Last week I innocently asked, “Where is the rain?” and was slightly alarmed at the response from the heavens—a full-fledged deluge here in Lagos, things were happening in Abuja, and I got videos from all along the coast as far out as Liberia. I got my rain, and we were grateful for the cool weather. So just in case… *ahem* I am going to ask, “where is my MONEY?!”

This is Oddbod and the City, my Lagos adventure

Just Say Yes

Sometimes in this life, you just have to get out of your own way. What I know about myself is I hate surprises and I am the least spontaneous person you will ever meet. It’s not something I am necessarily proud of, but it does mean that I have kept a diary/planner since the age of 13. My mum got me started, and these days to be frank, if it isn’t in my diary, it isn’t happening.

The upside to this, I am told, is I come across as super organised what you will find out to your peril though is, I am not the girl to invite last minute on an adventure.

The pandemic lockdown has rearranged my brain somewhat and I have been toying with the idea that maybe, just maybe, the earth would not stop rotating if I unclenched a little.

Turns out, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

“Ods, there is space on the jet. You want to come to Jos for the day?”

“Heck yeah,” I replied and then proceeded to panic.

Make no mistake you will second and third guess yourself when you step out of your comfort zone, but you just have to take deep breaths and fall into the abyss. Good things are on the other side of your self-imposed barriers.

So there I was on the tarmac a few days later and I tell you, I could definitely get used to the private jet lifestyle (Lord, are you listening) especially with the Covid created chaos that is air travel these days. We took off and, a little shimmy shimmy through the clouds, a skip around some rain, some whisky to keep the nerves steady, then we were at Jos. It was all contrasting rocky terrain and amazing blooming trees of the kind I have not seen since I was a child at my father’s farm. In the shade the breeze is cool, and my allergies were nowhere to be found.

Coffee-Mango

All sorts of fruit grow up there like strawberries and mangoes the size of a baby’s head. When I heard that we grew coffee in Jos I just had to have some. Luckily, we had travelled up north with a local and I was immediately hooked up to the services of Kim’s Coffee who whipped up a batch of medium roast to go. The smell my people …divine. Super affordable too. Did we all know about this though? That we grew our own coffee?

Let me take a little time here to say how much I appreciate getting to enjoy a little of Nigeria’s cultural hidden gems that I otherwise would never have experienced. The entertainment was provided by a troupe of Angas people, a minority ethnic group that migrated from Bornu and settled in the highlands of Plateau State. The music was unlike anything I had ever heard before, their drums were light and lyrical so that the whole experience was magical and midsummer nights dreamy. I am guessing the accompanying woodwind section had much to do with that vibe.

Some good food, some air kisses and kneeling later on, then I was back on the plane headed back. We finished the night off with some sushi and champers and it was time for bed. It took two to three business days to recover from it all ( these old bones, you see) but I regret NOTHING.

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