I was awake again at 4:15 and couldn't go back to sleep. Another looooooong day ahead. Michelle has decided to leave the group for awhile and rejoin in Gabon. She's going to Ghana to possibly volunteer for a couple of weeks-
I guess that's what happens on a long trip: people come and go to do other things, sleep in better hotels or whatever. Right now we are down 6 people - they signed up for the complete trip to Cape Town but are away. I'm not going anywhere, I know that, at least not yet!
Michelle is a Canadian who has lived in many places, most recently in Chile for the past 6 years where she was teaching English. She's worked for Not for Profits, then 7 years for the RCMP in High Level and Airdrie as the director of the victim's assistance unit. Next she lived in Calgary where she was a community developer for the city helping to design playgrounds and parks. This is her third overland, having done London to Sydney and Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. When not traveling, Michelle likes to golf, volunteer, swim and climb mountains. She travels because her personal motto is "seeing the world through God's eyes" and she feels really blessed to be able to do that. After this trip, Michelle will have seen close to 100 countries.
The road was mostly paved to Oshogbo but it was very rough. I sat in the front of the truck and I was swaying from left to right. I can't imagine how bad it would have been in the back seats. There are so many crazy signs along the way like Crystal Ball Pharmacy, Six Foot Funeral Home/Mortuary and-
We stopped for a pee at a gas station and bathroom cleanliness has hit an all time low. So disgusting and to make matters worse, the shop had nothing in it. We had to walk across the busy highway to get a cold drink and-
And they are right. They taste nothing like Oreos!
Nor is the cleanliness of the rivers-
Once in Oshogbo, a traditional centre for Yoruba spirituality, we visited the Osun Oshogbo Sacred Site which was a waste of time. It's unbelievably a UNESCO World Heritage site. All I can figure is that UNESCO wants to have a certain number of sites in every country in the world however they are scraping underneath the bottom of the barrel here. Suzanne Wengner, an Austrian, is responsible for the sculptures-
Offerings are offered to the fertility goddess, Osun.
I guess you can't have children without-
Goofiness-
Pretty weird-
Pinocchio?-
There was a small art gallery with items for sale. Typical Nigerian art is made with beads-
And batik-
More sculptures-
I think Suzanne may have lived here-
Lunch was the usual: chicken and rice. This time it was jollof rice which is red and spicy. I've learned the best thing to order is African. They can't do western and chicken and rice or fries is pretty hard to mess up.
We found a hotel with private bathrooms and AC and went 'downtown' for a SIM card which isn't working too well. I'm hoping for an early night and a sleep past 4:30 am! Tomorrow we're off to Benin City.
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