We arrived in Lagos for our break from the work exchange scheme but finding our room for the night took on a whole new direction when deep inside the labyrinthine back streets and alleys which make up Lagos’ old town, my friend´s mobile died.  We had been making our way to our reserved room navigating by GPS, when suddenly it spluttered and went dead.  Luckily, and because I don’t always trust technology I had jotted down the address just before the phone gasped its last. I vaguely remembered from the map that the street ran parallel to the old town walls, so with a lot of luck we ended up in the right street.

Knocking at number 22 we were met by Maria, a diminutive lady who spoke no English at all, however she shepherded us to a house a couple of doors down the street.  That front door opened into a tiny little room with the steepest narrowest staircase that I have ever seen outside of a medieval castle, and she led us up to some tiny rooms on the third floor, which included an en-suite bathroom and a narrow balcony.

We met the occupant of the room below us as we set out to explore! She hadn’t been as lucky as us and her bathroom led directly off the landing!  We met her as she was cleaning her teeth.  There was actually no room for her to stand and clean her teeth and shut the door at the same time.  The only way around it (I suspect) was that she should sit on the loo but who knows; maybe there wasn’t even the space for that!

We then set out to do some exploring and ended up at the bottom of some steep rocky steps in a tiny little bay where we did some sunbathing and swimming.

This tiny little bay was the epitome of the Algarve with its golden rocky outcrops and sandy cliffs and caves. Lagos itself had a lovely feel to it – it was busy but not overly so, touristy but had an attitude about it that it didn’t give a stuff what you thought – you could take it or leave it – and it was full of tiny little craft shops selling some very tasteful products

The usual leaflets and tourist information had been left in our room and one entry caught our eye.  The Nah Nah Bah reputedly served what had been voted one of the top 50 burgers in the world and as my friend and I were both partial to a PROPER burger we decided to check it out.  Just a few streets away from us and located in backpacker hostel-land (Lagos old town), the Nah Nah Bah was bursting at the seams.  We certainly didn’t mind waiting so settled down on bar stools for some rather splendid mojitos and watched the action.

There were a few small tables at the back, but the majority of customers were seated at long trestle tables.  Reggae blasted from the DJ’s box in the corner and large portraits of Bob Marley and Che Guevara peered down on diners from the walls.  We were soon sandwiched between a family from the UK and a couple of backpackers from Australia and settled down to order our burgers.  I am pleased to report that the meal did not disappoint and it was so perfect that we actually returned the following week just to check that it hadn’t been a fluke.

Fully satisfied we set off to find out what bars and night life Lagos had to offer and we were not disappointed there either.  Several bars and far too many mojitos later I climbed the windy staircase on my hands and knees and feeling like an over-sized Alice who had eaten the cake labelled ‘eat me’, I crawled into the miniature room when I had a perfect night’s alcohol-fueled sleep.

The next day we visited the old Slave Market following a recommendation from a friend.  This was in a small building with an even smaller exhibition (small appeared to be the theme in Lagos) but despite its simplicity, the exhibition was very moving as it described the horrific slave trade from Africa to the sugar and tobacco plantations in the Caribbean.

Back at the farm we continued working on the land and swimming in the eco-pool. We were also asked by Willem to sand and then oil the ends of the beams which held up the roof of their amazing house.  Well, get me – I am afraid of heights but I was up and down the ladder with my brush and only a little bit nervous.  My new approach to life at that time was to stop being such a pussy and just get on and try things which would serve me well when things were a little trickier in South America.

For our final night, Sol cooked us an amazing meal of black pork which we ate as the sun went down and we then all sat chatting until late into the night.  To start the meal, we had chorizo which she cooked at the table on a little terracotta dish with flaming alcohol, grilling it slowly.  Listening to the frogs and watching the stars, we didn’t want to leave, but the adventure had to continue and the next day we got the coach back to Lisbon. My friend and I parted company as I was now heading to Spain. My plane was delayed and eventually took off just three minutes under the time when I could qualify for compensation under the European rules. But eventually I was on the way to my next destination – this time all by myself. Finally I would starting my adventure proper and I would be travelling solo.

This article was rewritten and updated in February 2025.  It seems that the Nah Nah Bah is still trading and I would love to know if it still has the same awesome vibe as it did ten years ago. Let me know if you have visited it more recently and if the burgers are still worth of their prize. I really hope so.

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