway from the city center, a 15 minutes boat ride from Falomo bridge in Victoria Island. The sand stretch is lined up with reclining chairs of wood and cloth. A c...

of people and horses Down by the ocean, Elegushi beach is one sandy stretch on the Lekki peninsula. It is a "private" beach, meaning it calls for a 1000 Naira entrance fee per person, not to mention the parking fee that follows shortly after the entrance fee has been collected. For that amount the beach is cleaned everyday. Place Vendôme in Elegushi beach We visited on a cloudy day. The approach was not exactly a very appealing one with wooden constructions, painted in various colours, some of them under planned repair (they have been dismantled and the wood pieces had collapsed like a mikado. On the back of buildings, where people park are some children games, air-filled jumping castles and so on. On the whole the place is fairly run-down and washed-out by the salt, the sun and humidity. awaiting reconstruction Once on the beach side of the row of wooden construction, a young and fairly well-off crowd is indulging in bathing, selfie-taking, horse-rid...

improvised art market between the lagoon and the ocean Lagos is set on the lagoon that borders the Atlantic ocean. In places, the strip of land separating the lagoon from the ocean is just a few hundred meters wide. the ocean between Lagos and Cotonou The lagoon is linking "inland" Lagos and Cotonou, the capital city of neighbouring Benin distant of about 80km. In places it is shallow depending on the tide, but small motor boat can use it easily. It therefore offers a waterway protected from the strength of the ocean. This relative protection is ideal for fishermen's villages to spread on the water side. boat construction in progress and obviously motor boats are the natural transportation vehicles. boating on the lagoon