TWO DAYS AND 5 HOURS in LAGOS
A LOOOONG TEXT.
A trip report with a difference.
Personally, i love the part
“My life is a movie” the best!
Please note two volumes of
GGrishin’s book in the centre.
So,
OK, so we had Oakeshott’s / Sun Logistics seminar at Africa Re. We had 50 participants from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Sierra-Leone. I spoke for around 40 % of time, and 5 (!) gentlemen from Sun Logistics, a surveying and adjusting company, for the remaining 60 %. Samson and I think it was a success, but, of course, Samson now needs to contact all companies present in order to get some real inquiries.
We spoke on Hull, P&I, cargo, and some additional covers. The biggest discussions were on DSU (delay in start-up) = ALOP and on P&I sections in ITC (Port risks). For me, the hardest thing was to understand multiple questions put to me in very low voices with the accent, which I didn’t understand at all. Please have a look at Captain Nani speaking.
Anyway, during the two days of presentations I was coughing most of the time. I had explained the organisers that I had a mere straight-forward cold with blocked nose and cough, not the CVirus. Moreover, my temperature was checked at the airport and a few times in the hotel and in Africa Re. They also had the disinfectants at every visible point.
I also hoped that the spicy meat and beer which we were consuming in enormous quantities starting from breakfast, would stop my cold. Alas, this didn’t happen.
And, at the end of the second day of the seminar, the Inevitable happened. Samson and I were asked to see the Lady-in-Charge at Africa Re, who didn’t even know my name (although we had been arranging this seminar for some 10 months).
In a very strict tone, she said that she had been told that I was coughing during the presentations, and that I needed to do a medical check. Later on, my driver told me, that there was a gentlemen from Kenya, who was terrified of being infected, and wouldn’t even press a button in a lift himself. Probably, he was the one who had raised the concern.
Well, I said that I appreciated her worries about the well-being of her colleagues and the seminar participants. At the end of the seminar, when Samson and the Sun guys went for some beers, I was put in a Large Black Jeep and driven to a private hospital.
I have to say, Lagos is huge. It took me 1.5 hours in endless heavy traffic jams to get to the airport. But, most of the rich companies and people are located in the Victoria Islands, in 5 or 6 adjoining streets. It’s very strange to see rather dirty streets, some with dust and soil on the surface, lots of homeless people, and to be told that the country’s largest insurers, banks, oil companies were all located in this area, and also, a billionaire, the richest man in Africa, lived “in this particular building”. Well, a modern villa, but nothing more.
So, I was not surprised to find out that the private clinic was also located around the corner from Africa Re and our EKO hotels, in the VI (Victoria Island). It was a private house surrounded by a high fence, with 5 or 6 guards in their uniforms and a very strict nurse who met us at the entrance. She asked why I was there and I explained that Africa Re had asked me to do a CV test.
Well, I do understand the precautions, but… I was told to sit down on a chair in an improvised tent straight under the sun which at that moment in the afternoon reached some 35 C. Yes, I took off my jacket, but remained in my tie, shirt, trousers, black shoes…. After some 10 minutes of interrogation they brought a fan, and I got myself right in the circumstances in which I had caught my cold some 2 weeks ago: sweating in the sun and under the cold air from a fan. A nice combination!
Anyway, I had to answer questions from two nurses and a miniature doctor. Spelling OUR names, like George and Katherina, turned out to be an impossible task for her. Actually, the Nigerian names sound much more beautiful, like Akinola or Oderele, and they all mean something. Whilst George, does not (from THEIR point of view).
After the questioning and taking my temperature (36.1, in spite of the sun), I was told that they were going to do a blood test. Of course, I asked if the syringe was an exposable one. The two ladies started laughing. I continued, saying that if they were checking me, I also had to check on them. The conversation moved onto a friendlier tone. But, I still had to wait some 10 minutes in the same tent, for the test results.
By the way, I had to sign 4 or 5 documents and invoices. I think, this short / long stay in the blue tent cost Africa Re something up to USD 100.
The Little Doctoress returned and said that my blood didn’t show any signs of an inflammatory process. But, if Africa Re really wanted to do a CV test on me, they needed to send me to another place, something like Lux Hospital.
Well, staying for 2 weeks in a quarantine in Lagos was never among my priorities. And I started thinking of an Escape Plan.
First, I took a copy of the blood test, put the original in a Brown Envelope and gave it to the friendly driver from Africa Re. I (half)-lied, saying that the Doctor hadn’t found any CV in me. Actually, she hadn’t found any inflammation, which were two different things…
I asked the Friendly Driver to deliver the “test result” straight to the Serious Lady at Africa Re and jumped out from the Jeep. My intention was to lay low till tomorrow, Wednesday, 18th, when I had my flight from Lagos to Frankfurt. It became especially easy as Samson was on some meetings and wasn’t surprised when I told him that I didn’t want to join him for a beer or two.
And then came the Big Flights Mix-up. Earlier during the day, when sitting with a working wi-fi at the seminar, I saw an e-mail from Lufthansa saying that my direct flight from Frankfurt to Valencia on March 19th had been cancelled, and that they were re-booking my on alternative flights. Barry was also kind enough to resend me the information in an e-mail.
I wrote to Katya asking to check me in as internet was good, but not too quick. So, Katya did the check-in for my two new flights. But, she couldn’t check me in for the first flight, from Lagos to Frankfurt, as it wasn’t in the system, and she didn’t have the references.
A word of caution! ALWAYS keep the booking references and ticket numbers on you. Not always are they included in confirmation e-mails. And in this case, the tickets had been booked via an agency, whilst I had never received a direct mail from them, only via Samson.
