Our stay in Lagos has once again been great. It is now the end of our time here, and we are currently making preparations for the long journey north, which will be punctuated by short stops to see old and new friends and family on the way.

When we arrived at the marina we sought out Brian (the trombone player in the photo above) as he was letting us have his apartment for the month of February. He and his wife drove up to the flat with us following, and we were very pleased both with its location a bare five minute walk from the marina, and its spaciousness. It is on the ground floor of a large horseshoe-shaped building facing south, so the balcony gets a lot of sunshine. We brought all our stuff in from the van, and settled in.

Our first errand had been to deliver a large neep I had bought in Kelso and two kilos of pinhead oatmeal to Bev, who had invited us for dinner the next night, haggis and neeps and all the trimmings. Bev is the only person I know who makes her own haggis, and it tastes terrific! That dinner was very enjoyable, and it was in the company of Fergie and Ann, whose boat we had stayed on the last time we were down here.

I lost no time in renewing my season ticket at the community swimming pool, and began a routine of going swimming around eight o'clock every weekday morning, as I used to do when we were here with Little Else. Meantime Ju made the acquaintance of the Dawn Patrol, a group of yachties who meet at gate F on the pontoon every morning and go for a two to three mile walk either around the town or along the beach, dogs included. So Jack had lots of exercise, so did Ju and so did I, as I aimed for 20 lengths of the pool each time.

We know enough people here to have a fairly active social life, meeting for lunch, or going out for dinner to some of the many restaurants around the town. On our first evening in Lagos, however, it was off to the Adega, the amazing restaurant just across the river where hordes of locals and yachties turn up each night to eat their amazing menu. We can never get past their fried prawns in garlic and ginger, accompanied by chips and salad. Why can the Galley of Lorne not do its seafood like this?

On the 13th we celebrated our anniversary by eating at Fernandos, again the legendary pork with plums and crackling. Then off to the cultural centre for a great flamenco show, spoiled for Ju by the excessive volume of the singing. I loved it.

Our domestic routine in between times involved shopping at Pingo Doce for food and wine, as we cooked in the apartment most of the time.

Strangely enough we were not inclined to do the usual excursions from the town as we have in the past, despite having our own transport parked at the door. We both felt we know the area well enough now not to feel bound to go and revisit places like Cape St Vincent, as we have done on previous trips. We just concentrated on enjoying the town and its immediate walking distance surroundings. After all, the purpose of the exercise was to be in the south, and enjoy more daylight hours and slightly warmer temperatures than at home. The weather for our month has been a bit patchy, quite a lot of grey sky and rain, but real warmth in the sun on the sunny days. T shirt weather then!

A few days after we arrived we found out that there was a crew of rowers called Team Essence about to set off to break a speed record from Lagos to Recife, Brazil. We went to the marina as they were about to set off on their journey, as the local marina jazz band serenaded the gathering crowd, and as the five young men took their leave of family and friends on the pontoon. They are doing it for NSPCC funds, so very good luck to them. We have been trying to follow their progress online, to see if thy succeed. See photo above. Rowing across oceans seems to be a real fashion at the moment, and all the boats look amazingly similar, as though some factory somewhere is turning them out on a production line. There is another boat in the marina now, labelled RowtoRio, waiting for a weather window to depart. Getting out of the river Bensafrim from the marina can be hard going even for a powered vessel if the swell and the wind are coming from the south.

On our journey south to Lagos our final campsite was at Evora, where I noticed a large nail sticking out of our front tyre on the van. I showed it to Ju, who agreed with me that we would cross our fingers and keep driving on it, and get it fixed in Lagos. Taking it out might well have deflated the tyre, and we would have been stuck. Anyway we asked our friends for a recommended tyre man, and they sent us to a repair shop on the road to Odiaxere. He confirmed that the tyre was punctured, and repaired it, checked all the tyre pressures all round the van, and charged me €15. It had taken him over half an hour, involved repair materials, and it only cost about £12. Outstanding!

Jack settled in to life here immediately we came into the flat. We set up his bed in the living room and his crate in the kitchen area, and he adopted the balcony as his favourite place to watch the world go by from.

One Saturday we went along to the musical evening organised by Susan and Andy, with a range of musicians and instruments, and vocalists. Susan has an amazing set of large folders full of the words and chords for songs, so she dishes these out so everybody can sing along, or individuals can sing solos if required. It was great fun, and 'Liz from Glasgow' got stuck in there, and really enjoyed singing with the group. It takes place in the bar of the Marina building.

I was able to visit Ricarda and Manfred on B pontoon, who were there when we had Little Else moored a few berths along from them. I went to visit them for coffee one afternoon on my own,
as our conversation is always in German, and my abilities in interpreting simultaneously in English are now somewhat limited, and exhaust me in no time! They are both well, dividing their time between home in Duisburg and the marina and their lovely boat Syene. But the new addition to the family is their very handsome Pössl campervan, which they use for the journey back and forth, but also for extensive trips like up the Norwegian coast. Brilliant!

One Wednesday we used the van to take Ju and Jack and Fergie and Isla, his labradoodle, to Bensafrim, about 10k away from here, to join the large group of walkers and dogs following a route back to Linda's Bar, on the beach, for clam chowder and a general social get-together. Most of the group are Brits or English speaking non-Brits, some yachties from the marina and some expats who live here permanently.

The rest of the morning for me was a swim, a shopping run, and refuelling the van. Then Ju arrived back and w left a really tired Jack in the apartment and headed for Linda's Bar. About 30 people there, and we got talking to a couple of Scots, both of whom were interested in going to A Rocha, the bird research place just along the coast from here. So we arranged to go the next day. We had a lovely day with these two people, Faith from Largs and Norman from Stornoway, did a long walk round the lagoons and saw pink flamingoes, and various other birds, and had a good blether along the way. Ju had prepared some great roast chicken sandwiches, so we had a picnic lunch back at the van, washed down with a can of coke. The weather kept fine for us, too. A lovely day.

Talking of birds, Lagos still has its population of storks, nesting on the tops of chimneys and lampposts. We still have not seen a hoopoe, however. Disappointing.

Rainy weather now for our final weekend here. Our friends Fergie and Ann are off home, as is Bev, and Susan and Andy will be going back soon too.

It has been a great month, just what we needed to shorten the Scottish winter, especially after our mind-boggling Antarctic adventure.

Now where shall we go today.............