Over the long democracy weekend my friends and I decided to go on a road trip to Badagry, which is a border town in Lagos state. This trip didn’t require a lot of planning, my friend Tolu suggested we visit Badagry on a group chat that is dedicated to planning trips. A good number of people in the group chat were available and thus it happened.
Lagos can be brutal to you when you are driving in unfamiliar parts of the city. We packed at a place we were sure was a bus-stop along the Apapa Expressway and the police van was right in front of the car within seconds. It felt like they were waiting on us to make a mistake and pounce like hungry lions. We left this tricky situation after a bribe of N1, 000.
Oh, I haven’t mentioned that it was raining and it didn’t feel like there was an end, we started to doubt our decision of taking the trip and prayed for the rain to stop. We didn’t dwell on the weather too long we were more grateful to enjoy each other’s company and sang along to the songs that were blearing out of the speakers.
We arrived in Badagry’s French Village where we picked some of our friends who are on a study program and they were going to serve as our tour guides. By the time we arrived at our first stop, the rain had stopped. It was the historic slave trade museum which ironically has a prison located a few meters away. We learnt that 40 able-bodied men were exchanged for one large umbrella. Among all the other forms of exchange this is one that I find the most disturbing and can’t rationalize. We saw the grave site of the slave baron and the reigning chief when slave trade was finally abolished. It was an eye opening experience. Unfortunately, the first story building isn’t open on Sundays so we couldn’t visit it.
We took a boat across the river located opposite the museum to make the trip to ‘’The Point of No Return’’. This is the route that slaves went on towards the Atlantic to make their journey to the ‘’New World’’. The Attenuation wellis located on the walk path that leads to The Point of No Return. Legend has it that when the slaves drank from the well they forgot their past and where they were coming from, we were going to test this out, but there wasn’t any means to draw water from the well.
We walked and sang man-o-war songs to keep our spirits up. ‘’The Point of No Return’’ is a peaceful beach and I wonder how many people went passed this beach to embark on a journey filled with uncertainties.
Our last stop was Alpha Beach, where I became the photographer and everyone enjoyed the waves. I will definitely visit Badagry again, to soak my feet in the beach and learn about the history of the place. I forgot to mention the beautiful statue of a fisherman located at a roundabout in Badagry.
Enjoy the photos
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