Luckily, Samson gave me a print-out, and in it, in the last two lines, were both references! Still being in the hotel room around 7 pm on Tuesday 17th, I went to the Lufthansa site and checked me in, after some wanderings around the site, into the Lagos-Frankfurt flight for the next day, the evening of 18th. And started to think how to pass the rest of the evening as I didn’t want either to “have a couple of beers”, or to go to bed at such early hours.
And then came THE Call from Katya. “So, you are arriving tomorrow, aren’t you”, she asked. Well, Katya is known for mixing up my arrival dates, probably, she simply wanted to see me earlier…. I started explaining that the tickets, originally, had been booked on 18th at 23:50 from Lagos, and on 19th around 11 am from Frankfurt to Valencia, and that now I had three flights instead of two, still arriving on 19th.
“But your European flights are now for 18th, not for 19th!”’ said Katya.
WHAT? I started checking e-mails from Lufthansa. OK, flight Frankfurt-Munich, what??? Departing at 13:15 on 18th. Munich-Valencia, 15:30 on 18th. And….tatatataaaaa! Lagos-Frankfurt, 23:50…. On 18th! How could they? How can I? what shall I do?
“Goga, please have a look at the booking for the Lagos flight’, Katya was exceptionally calm with me. “As you may see, it IS for 18th in the evening. But, if you click the little icon to the right from the flight number, what does it show? Malabo (??) to Lagos on 17th! And Lagos to Frankfurt, on 17th, as well. Although, at the top it says 18th…”
“What should I do?” – “will you still make it to the airport?” “Yes, I haven’t packed, but it will take me 5 minutes, and it’s still 4 hours before the flight”. “I’d rather, you go!” And this DID coincide with my Secret Plan on how to escape the Potential CV check at the dreaded Lux Hospital….
By the way, somewhere around 8 pm the Strict Lady called me and asked to excuse her, she was only thinking about the safety of her colleagues….
OK, packing! 3 minutes. But, shall I go to the Airport? The flight is still in 4 hours, what if the flight is only half-full, but they will not take me on, thinking, that more people would arrive?
Anyway, I decided to go. Paid some extras at the hotel reception and asked them to keep my room till tomorrow, the 18th. They got me a private car, a rather old-looking Toyota Camry. The driver was told that a princely price of Euro 20 had been agreed for the trip. He didn’t trust the Reception, but went to the Souvenirs Black Market in the Hotel grounds. I had bought some souvenirs there last July and knew that there also was a black currency market. The driver was told that Euro 20 was some Naira (NGN) 7,500, and he obviously liked the rate.
But, he told me, that it would take one and a half hours to get to the airport! And what if took more? Panic!
The drive DID take 1.5 hours. All this time I was feeling pity for the dwellers of the great City of Lagos. As you are aware, the commercial centre is on the V-Island. Lagos actually means Lakes in Portuguese (and in Spanish). The Islands are connected with the mainland by a long…by a very long highway of a bridge. All four lanes were chock-a-block at this time at night, between 9 and 10 pm. There were dozens of decrepit-looking minibuses, carrying twice the number of passengers allowed. Lots of elderly cars with 6 to 7 passengers… And hordes of young men and women selling buns, peanuts, handkerchiefs, masterfully dodging the crawling vehicles and even managing to give change to my driver…whose car started to stall with an ominous engine breakdown sign bright on the panel.
I was sitting there, thinking: well, yes, not every person of my age and position, finds himself in an Unknown Situation. Will I fly to Frankfurt tonight? Will they put me into a quarantine in the Lux Hospital if I stay? Will they put me into a quarantine in Valencia, if I start coughing in the Manises airport? Or, will they not let me drive into Denia as I do not have my original Padron?
Only some time ago I developed a very strange way of thinking. Whilst watching a movie and worrying about the future of its heroes, I said to myself, “After all, it’s only a movie, what can go wrong with You, whilst you watch it”?
Two-three weeks later I started asking myself, “why DO you think that your life is any different from A MOVIE? After all, you don’t know the next turn of the plot? Well, you sort of know that there will be That’s all, folks! at the end, but how many series will it take? And, isn’t it wonderful that you don’t know what the next series will bring?”
In a nutshell: I came to the airport. I persuaded two or three ladies that it would be easier to change my today’s flight, than the two flights tomorrow. Called my driver, who was dreaming about another Euro 20 to get me back to the hotel. My flight took off on time, and reached Frankfurt next morning. The only fascinating part of it was a turbulence over Sahara, when a lady not far from me started sort of…preaching, or doing some shaman session… For 10 odd minutes we were listening to an angry speech, without repeating herself, and when it was finished… Sahara got calmer. See my FBook for more details.
The rest was uneventful. 6 hours at Frankfurt airport, 2 metres away from any other passenger. Munich, an hour, a curry wurst and a German beer. A flight with only 12 pax on board to Valencia. NO health checks on arrival in Valencia, UNLIKE Lagos. A drive home, and here I am, finally with my family, enjoying the views and looking forward to working 2 weeks on line… like I always do, actually.
Love, from Denia! From Oakeshott and from all of us, Grishins!
THANK YOU – AFRICA RE MARINE TRAINING, LAGOS
Dear George, Dear All Facilitators,
On behalf of the management and staff of the West Africa Regional Office of Africa Re, we write to say a big thank you for the partnership and your significant contributions towards the success of the captioned training. We are indeed grateful for the knowledge you have imparted on the participants during the seminar.
The feedback from the markets are very encouraging in view of your years of experience through which different insights were availed at the training. We look forward to more of this in the future.
Please find attached some of the pictures taken during the training. Others would be sent via another mail due to the size.
Best regards.
Senior Manager, Underwriting & Marketing | West Africa Region
