Our CEO’s visit to Nigeria - West Africa extended leadership team and our Nigerian distributors. Gotta love the fantastic colors of the traditional attire!
becky and rick
Living in Lagos, Nigeria. And Other Stuff.
It’s really hot when the generator dies…
We learned the hard way in the office yesterday that an operational generator is pretty important in Lagos. The infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the explosive population growth and one of the places that fact is most evident is the supply of electricity (or lack thereof). The Nigeria Electric Power Authority (NEPA) is commonly referred to as “Never Expect Power Again” by the locals. So having a generator is a given for any business or home that wants constant power. Unfortunately the generator in our office died yesterday afternoon. So no power, no lights, no air conditioning. You know it’s hot in the office when you open the windows to let the 90 degree African breeze cool things off. :) But the team kept at it…why let a little thing like electricity slow us down! That was until the computer batteries started dying and the sweat became unbearable…time to call it a day. Today is a public holiday so we’re enjoying the good side of the heat and sun before the rainy season settles in…with lunch along the lagoon and an afternoon at the pool. I’ll take the good with the bad any day!
5 days, 7 countries, 8 airports
Rick and I got back from South Africa Tuesday night after a great weekend running the Two Oceans race and exploring wine country with friends (one of our favorite things!). More on that trip in the next post. I then unpacked and repacked for a whirlwind work trip to visit a couple of our expansion markets. Unfortunately, there are very few direct flights, so most flights around West Africa feel more like a bus where we land, people get on/off and up we go again (or a kangaroo…up/down, up/down). How’s this for 5 days:
Cape Town, S. Africa - Johannesburg, S. Africa - Lagos, Nigeria (one night in my own bed) then Freetown, Sierra Leone - Banjul, The Gambia - Dakar, Senegal (one night and quick visit) then Abidjan, Ivory Coast (2 nights) then Lome, Togo and finally back to Lagos. That’s 5 days, 7 countries and 8 different airports.
Traveling in West Africa is not as glamorous as it may sound. First there’s the Lagos airport - which is not exactly a model of efficiency. Its more of a game of navigating the huge lines (which turn into something that looks more like a mob scene) and the various security guards, customs officials and random people with badges that come up with new ways each week to ask for bribes. Then finding your gate is always fun - no signs - just ask and guess. On this Wednesday morning, we were moved to 3 different gates all within 20 minutes of the flight. I couldn’t help but wonder if they had lost the plane. We took off for Freetown and upon landing 3 hours later learned that the plane had hit a bird, resulting in a dented propeller, so the plane was grounded and I’d spend the next 8 hours in the Sierra Leone airport waiting for a new plane from Lagos. No cell service, no internet, and no air conditioning. It was a long day. I couldn’t help but think about the movie Blood Diamond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Diamond_(film)) which was set in Sierra Leone during the 10 year civil war that ended in 2002. The good news is the officials in the airport were extremely nice and as accommodating as they could be. One of the guards actually offered to go outside the airport for me and buy a SIM card so I could at least make a few phone calls and let everyone know where I was.
A long story short - it was a good trip. I only missed a few hours of the first day of our 3 days of market visits and business meetings. One of my favorite things in these visits is wandering through the crowded open markets to do store checks. Its always a great glimpse into “real life” anywhere we are. Attached are a few pictures from a huge market in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I do love these adventures - but for now I’m also enjoying a few weeks with no airports on the schedule. :)
Lagos’ version of Whole Foods
The market under Falamo Bridge is as close as it’s going to get here to Whole Foods. Great produce and really nice fish…in fact we’ve even made sashimi from the fish - and we’re still here to tell the story! Saturday morning we took some friends down to the market who are new to Lagos and hadn’t been yet. A bit of negotiating down the “Oyibo prices” and we all came away with good fruit, veggies and fish for the week.
Sunday afternoon Suya
Suya is thinly sliced, skewered bbq meat, served at many roadside stands in Nigeria. Like most food in Nigeria - it’s spicy! The meat is rubbed-in with tankora, a dry spice mix containing powdered groundnuts (peanuts), cayenne pepper, ginger, paprika and onion powder, then barbequed. Perfect with a cold beer (necessary to wash down the spice!) for a Sunday afternoon lunch.
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Cameroon
Last week I spent 2 days in Cameroon for work. We started our trip by spending a few hours in one of the open markets in Douala doing store checks. This trip was all work and no play - but at least I got to see more than the 4 walls of a conference room!
Lagos Street Photography
Since I’ve been slacking on posting pictures of everyday life in Lagos… I’m linking to a local photographer who has done just that.
7 months later…a bit of water damage…but the sea shipment finally arrived! Feels more like home already. The dogs apparently think so too. :)
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