I headed straight to the Urgent Care facility around the corner and got all of my shots on the spot at 8:00 on a Monday night. I got inoculations for yellow fever, hep B and meningitis with 2 hours to spare to be eligible for a visa based on my date of departure. Then I put my resourceful assistant Thao to the task of getting my visa. She was back and forth from the Nigerian embassy every day for the next week. I didn’t realize it would be so difficult for an American to get permission to enter Nigeria. In the end, Thao succeeded and got my visa.
Meanwhile, it was not easy to get in and out of Lagos in a manner that would allow me to attend the whole conference, not spend too much extra time after the conference and leave money left over for bribes while in Nigeria. I spent hours searching flights. As I was making the plane reservations, I used the flight times and logistics to again try to get out of the trip, but Gbenga kept finding solutions. I finally found something that I could deal with. So in the end, I was in. Gbenga won. More about my flight options later.
I decided to pack a bunch of Clif Bars since I had no idea what the meal offerings would be. I finished packing at 1 a.m. the night before my flight and set my alarm for 5 a.m. to make my 8 a.m. flight. My daughter Becca was up before my alarm went off and kissed me good-bye while everyone else slept.
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