I felt a single tear drop slowly slide down my cheek. Sounds of the night forest were quickly muffled by thoughts louder than the howling stray dogs outside of the window. Silence. I could only hear my frustration. It has been hours since I first started convincing myself that I could make it through the heat of the night. Why did I invite myself on this trip? I questioned everything. I tried talking myself to sleep. And, eventually, I fell asleep. Or went into a heat stroke. Not quite sure.

As somebody who sleeps with the window open in the dead of winter, I was not ready to sleep in triple digit heat coupled with intense humidity. It was in that moment that I realized I had become so accustom to first world privileges such as air-conditioning, ceiling fans, and electricity in general, that I seemed to forget that not everybody lives the same way.

Nigeria was not on my list of countries to visit next. Of course I wanted to visit West Africa, but there was nothing drawing me in to move the destination up on my list. Whether due to safety concerns or lack of tourism, West African tour operators exclude this African nation from itineraries.

Rewind one year: as I was sitting in a basement in the middle of nowhere in central Wisconsin, I abruptly stopped working to rudely listen in on a conversation a coworker (Amanda) was having about wanting to visit her uncle (Mr. Oke) in Nigeria. After hearing that she did not want to go alone, I rudely interrupted and said, “I will go”. Joking or not, she took it seriously. I figured that this was my best opportunity to visit the country. Not too long after booking our flights, another coworker (Joy) wanted to join our random holiday weekend getaway.

Getting a visa was surprisingly difficult and expensive. After completing the online application and submitting a payment, I mailed hard copies of the required documentation to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Washington D.C. After about two weeks, I missed the first phone call from the embassy. I quickly learned that it was impossible to return the call, as the phone number listed on the embassy’s website is invalid. After sending an email to an address that I found online, I received another call about a week later. The embassy wanted to know why I was traveling to Nigeria. They interrogated me and questioned my intentions. After mentioning that I was visiting a friend’s uncle, they said the only way my visa would be approved was if I had the uncle send a letter of invitation to the embassy along with a copy of his identification. Eventually, after submitting this additional documentation, my visa was approved.

The problems only started with the visa process. After Delta had changed our flights three times, we arrived in Lagos on the evening of Thursday, November 11, 2016. The interrogations continued on the trip over to Nigeria. During the flight, we were approached several times by different flight attendants and questioned about our intentions for traveling to Nigeria. I am not sure if the flight attendants were just curious about our trip or were trying to see if we were being trafficked into the country.

Prior to leaving for Nigeria, Amanda’s family and the internet had warned us about the corruption in the Nigeria. Minutes after stepping off the plane, we learned that none of that commentary was exaggerated. Before even reaching customs and immigration, we were pulled aside by an officer. He asked for our passports and yellow fever vaccination cards. We politely replied that we did not have any since they are not required by law in Nigeria. (I always travel with my yellow fever vaccination card, but Amanda and Joy did not have one, so for consistency I said the same). He gave our passports to another officer, who hinted at the first bribe. We knew what we had to do – pay up or risk being harassed until we paid up. After some negotiation, we handed over $20 USD in total and got our passports back.

Moments later, while in line for customs and immigration, the power went out. We received the full Nigerian experience just minutes after landing in Lagos. We waited quite some time before the officers decided to collect everyone’s passports to manually process our entrance into the country. I just about had a heart attack waiting for our passports to be handed back. This was the first time in my travels that I lost sight of my passport. Luckily, this was not a cruel prank.

About two hours later, we were finally ready to leave the airport. The Nigerian experience continued. We sat in hours of traffic to drive less than 15 miles. After finally making it to Mr. Oke’s house, we were given traditional Nigerian snacks for dinner, which would turn into our breakfast for the duration of our stay until we left the country that Sunday, November 13.

It is these authentic experiences that slap you back to reality. Living in a first world country, you expect electricity, wireless internet, air-conditioning, and every day amenities like being able to charge your cell phone. You become so accustom to these privileges that you seem to forget that they do not exist everywhere or for everyone. I do not know the details behind Nigeria’s power outages, but I knew not to expect electricity.

Some neighborhoods have spent half a decade with no power at all. Nigerians with money have their own generators. Mr. Oke has a generator, but it does not stay on all night.

Similarly, restaurants have their own power generators, but they too, do not stay on full time. While having lunch at a restaurant on the first day, the power abruptly went out. Before that, we walked into a store to use the restroom. Within minutes, the power shut off. By the end of the day, we almost expected the power to go out anywhere we were.

We had two full days in Nigeria, which we spent most of sitting in traffic. Traffic in Nigeria is bad. Second to traffic in Nairobi, it takes hours to get anywhere.

Paved roads covered in dirt and sand. Black emissions from tailpipes filled the air. The air pollution was too much to handle. I spent the two days nauseated. As this was my first time in West Africa, it was hard to compare the country to other African nations that I have visited in the southern and eastern regions of the continent.

With virtually no tourism, Lagos does not really have any tourist attractions. The Ikeja City Mall makes Trip Advisor’s top ten “things to do” list. That should put things in perspective. Day one consisted of sightseeing Lagos. Leaving the car behind, the four of us hopped into a tuk tuk and ventured through the city’s markets.

We only saw one tourist that day. Well, I am not even sure that lady was a tourist, but she was the only Westerner we saw that day.

Corruption is unavoidable in Nigeria. We were pulled over while driving around the island on the first day. The policemen most likely noticed that there were two white girls in a car and wanted to extort money. When they noticed the driver was family versus a hired guide, he let us go. We drove around the islands looking for things to do.

At one point, instead of being bribed, we figured we would do the bribing. We bribed a security guard at a construction site to let us enter the area of a future development.

We visited the University of Lagos, where Mr. Oke previously taught as a professor. Afterwards, we visited the Methodist Boys’ High School in Lagos where Amanda’s father and Mr. Oke attended school. We entered the grounds as if we, ourselves, attended the school. Turned out, there was a ceremony taking place, celebrating the remodeling of the computer lab. We were welcomed inside and observed the service from the back. What a unique experience.

On day two, we crossed paths with other outsiders. The Lekki Conservation Centre sees the bulk of tourists in Lagos. By tourists, I mean Nigerians returning to their country or showing around visiting family and friends. The Centre is the only protected area in Lagos State. A pleasantly quiet escape from the hectic city that surrounds it.

Thinking back, we did not really do much during the two full days we spent in Lagos. If you are planning to visit Nigeria, I suggest only staying for a few days.

What I Learned

• Expect to pay bribes. Keep bills in small denominations separated into small stacks on you at all times for when you have to pay a bribe so that you are not whipping out a wad of cash or showing off bills in large denominations. Nobody will give you change.
• Do not fall for the “yellow fever card” scam. You do not need proof of a yellow fever vaccination upon arrival in Nigeria. Offer a small bribe so that you are not held at the airport, and keep moving.
• Expect to sit in hours of traffic. Lock the doors after getting inside of a car.
• Do not expect power.
• Do not bother bringing any hair products such as flat or curling irons. Not only will you likely not have electricity, but the humidity will ruin your look in a matter of minutes.
• Do not expect to find or buy souvenirs.
• When staying with strangers, do not expect your host to provide you with the “essentials”, such as towels. Bring your own. Treat a stranger’s house like a hostel. Pack your own towel and pillow. No sheets needed in Nigeria.
• Even though T-Mobile says you are covered, free texting and unlimited data does not apply in Nigeria.