Owo to Benin ( a.k.a. getting the #!*# out of Nigeria )
We had limped into Owo the previous night, feeling that it all was unraveling.
Our lack of money after having been cleaned out by the scam artists meant we
had to beg for a local hotel to accept dollars in lieu of the local currency.
After hearing our story, they helped out, so we booked into the First Molac Hotel, on the other side of Owo.
We spent a miserable night sharing a meal of “chicken” (looked more like a
rat!) and salad. We had a look at our finances and realized that it will be
impossible to still do the volunteer work we planned to do in
A new day brings new hope
and new beginnings and this is especially true in
Our biggest inspitration THANK YOU guys and to al of you that care so much xxxxxx
Stewart wandered off to beg a cup of coffee
out of the receptionist, and then transferred the last of the diesel in the
jerry cans into Stan’s tank, before chatting to the locals about the problem of
Stan’s failing brakes. A local “prince” staying at the hotel offered to send
his mechanic, but said as today was “Environmental Day” ,
no none was allowed to travel on the
roads until 10am, so we would have to
wait until after then. The prince’s
mechanic must be very environmentally conscious, as by 10h30 he had not arrived. Another hotel patron, whose
mechanic was literally dismantling and rebuilding his vehicle’s engine in the
car park, offered his services, and the breaks were repaired to a state where
they at least worked, even though the sounds emanating from the wheel the scam
artists had worked on continued to be a worry. Most amazing thing was that this
guy wanted NO money……a first in
We had decided to push on as
far as we could that day, in the hope we might make it out of
With 5kms to go, we were again
stopped by the local “constabulary” and
given a working over. Realizing we actually indeed had no money to give them,
they let us go, and we made the border in the gathering gloom.
Our final goodbye to Nigeria......how appropriate! CONOIL>>>>>CONLAND!!!
The border crossing on the
Nigerian side was like watching paint dry, made worse by the constant stream of
motorbikes and cars passing through the border
without even stopping, simply slowing down to hand the guy manning the
boom a fistful of money!
We eventually made it
through, and quickly passed through Immigration for Benin, who was as laid back
as can be, did not even check for visas, just stamped our passports and told
us;
1. the Customs office was in the next town , Pobe, just 20kms ahead
2. there were plenty of hotels to choose from in Pobe
So off we headed to Pobe, in the dark and on a deteriorating road – sound like deja vu? By the time
we made Pobe, we had decided to book into the first
hotel we found, and to find Customs in the morning. A helpful local, when asked
for directions to the nearest hotel, jumped on his motorbike and led us to
probably the ONLY hotel in
Pobe, going by the grand name of
Molotov Hotel! Besides a problem with the water (there was none), the night
guard playing his music all night long, no curtains (the beach towels came in
handy), no bedding (Kikois), we got a few hours’
sleep, happy to be out of the clutches of
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