On Sunday we went to the Statoil beach with the Statoil crowd: Halvor, Cecilie & Bjørn, Lars Johan & Randi. We also invited Albrecht & Marieke to come with Oli and Axi. It was Caroline and my Mum's first experience of the countryside outside Lagos and it was fascinating for them to see the Port of Lagos with its rusting half-submerged ships dotted around and then the mangroves, villages and fishermen in canoes speeding by as we passed them in the boat.

At the beach, the chief of the village where we have our beach "Big John" had his family at the jetty to meet us as usual to carry the bags. At the beach the children were totally occupied playing and it was nice to have time to talk. Also, the beach sellers soon arrived with some nice things to sell for Caroline and my mum to buy and bring back to the Isle of Man with them. My mum got a very nice table cloth with some detailed embroidery.

I had organised for a steward to come and barbecue for us and we had a feast for lunch: kebabs, chicken breasts, salads, not to mention lots of wine and beer.



All too soon, it was time to pack and leave back to Lagos. On the way back, though, I wanted to show Caroline and my mum the Lagos Yacht club, so the boat dropped us off there for a "sundowner". It is a lovely spot to watch the sun go down with a drink as it is situated on a small peninsular. Also, they have a nice playground for the children to play in.

Jeremy