A millionaire for a week

After a week in Ghana I discovered that being a millionaire does not necessarily mean that you are wealthy as I imagine people in many African and South American countries already know. At the time of my visit the exchange rate was US$1=9200 Cedi. This results in some rather bizarre transactions. A meal in a resturant could cost 1Million Cedi, an evening out having a few drinks will cost several hundred thousand cedi, a taxi ride between 30 thousand and 100 thousand Cedi...

Amazingly the largest note available in Ghana at the time of my visit was 20000 Cedi and banks will often supply your cash requirements with only 5000 Cedi notes.... this results in carrying large wads of money around. A case in point was our sunday buffet lunch for 4 people which resulted in a bill of over 1 Million Cedi... fortunately Darren came to the rescue with a bag full of money:

A Trip to Ghana

Over the past week I was fortunate enough to make a trip to Ghana for business purposes. The contrast between Ghana and Nigeria is almost unbelievable. My first impressions of Accra were very good.

After a rather gruelling experience in leaving Lagos arrival in Ghana was like the exact opposite. From the time the plane landed to arriving at my hotel took less than 30 minutes. Customs was a breeze and my bags arrived almost immediately on the carousel which was a total pleasure.

Driving through the streets the first thing that struck me was how clean the city is in comparison with Lagos. The other thing that I really noticed was that the drivers seem to obey the rules of the road and that there were no okadas (motorbike taxis). The difference between the two cities is almost overwhelming.

Some time at the beach

Have spent a few days at the beach in Lagos recently. The beaches are generally pretty dirty with an unbelievable number of plastic bags and other junk which has washed up on the beach from the filthy rivers in the region. Still it is possible to find stretches of beach which have been cleaned up a little and it is ok to spend some time relaxing....

Here are some pictures of some of the beaches; (Alpha Beach) which is a 20 minute drive from Ikoyi.... one of the roads getting there is a little diabolical, but it is a relatively nice place to spend the day.













Another beach (Tarkwa bay) is reached by boat with a 20 minute boat ride across the harbour.

The incomplete list of curious things seen on the back of an Okada

Nigeria is undoubtedly a bustling city, I think that the word that best describes Lagos though is CHAOS. Every day I see new and interesting items being carried by people being ferried about on Okadas (Motorbike Taxis). It is really amazing what people are able to carry in this way... and every time I think I have seen everything something new will pop up. In my first few weeks in Lagos I have seen the following items:

4 ft long pipe
Large sheet of glass
Rainy day... man on back of bike with open umbrella
Portable hi-fi
Television
Full length ladder

And the most recent item:
6 people (yes that is correct, 6 people, sure it did include 2 small children, but 6 people on the back of a small 125cc motorcycle is something unreal)

Okadas and Taxis in Lagos

Lagos as a city is quite an experience. It is bustling, congested and very busy. In the past few weeks it seems to have rained every day, am told that it is the rainy season until sometime in October, am looking forward to the end of all this rain. When it rains the drainage is totally inadequate in the city and sometimes driving to work means navigating through huge puddles of water.

Fortunately I do not have to drive as all the expatriate employees have drivers who drive us about. I would not want to drive in Lagos as it must have some of the worst drivers in the world. Traffic is insane with battered taxis everywhere and then something which South Africa does not have, Motorbike Taxis. These taxis known as Okadas are total maniacs weaving between the traffic left and right with their passengers clinging to the back.
They drive between the cars, they drive on the pavement and they will come at you the wrong way up a one way road.

Many of them are carrying two passengers at a time and hardly any of them wear helmets. I asked our driver about this and he said that it is the law that they should wear helmets, but this law has now been completely disregarded.

Here is a picture of one of the taxis seen around the city

Move to Lagos

After a year and a half in Johannesburg I have taken up an assignment in Lagos Nigeria starting from the beginning of September 2006.

I have now been in Lagos for almost four weeks and I am settling in here well. I am working for a Multi-national Telecommunications company and am living in a suburb called Ikoyi on Lagos Island. The offices for the company are based on Victoria Island which is just across the creek from where I live.

The compound I am staying in is rented by my company and all 6 units are for company employees.

The picture above is a view from my bedroom window across the creek and the small picture below is a picture of the building from the other side of the creek (I know it is a tiny picture, will take something better when I have some time.









Over the next few months I hope to share a lot more pictures and experiences from around the city.