I’m currently seated in a bus…sorry “a coach” travelling
down the M1 highway on my way to Birmingham. The greenery rushing by the window
side is giving me memories of the several road trips I used to take back home,
when going to the village or anywhere outside Lagos. Ahhh fond recollections of
God is Good motors or the infamous Jibowu stretch of bus services…
Its so familiar, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re
on Ore-Benin highway… only difference is that there hasn’t been even the
whimper or bump of a single pothole all through the journey so far, no stressed
looking hawkers carrying (my beloved) plantain chips, bottles of water, soft
drinks, egg rolls, gala, or any of the million myriad things you’d have them
trying to foist on you, no long queues of endless traffic, and significantly,
the only thing that has made us stop so far was when there had to be a change
of driver at a service station….no tree trunks blocking the road, no burning
barrels and certainly no stupid rifle wielding, lunatic policemen forcing you
to park to the side with their stupid stop and searches…. God..i don’t miss it
at all.
Another amazing thing is that they’ve actually predicted the
pick-up and drop off times to a certainty of almost 100%. You book your ticket
and they immediately notify you of when the bus will leave the station, and
exactly when it will stop at your destination. Pick up time today has been spot
on, I’m pretty sure drop off will be too. Coming from those “say a prayer” days
of “you go reach anytime you reach” while travelling back home, this is such a
welcome relief and is as should be.
I also recall with fondness, my recurring bad luck with seat
partners every time I’ve travelled alone and for the first time, seems like
luck has changed….This trip i’ve had interesting seat mates, an Australian,
rugby looking player who joined me to try and hunt down a non-existent seat
number and a very nice lady (seems Danish)who I had to bounce out of the seat I
planned on appropriating when I didn’t
locate my seat number… We’ve all been gisting and the conversation has been
interesting…apparently, they’re both doing solo travels across countries and
exploring as much as they can before the cold months set in… White people are
so conversational..its amazing. Divulging so much details about their lives and
everything…oh well…
The countryside (I use that term loosely here) is brimming
with so many fields of some type of crop and its so beautiful. There are signs
everywhere directing you on where to turn off, many well maintained bridges and
other road infrastructure (speed cameras, hard shoulders, streetlights).. I’m
so sure it would be a joy to go for a long drive here…sigh..
Its been an interesting trip so far….. My seatmates have
finally stopped chatting and have dozed off…I’m just staring out the window,
lost in thought and psyching myself up for the interview I’m heading to. Wish
me luck folks.
hopefully I’ll update with a favourable outcome of this trip
at the end of it.
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