We spent almost the entire day on the bus. First, we had a long drive from Enugu to the Agbokim Waterfalls in the state of Cross River, and then on to our overnight stop in the town of Ikom. Just as we were nearing the waterfalls, our driver veered too far to the right to avoid a puddle, and the bus slid into the ditch. It seemed there were recent rains washing out the road. We were lucky with the weather so far. The rainy season was coming to an end, we hardly encountered any rain, and there were no mosquitoes in sight. Because of this, I decided not to take Malarone. Fortunately, everything turned out fine, even though others in the group were taking it during the trip.
We were unable to get out of the ditch on our own. The bus only sank deeper into the ground and tilted to the right so much that the doors wouldn’t open. Everyone climbed out through the driver’s door and gathered on the road. Within minutes, a battered jeep screeched to a halt beside us. The driver pulled a tow rope from the back of his vehicle. A closer look revealed that the “rope” was actually several seatbelts salvaged from various cars and tied together. This makeshift towline was attached to something underneath the bus, and, despite the skeptical comments from some group members, the old jeep successfully pulled our bus back onto the road.
We collected some money for the driver who rescued us, even though he did not ask for anything. However, idle onlookers standing nearby began to complain saying that we should have given dollars instead of naira. Our driver reasonably pointed out that this wasn’t America, so the Nigerian naira would do just fine. The shouting only grew louder after that; not wanting to see how the situation would unfold, we quickly hopped onto the bus and left the scene.
The waterfalls consisted of seven separate streams. There was nothing remarkable about them; they looked just like waterfalls one has seen countless times in other countries. We scrambled around the top of the falls, climbed down to the river, and crawled into a small cave.
There was nothing else to see, so we were asked if we wanted to drive further on to the border with Cameroon. It was a short drive, and we disembarked in a small village on the banks of the Cross River which marks the border. The river is narrow, and the Cameroonian jungle is close by. Our guide, Chris, suggested making a quick foray into Cameroon. While he negotiated with the locals, the group heatedly debated the legality of such a crossing and whether it would count as having visited the country. We concluded that, firstly, it would be illegal, and secondly, counting it as a visit to Cameroon would be dishonest. Nevertheless, our enthusiasm did not wane.
Chris returned and reported that the locals were asking 25,000 naira per boat. Each boat had six seats which meant a maximum of five passengers and 5,000 naira ($3.80) per person. There was no place to land on the Cameroonian bank; at best, we could only be taken for a ride on the river. Everyone looked at the turbulent water, sighed, and decided against the boats.
The Comfort Inn in Ikom turned out to be brand new; we might well have been its very first guests. My nice room held a few surprises. The air conditioner on the wall was still wrapped in plastic film. I had to go downstairs and get a guy to come up and hook it up. The hotel featured a grand staircase with sweeping, curved steps that required careful navigation to avoid taking a tumble. There was no elevator in the design, so you had to haul your luggage up. People in other rooms were complaining about a lack of running water. I did have water, though. I even managed to figure out how to turn on the water heater myself. A red light came on, but no hot water followed, no matter how long I waited. Oh well, I took a cold shower.
For every little thing, I had to run down to the first floor and tear the receptionist away from her smartphone. I couldn’t call her, as the phone on the desk in the room wasn’t connected. She would trudge up that impressive looking staircase grumbling and explain that there was no light switch in the room. To turn the lights off for the night, you had to remove the card from the slot by the door. Doing so cut the power to everything else in the room, but that was a minor thing. After all, you don’t need any of that once you’ve gone to bed.