Someone recently asked me why I don’t organise travel trips for people. Well, the short answer is that I can’t be bothered. More importantly though, I’m way too laissez-faire and more inclined to wing it than is appropriate for someone who would be in charge of people’s lives who are paying for a trip. Take this weekend for example… I mentioned to my friend, T, that I wanted to do a hike near Epe. I convinced her to come along and to invite her boyfriend too. I even managed to convince them that he should drive – and that probably was for the absolute best in the circumstances. Dee, another friend joined us and we were set to roll. Saturday morning rolled around and…then a few complications arose. Dee’s family were not too keen on the proposed hike and asked for further details on where we were going and what we were going to do. Typical me, I hadn’t really planned a detailed itinerary so they were not best pleased. She just about convinced them that she would be ok and finally was enroute to join us.
Dee’s parents were not the only ones asking questions. I was pretty sure I had mentioned to T and her boyfriend beforehand that I didn’t know the exact location of the hike and that it was not in Google Maps. Still, they expressed shock and surprise on the day. We started calling around. We stopped off at LUFASI Park to ask for directions – none were forthcoming – and had a little wander around the place. After a few calls to clarify the route, we were back on the road. We got to one bridge, and then another, and then it was clear we had gone too far and had to turn back. I wasn’t even sure if we were still in Lagos State at that point!
Finally, we arrived at our destination. The road was little more than a dirt track on either side and it was clear that the only vehicles that travelled on it were tractors and lorries. Hmmm. T’s boyfriend’s car is a 4X4 so I figured we could do this. We gave it a whirl…and got stuck. Stuck to the point that even trying to move dug us in further. Oh boy. I thought about taking pictures to at least make the most of the moment but had been ordered to stay in the car. Kill-joys! A few local guys came to help us…and then more came…and then more came…and finally we were on our way, of course not without giving a couple of tips for the “assistance”. Dee then showed me a message someone had sent to her. “The Gardens are not really functional at the moment” it read. “But I knew that, didn’t you?” was my response. All 3 of my friends turned to look at me at that point. “You mean you knew it was not functional and you still brought us here?” “Erm yes, because we were coming for a hike and I’m sure people come here anyway so I figured it would be fine; I just hadn’t anticipated the bad roads.” After that, I was labelled a scam artist and officially relieved of trip planning duties for our future trips. I don’t know where I went wrong. Do you? ;p
Photography by Dami Olubanwo
Wearing: T-shirt – Gerard Darel; Trousers – Zara; Bag – DKNY; Scarf (worn as headwrap) – vintage.
