Back in Abuja

This is a typical, although light, gridlock scene in Lagos.  There are very few traffic lights in Nigeria, and only a few intersections are controlled by police.  The yellow vans are public buses, which are usually well beyond capacity and the drivers are very assertive (to put it nicely).  Small-engine, Asian motorbikes are all over.  They'll squeeze through any small opening they can find.

================================================

We made it back to Abuja with no problem.  I’m in the Hilton again, which is about four times as expensive as the hotels in Lagos and Onitsha.  Abuja is a much more expensive city than any other in Nigeria, but the Hilton is also more upscale than the other hotels.

I managed to pull a muscle in my back a couple of nights ago, and it’s pretty painful now.  The driver stopped at a pharmacy before dropping me off at the hotel this morning.  Like drug stores in the States, they sold cosmetics and other products.  Unlike U.S. drug stores, it was small with narrow aisles, and there were only a couple of choices for each product.   All the over-the-counter drugs were behind the counter.  There was one branded ibuprofen, one generic, and Tylenol.  I went for the branded ibuprofen – 1,000 Naira (about $7) for 16 pills.

Today was the last day for voter registration, and many people waited until the last minute.  We saw some large crowds (no lines, just crowds) surrounding the registration desks, which were out on the sidewalks.  Those people must have been there all day.

I had the buffet dinner at one of the hotel’s many places to eat.  Among the fare I tried: massa (a moist corn meal cake with a sauce made up of fish stock, dried fish and beef), lamb stew, Nigerian rice, small skewers of spiced and fried beef and chicken (which also has a Nigerian name that I forget), and a dense chocolate mousse. 

With any luck my back will settle down during the night.