CALABAR, Nigeria

A very early start cause Blessing insisted that time would be needed to get to the Jibowi Bus station.  Blessing, Mercy and Doris waved me off at ABC buslines before heading off to church. After a VERY luxurious (for West Africa at least) trip east to Calabar, ABC made the 14 hours of travel bearable with room to move and air con. Stayed at Jahas Guest house in a HUGE room with a massive bathroom that included a bath– could I be their only guest? The electricity is on and off through the night and the rain seems to be setting in. Sunday I look for the nearby Drill Ranch, a fantastic setup trying to preserve the Pandrillus. http://www.pandrillus.org/projects/drill-ranch/

These gorgeous creatures are becoming rare and endangered in the wild not only because of habitat loss but also due to being hunted for bushmeat which is a particularly good earner if you’re poor and incredibly popular amongst the city folk that were on my buses. This place also has a few chimps here but they cannot be returned to the wild making their future a little uncertain. I spend a couple of hours here enjoying watching these beautiful animals when a couple of Spanish vollies turn up to organise a visit to the organisation’s Afi Mountain property and they kindly invite me to join them – its tempting but I think the road will be hard work with the rains, and in reality the Drills are very shy in the jungle making them hard to spot. Hats off to Pandrillus! Later in the day I visit the Museum in a beautiful old house, on the riverfront – used for the residence of the British Governor of Nigeria during colonial times. Plenty to see and I’m lucky to complete my visit with power staying on the whole time. This museum is nicely curated with lots of exhibits giving information on Nigeria’s history especially circumspect about the slave trade here, the circumstances leading to the British grab for colonial power and the lucrative trade in palm oil. For the colonialists living here though, this was the Darkest Africa of topi hats, agues and an early death if you didn’t watch your health or the natives.

I walk a few blocks looking for Cercopan, another organisation who are trying to rescue smaller chimps from the nearby forests. http://www.cercopan.org/

They currently have 6 different primate species, from two families of primates: the guenons, small, compact, long-tailed monkeys and mangabeys, more robust larger long tailed monkeys. They have only been going a few years and not as established as Drill Ranch but they also have a jungle camp where they are trying to release back to the wild.

They currently have 6 different primate species, from two families of primates: the guenons, small, compact, long-tailed monkeys and mangabeys, more robust larger long tailed monkeys. They have only been going a few years and not as established as Drill Ranch but they also have a jungle camp where they are trying to release back to the wild. Another curiousity here are the various monuments to a local hero, Mary Slessor, a feisty Aberdeen feminist lass who spent her life here as a missionary working amongst the ‘natives’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Slessor

Now time to tackle chores – find the bus station to buy a ticket to tomorrow’s destination, Umuahia, then back up the hill to try and find internet to try planning flights south. I head in to the fast food place across the road and lo & behold not only do they have doughnuts, there is internet! I get online and manage to buy a flight ticket Accra, Ghana to Windhoek, Namibia using a credit card but no such luck with the Arik Air’s flight Lagos to Accra – they want a local debit card. Hmm But they do have a branch in Benin City, where I’m headed after Umuahia so with a bit of luck I can get a ticket on Tuesday to fly Wednesday. Great meal and beer at the evening time bars that spring up each night in car parks. Choices here include shawarma and fresh ocean fish bbqed on the spot.

FACT: Nigerians have a manner of speaking that requires yelling with no polite niceties: walk past any store or market stall and they demand “what are you looking for?” or “Oyibo, what you want?” I take turns in ignoring them or actually answering “nothing” which bamboozles them – who walks around looking and not wanting to buy? Or if I actually do want something, it is far quicker for me to look about for what I want than it is to explain what I want then we eventually establish that they don’t have it but that they will look for it anyway. Very long winded when all I want to do is wander about.