I knew there had to be an up-side to dealing with the tedious bureaucracy of working for an international organisation. And there was! Travel to Africa!
I had two trips to Nigeria as part of my work for an organisation that I will not name. They were both quite full-on in terms of workload, and my policy of not identifying myself on this site means I can't even tell you about the type of work I was doing there. Alas, you'll have to be satisfied with looking at some pictures instead. They were all taken in the capital city, Abuja. I realise that none of them are particularly good, but I was busy working and didn't have time to be artistic and crap. Leave me alone!
Oooh, and I forgot to mention that both my trips took place during the British winter, which made my impression of Abuja so much more positive.
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| Aso Rock in the background |
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| This is just a dirt road...but it's IN AFRICA!! |
Actually, it wouldn't feel right to post a blog about a new country I've visited without mentioning the food. The food consisted of a variety of starches (maize, cassava, yam, plantain) and a whole lotta meat. None of these suited my..er.."refined" palate, so I wasn't overly impressed with the cuisine in general until I discovered one notable exception: Jollof Rice. Oh my god, almost too delicious for words. It's rice fried with lots of spices and onion and tomatoes. Okay, so it doesn't sound that delicious when I describe it, but it really really is. Here's a photo that looks nothing at all like the stuff that I ate but hopefully makes you think that I could be telling the truth about the extent of its deliciousness. Which I totally am.
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| Outside the Wuse Market |
Hmm, I'm not actually doing that well at giving you a text-free blog post after all. Oh well.
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| I think this building looks like a giant coffee table |
I know Abuja is not at all representative of the rest of Nigeria, let alone West Africa, but I still feel pretty pleased about finally setting foot on the African continent. Now I need to arrange a proper trip there. And to learn how to cook Jollof Rice.
Yum.
Yum.
