LAGOS, OH MY GOSH!!!

Where to begin...?

The train rocked in and basically a dude was there to meet every young backpacker as soon as we stepped onto the platform... Headed to quite possibly the best Hostel ever, Carlos House (http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/CarlosHouse-Lagos-12301 check it out for future trips), amazing views and great people, who know everything there is to know about the night life, travel information, and the best places of interest. A huge thankyou to Carlos, Artur, and Little Kat for an amazing stay... The Roof top Balcony, the three kitchens and that little landing outside the window which i read my book and played guitar most afternoons was the bomb. What started as 5 nights, turned into 10...

Everynight we would have pre drinks on the balcony and then out to Inside Out (Go and see Mick) for a couple of cheeky ones, including the world famous "fish bowl" and then hit up all the other clubs in town. Three Monkeys, Whites Bar (fluro lights down stairs, bit hot but always loads of fun) Grand Cafe (to finish off the night) And Joe's Garage (rock music and some massive podiums) were my favourites.


Lagos as a city is an maze of charming little cobble stone streets, not too dissimilar to Santiago, but smaller and some great restaurants, with both beaches only walking distance from the old town. I think we spent most days just relaxing at potato beach (closest to town), playing skims with the world cup ball. Skims is probably the best game ever invented... apart from knocking out the occaisional toddler or it smacking the face of an unsuspecting tourist, the game became
a staple in the Lagos routine. And everyone wanted in.

At Potato Beach, there was a rock formation that that you could jump off, i reckon 15m high, I told The Doff to make sure the coast was clear and Cowabunga and some profanities on the way down and i hit, hard. It is seriously one of the best rushes ever. But once was enough.

On one of the first nights there they had a dance party on the beach. i decided against it, 20 euro just to get in and no real good DJ's headlining... Really wish i had've been there when Groove Armada played, bout two weeks after... Seems they have these parties quite regularly around summer.

Met some killer lads from England, and have since caught up with them, well Tommy boy, and even did a little bit of FEESSHING (Fishing!). My self and The Doff had been threating for weeks, we had seen many a "HOT SPOT" whilst on our travellings but never had the rods or tackle to get amongst it. We got to do both, check out the wicked rock formations (Portugals very own 12 Apostle look-a-likes), and have a crack at taking on the beasts from the deep of the Mediterranean.

The Doff was on fire early with three mackeral and Mills was battling until, as if in a movie, with his last cast, pulled in the biggest fish of the day, a moon fish the size of tennis racket head. Wicked. unfortunately for new found mate Matt, he did not catch anything, and nor did George, but he slept (well passed out) early on... Everyone else had a terrific outing and G cooked up the feast back at the Hostel bacony. Word going around, was the batter was a bit average, but who can complain to free feed. I chose to stick to my no fish policy.


Woke up on the beach about 10 o'clock on the last morning, with, you guessed it no wallet, some cheeky bugger had swapped my wallet for a brochure, or maybe i traded it with him... hmmm probably the first one. so back at the Hostel cancelling cards and trying to work out how to pay for the room for me and The Doff (sorry the Doff and I), as he had lost his wallet too. Going through my backpack i found a spare travellex card, wicked, and got the cash out to pay for the room, and then had to rush to the train station, a 20min approx walk. Now in Lagos the beach is separated by a river that flows back into the port, and unfortunately there is only one foot bridge that crosses it, and it was a draw bridge to let the boats underneath. Now the whole time we stayed in Lagos, we never had one boat pass under, this time with minutes only before the train left, Three Freakin Boats went under... The Doff and I bolted as soon as that bridge went down. Made the train and got some free pizza off a guy when we sat down... Today was looking up from the disastrous start.

Oh and by the way, we met some great guys from Perth on the last couple of days and i decided to, whilst having a couple of pints at Shakers, to book a couple of flights from Madrid to Amsterdam, and then Amsterdam to Oslo to meet up with Grunter. That story will come to a bad ending later in the blog... stay tuned.

So in conclusion, Lagos, Amazing i love you and met some great people.

Walked up to the Lighthouse and had some home made sandwiches with old mate Maple and Danielle on the rocks looking down into the Grottoes. I highly recommend it.

Kinda wished i had've done the booze cruise (a day out on a boat, all you can drink) which we heard about, but there is a good chance i will be returning to Lagos very very soon...

Speak soon

Madrid next up