Unravelling Nigeria
Dec 22, 20144 min
My friends decided they wanted to go to Eleko beach and I was ok with it. I had never been there before.We decided to go on a Sunday and they organised a bus. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make it for the meet up time and so told them I would drive down myself. I figured it couldn’t be that far. How wrong I was.
It took me about 2.5 hours and various stops, asking for directions to get there. I must have been driving really fast as my friends got there about 30 mins before I did.
Eleko beach is one of the public beaches in Lagos located on the Lekki-Epe expressway around the Lagos free trade zone. It’s around the same location with La Campagne Tropicana. I guess I didn’t notice the distance there because I wasn’t the one driving.
While driving down, everyone kept saying ‘go straight down, you’ll see it’. After a while I was tired, upset and hungry, I mean where was this place. Later I saw a sign post with the beach indicated on it. I had driven past it before I finished reading it so had to turn around.
When I saw that, I was happy thinking I was there, but I still had to drive for about 15 mins before I finally got there.
I suggest getting a driver who knows the way to take you down there, and leave early. However, if you love driving, go for it!
Sign post when you finally get to Eleko beach itself.
‘Entrance’ to the beach
When I got to the entrance, I was told It was N500 ($3/2GBP) and an additional N500 for my car, making it a total of N1000 (4GBP/$5). When you get inside, area boys will still ask you to pay them for parking your car and ‘watching’ over it. They will probably say N500 but if you can, you should attempt to beat the price down.
Area boys patiently waiting for cars to park
Cars can be packed anyway, but area boys expect you to settle them.
After parking I had to look for my friends. I was not sure where they were so had to walk around for a bit. I think because it was a Sunday, there were quite alot of people there.
This little boy helped me find my friends after I described them to him.
While looking for my friends I noticed the beach also has some fishermen around.
You can find people selling things from jewellery, woven baskets to drinks. I was a bit taken aback by the guys who wore blazers to the beach, but I suppose you ‘gast kack up how you like’.
On the beach front you have various beach huts that you can rent for the day, and I suppose the prices vary depending on size, location and other reasons. You don’t have to rent a hut, you can just frolic on the beach.
A family enjoying their day at the beach in one of the huts.
Our hut cost us N10,000 ($55/35GBP) and we were about 10, so if you split it, it isn’t much.
Entrance to ours
The beach huts just have deck chairs and tables in them. It’s really just a place for people to hang out, eat, gist and whatever you want if you don’t feel like standing around or running about on the beach.
I like the bamboo seat.
We brought our own music, food and drinks.
We also got a lady who helped us grill our hot dogs.
After everyone’s initial complaint of distance and being tired, we all just sat around and gisted. I went to secondary school with some of these people, and even though they were my seniors it was still good fun.
The girl wearing black is a singer/rapper/songwriter called ‘Fefe’ and currently has a song on the radio called ‘kilowi‘. If you can, listen to it.
I clearly hang around too many creatives. Dj Babus has been dj-ing since we were in secondary school and is finally doing his thing in the music industry. You can listen to one of his mixes here. If you need a dj hit him up on twitter.
Can you see me taking a picture of myself in the shades? Inception!
Found a sea shell
After a while, the guy who helped us sort out the huts got some coconuts. I’m not sure how much we paid for them though. I’ll find out and get back to you guys.
He also helped us cut them. Anyone ever wondered how water gets into coconuts?
They also have horses on the beach which you pay to ride. The guy came and asked me if I wanted to. I wasn’t feeling very adventurous but someone else went.
At the end of the day, for my friends and I, it was just a quiet place to hang out with no frills attached to it. Everyone just sat around and talked. For some reason I didn’t go close to the beach this time. I guess I was just tired.
I left before my friends because I was driving back on my own and I wasn’t prepared to drive around an area I wasn’t too familiar with when it was dark. One thing I noticed while leaving, is that the other side of the beach is basically a market. I don’t know if this a Sunday market thing, or if they are always there. I assume people live in certain areas of the beach and so this market probably caters to them.
All in all, it was good day. So if you’re looking for a beach to go to which isn’t as expensive as a private one, Eleko beach is one you should try. There is’t a lot of activity going on. You can go there with family & friends, have a bbq if you rent a hut or just walk around and get sand in your feet.Like I said earlier, be prepared for a bit of a drive.
PS did you guys notice our new header? It was done by our friend, a lawyer who is also moonlighting as an artist. if you’re into art, you should check out his work. You can find him here.
I feel like I did a lot of promotion for people in this piece, if any of you read it, pay me. LOL
*Okada – Motorcycles
gast kack up as you like – you have to dress how you want
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