traffic, under the longest bridge
in Africa, lies the sprawling
shantytown of Makoko. A few
years ago the government tried to
remove the people who have lived
here for generations, in shacks
built on stilts above the water.
Instead, the greater community
rallied to defend Makoko and a
Lagos architect designed a floating
school for its impoverished
children, which has become a
prototype for land-starved slums
around the world. Between Makoko
and Eko Atlantic lie a million
other daily tales of kindness and
brutality, ingenuity and survival
that make up the perpetual tug-of-
war that is life in Lagos.
Eventually the tide gets too low
and we make our way back along
the concrete breakwall. The dust
has finally lifted and the ground
is baking hot under our feet, so
we pause under some shade. Up
ahead, the tin roofs and palm
trees of Tarkwa Bay melt into
the shimmering skyline of Lagos,
making it hard to tell where the
one version of Nigeria begins, and
the other ends.Will is a complete surf junkie stoked on life and full of stoke. He
found a home in the fast seawall left and would surf for hours and
hours this trip, even when everyone else packed it in.