We made it to Lagos this past Tuesday. We are currently living in a hotel until our apartment situation gets worked out (hopefully soon!). But we live here now. We probably won't be able to go home until late this summer. And I'm surprised at how un-freaked out or panicked I am about this. I am trying so hard to maintain an easygoing, roll with the punches, mindset about this whole thing, and so far it's working.
I stand by my previous statement, regarding our first trip, that the worst part of Lagos (thus far) has been the airport. This time one of our traveling companions got completely hammered on the plane, he quite literally drank for 12 hours straight, and walked right out of the airport, leaving us and his bags behind. That is just not something one should do at the Lagos airport. There's a security team that meets us as soon as they can, and a plainclothes custom official that escorts/expedites the customs process for us. And all of it should be done with a level-head, and cautious awareness. Anyway, back to the plainclothes customs official - I have no idea what his role is in the process, but I'm grateful for him. He lets me just go sit down on the other side of the customs gate and leaves the questioning to the men. I'm not sure whether to be offended or flattered. But it's a relief that he is there to help. Once we found our bags and rejoiced that all had made it seemingly intact, the plainclothes custom official asked us what was inside of them. He acted very upset about the fact that we had a whole suitcase full of food. I say he "acted" because I can't be sure how upset he was about it, given that the problem was instantly remedied by giving him some money to slip to the customs official checking bags. And we got waved right through the horde of people having their bags opened. Hooray!
I would advise those travelling through the Lagos airport to have cash on hand (USD or Naira) to tempt the customs officials, however, I've also heard that doing that can go horribly wrong, as bribing government officials is technically illegal. But the bribing and corruption of government employees is kind of what Nigeria is known for - so just use your best judgement when put in that situation. And just avoid the Lagos airport if Nigeria is not your final destination. Trust me.
I did hear that the airport bathrooms have been renovated since our last trip. Which is a miracle. But I didn't dare check them out myself.
And then we had to wait 45 minutes in a van with curtains drawn for our companion to go back and find his bags. This made nearly every member of our travel party quite upset. Because despite the fact that we had a Mopol (mobile police) officer in the passenger seat of the van, I still felt like a sitting, sweating duck. So I'm glad the airport part is over.
So far, we haven't gotten sick, and have become slightly more adventurous with our food choices now that we have a clean bathroom at the ready. I am mostly bored during the day but my sleeping hours are so messed up that I'm glad for the lack of organized activities.
Looking forward to our expat friends arriving late next week, and of course, getting out of this cramped hotel room so we can actually unpack and get settled.
