Travel Series: Journey by Sea
It’s Monday!
I was excited that I would arrive at the office earlier than my usual for the past few weeks, no thanks to Lagos traffic, but look who forgot that Road Transport workers were on strike and that was the only means of transport I knew. 😢
My first experience was at the first bus stop where it takes me between 5–10 minutes to get the next vehicle, but I ended up spending about 30 minutes, and that was because I struggled to squeeze myself amongst other people who wanted to enter the bus.
As I sat down, I had a sense of triumph, if you’ve been in my shoe before you will understand, after standing for 20 minutes +, you finally get a bus and it has just one empty seat for about 50 other passengers like you. The struggle becomes the survival of the fittest.
I got to Mile 2, my next bus stop where I’m supposed to take a bus that would take me on a journey of about 1h30mins depending on the intensity of the traffic since Lagos state had decided to stall the repair of Eko Bridge.
There was no bus!
I’m serious, you know that kind of shock that makes you laugh, that was the kind I had. If it was only a hike in price, it would have been better, but there was a hike in price and there was no bus. At that time of the day, a bulk of the passengers were office workers who needed to get to their respective offices on time. Abi, what do you want to tell the Human Resource Manager who has a private ride and doesn’t have to hop on public transport to move around? (No shades to anyone, please)
This is not a sub, but we should learn to give people benefit of doubt especially when it’s not their regular disposition. Don’t make people feel guilty for situations beyond their control.
I looked around and caught sight of the long queue of passengers waiting to board the BRT bus, at least that’s one public transport whose price doesn’t fluctuate like those yellow or multi-colored buses.
The next thing I heard was, “CMS by boat 1k”. 1k = #1,000
Are you joking? 😂 Or am I a joke to you?
I had previously overheard a conversation from another person that the hiked price was #700, as opposed to the regular #300 or #400. Well, the extra #300 will get me to the office in time, so let’s go.
I got to the ferry terminal, thankfully the passengers were on their way to the boat, they needed 2 more passengers, so one other person and I joined. We got the life jackets with strict instructions to wear them before onboarding the boat.
Despite the fact that it was not my first time traveling by water, I was scared of falling off in the process of boarding the boat, what will I tell my mummy that I was doing on the ferry? 😂 😢
I asked for help, and some gentlemen were kind enough to help me settle in. I settled in and the only seat available was by the side of the boat, which meant I would be close to the sea.
I was excited, this was my first time taking this means of transportation to the office so it felt like an adventure for me. I was laughing and even took a video before we left the terminal. some of the other passengers had never traveled by sea before so they had the usual fear and all.
In the middle of the journey, we just heard “pakam” and saw some passengers stand up from their seats, the boat driver had to stop in the middle of the sea to find out what happened. Turned out that there was an imbalance of weight and the planks that served as seats broke into two. We had to squeeze them in to ensure the boat is balanced. If the boat is not balanced, there is a possibility of it capsizing.
We continued the journey, went through Apapa, saw a couple of ports that were located there, and even saw a community of people living across the sea. Finally, we arrived at our destination. How did I know? I caught sight of the famous United Bank For Africa’s Office at Marina, and that was how it ended.
If you have never traveled by sea, and you want to try it someday, try these tips
- Don’t express your fears, yes, it’s okay to be scared but don’t express it. Your worries can push you to take a drastic step because you want to save your life when it’s not even in danger.
- Wear your life jacket! If it wasn’t important, they won’t have made it available.
- Maintain your sitting position. Except it’s a boat/ship that allows you to move around, and maintain your position as the weight of the passengers on one side of the boat can cause it to capsize.
- Be careful with your device, and your belongings. As much as there is no traffic on the sea, the tides could form a water bump unknown to you, and the boat driver may not be able to inform you of the bump, the force with which the boat hits the bump can cause you or your belongings flying especially your mobile phone.
- Inform your family member that you are taking a boat trip just for security reasons, if you can, take a picture and send it to them before leaving the ferry terminal.
Traveling by sea is one adventure I recommend even if it’s just once in your lifetime, try it.
If you reside in Lagos and you want to try commuting by sea, check this out.
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