Border Junkie

I was upset as I watched Dee ate the left over on my plate after eating his meal like he missed dinner the previous day. I have been paying for our meals with some of the money I changed to take care of myself and buy Ankara clutch and bangles I saw on my first trip here. Dee was meant to be my host not me taking care of his bills. I was even more upset I couldn't use my MasterCard since we arrived Benin the previous day. Most of the ATMs accepts Visa card and I don't have one. Dee's Visa card was in his card holder back in Lagos. He announced that shortly after we left Lagos. I didn't believe him, he was too well travelled to forget his debit cards and not carry cash when travelling. I know better even as a rookie. I got miserable with each expense as my cash got smaller and nothing interesting to do. I wanted the trip to end fast, it was far from my experience the first time I visited Benin with my girlfriend. We were on a roller coaster of fun; we went from a private beach to local bars, visited Malls and local markets, walked back to our hotel from restaurants at night because everywhere was lit, cool and felt safe, stopped at historical places and took loads of pictures within 4 days.

When Dee invited me to join this cycling tour some hours before their take off, I answered yes without thinking twice. I was eager to cross the border no matter what part of Africa we landed. I assumed it will be like my first experience or even better. Since he is a Doc and part of the med team for the club, I volunteered to help so I'm not a liability.

Everything I did between the time I jumped on the invite and the next morning was in an unimaginable rush to make the trip. I did, but from take off, I sensed it won't be what I expected. Everyone was fully dressed in riding gear and sport wear except me and the car drivers that followed with their stuff. I have never been on a sport tour and didn't have time to check for suitable outfit for this kind of travel. I assumed I could dress casually since I was just a volunteer and not a rider. They were a close knit not so friendly group, I looked odd in their midst. And Dee didn't help much. The tour was well supervised; we had no accident or medical emergency. I was obviously not a needed volunteer. I felt like an outcast the entire trip and alone in a large group with nothing exciting to do. My only win was crossing the border again and that marked my second trip "abroad" as laughable as it is now.