I got home today 24 hours ahead of schedule to the surprise of the family! At 6pm last night I was saying goodbye to the organizer’s of the event in hot Nigeria (trying to keep my t-shirt from sticking to me and getting soaked with sweat). 18 hours later (after a couple of hours of sleep), I was having a snowball fight in the back garden with my family! There was no reason for me to stay in Nigeria until tonight, so I was able to get my ticket changed and moved up by a day. The drive from “Redemption Camp” to the airport (which used to be known as the world’s most dangerous airport – in terms of likelihood of robbery), was exciting. Lagos is an incredible place. Officially only 5 million, but realistic estimate is more like 17 million, and most of them seemed to be trying to get in front of our car. Imagine a three lane road densely packed with aggressively driven, horn-honking vehicles, about six cars side by side trying to squeeze into any gap, driving at speed and missing each other by less than an inch. It was incredible, and no surprise to see a nice gold mercedes get severely damaged by a bus directly in front of us. We made it to the airport, I checked in and eventually flew out just before midnight. It was fun to interact with all the officials in the airport – many wishing me a Happy Easter, all apparently showing allegiance to one of the big four English football teams, and some trying to get a “tip” for no legitimate reason. Connected in Paris after only a couple of hours of sleep, if that, on the longer first flight. Got into freezing London and travelled home by train to enjoy the day with the Meads.
Thanks for praying for last week, I will write a report in the next day or two so that you can know more about the situation in Nigeria. It was a worthwhile trip on various levels, but I’m too tired to explain coherently now.
