Arriving at the bus station in faro an hour earlier than I had anticipated I set off to find chloe assuming she would not be too far. After a brief stroll in the port of faro sweating in my black plane clothes I put some pennies in a pay phone in an attempt to make contact. No answer but a MSG with something that slightly resembled pub i searched for the closest cafe with beer. Sure enough under the sagres (local beer) umbrella I spotted a familiar face! A quick cold later and we made the 4.30 bus to Lagos. Unfortunately a little too eager to get there, and dying for the bathroom we stumbled off at what we thought was our stop. Whist the area looked a tad familiar, we seemed to be orientating our way though strange streets that weren't on the map. Not until we stopped to ask a local to point is in the right direction did we clarify that we were in fact in the wrong town! Back on the bus, another 5 euro later, we foolishly laughed at our efforts as we headed for our final destination.
We found our way to the shangri-lagos, which was the hostel I had emailed about volunteering and staying there for the month. Having received an email back "hey magic bees, things are looking pretty good, just show up" we weren't sure what to expect. Walking around the cobble streets in the dusk we finally found the door and buzzed, pleasantly welcomed by the lovely mumsy of the house Savina; no one can back themselves up like this incredible and positive lady! ('white wine!!!') "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are, you're my baby bees" she said as she embraced us with a warm and genuine hug and led us straight to our two beds (bunk) in a private room (separated with a curtain). She showed us around what was to be our home for the next month and instantly we felt comfortable and accepted!
It is the best hostel I have ever stayed in and we are so incredibly lucky to land such a unique opportunity to volunteer and be apart of the loving shangri Lagos family! We were introduced to tom (crack cat) another Aussie volunteering for the summer and the three of us have become close friends! We also met the owners Ben; a quirky and loving man, with a abundance of creative energy who never stops, and John, a very placid and lovely observer who is so easy to be around! And finally we met Hugo; our manager who I had been exchanging emails with; an ideas man, from Portugal that has the greatest sense of humor and will constantly make you laugh! ("where's my baby bees motherbitches?") Then there's Paulina the lovely hardworking cleaning lady, and last but not least jaeo, the easy going and mellow night owl (does the night shifts). Like one big happy family full of eklective and different characters, the house seems to work together to give our travelers the ultimate shangri Lagos experience!
Lagos itself is a beautiful small costal town with amazing beaches and small cobble streets lined with quirky bars beckoning you in with cheap cocktails and sangria. Renown for its intense and raging night life it attracts all types of travelers, the only down fall is that the majority of them being loud mouth Australians!!! (obviously a generalization, and i do love my own kind...but really...so many twats!!! Besides this, I can't fault it...it's small enough to make friends with the locals, walk home by yourself at 6am and spend your days sweating out the previous nights boozing at the many beaches! I have fallen in love with living in Lagos.
Now although over two crazy weeks have passed here it seems that I can sum my days up quite easily; generally a 10am start to the day to do a load of washing, and gossip in our garden with our guests over breaky about the previous nights adventures! Another few loads of Washing and a general clean up later we either take the guests to the beach, go on a bees walking tour on the cliffs or go for an epic hostel shopping trip with Ben (for some reason I think of a game of American football to describe what happens here). The afternoon is spent perhaps on reception checking guests in, napping or lazing around the garden making friends and planning activities that the hostel can offer; so far two "love" boat trips, a big BBQ and cheese and chorizo night have been done! In the eve we either take the guests out for a family dinner or cook in! Swapping shifts at the bar we have in the garden, serving my sangria (made with a lot of love) and cold beers the pre drinking begins! Sometimes escorted by a few tunes from Shane (a talented musician that hangs out a the hostel) soon enough midnight strikes and we leave! Starting the night at our favourite bar; whites, owned by the lovely Denise and Andy, craines and I order the "usual" which happens be an incredibly large and delicious cocktail (we receive for free)! A few drinks later, mates rates and hectic dancing down stairs we all head onto grand cafe! With the occasional stop at another bar on the way...usually this part of the night is a little hazy! Waking up hung over...if the guests are happy we are happy, hence we don't "work" we "volunteer" an exchange of a bed to make friends and generally help out at the best hostel in Lagos...what else could you call this but luck?!
Seeing so many guests come and go over the two weeks, saying goodbyes to travelers we now call our friends, it is a hard cycle and it does take its toll! Well that, and the extreme partying we have been doing Craines and I decided a little trip away was needed so we headed for a detox in Lisbon! We caught the four hour train north, changing once and arriving into the capital to check into the old town hostel about 5pm. It felt bizarre to be traveling just with a hand bag (only two nights worth of stuff) and being in a bustling city again! The metro system was simple and the directions to the hostel were great! Lisbon is very hilly but easy enough to navigate! The streets were lined with lovely old terrace houses as they plunged down into bar areas! We stayed central in bairro alto area which happens to be the old part of town where everything is in walking distance. The hostel was huge, very clean and they were very helpful! Soon enough hunger hit and we wandered the streets searching for something to feed our appetites. We stumbled upon a little family run Goan Indian restaurant with a large tv screen in view (to watch the game; portugal vs Spain)! We devoured our delicious meal and made friends with the staff as we stayed there for near two hours to watch the outcome! With Spain winning on a penalty shoot out, we shared our sighs with the disappointed locals and headed home for an alcohol free night! The next day we went on a wild walkers city our to St. George's castle, cathedral and main square! Lisbon is very charismatic and pretty, with squares, monuments and ruins representing the history rich past, and the colorful graffiti and beating bars provoking the current social splendor. A brief crawl of the streets to find a vintage store we headed home for a nap to rest our exhausted bodies! We then headed out for a delicious local Portuguese feed that the hostel recommended; Casa Cabaccas! I ordered a grilled steak of salmon and craines ordered the famous naco; which is a giant slab of raw beef (from near the bum) which she cooks and cuts herself on a large stone escorted by salt and garlic sauce! A few fried fish, olives, cheese and sangria later we were struggling! Making friends with a few locals at the restaurant they insisted we meet them at Bali bar after they had finished dinner! Paying our pricey but worth it bill (turns out nothing is complementary and we should have got them to remove things from our table) we made a move for the bar! It was like a surf shack with live music, and after just one delicious strawberry cocktail later we bailed on our new-to-be-friends and headed home after 12, (Lisbon happens to have an incredible night life, but due to our daily drinking efforts in Lagos we unfortunately had to decline its offer to party!)
We woke this morning a little late and headed straight for the bus station in order to get back to Lagos! With the 12:30 bus booked out we waited around and caught the 2pm one! A pretty easy and direct 4hr journey I'm glad we got away for a few days! A little bit of a stop, revive survive and im Excited to get back for another crazy week and a bit, who knows what experience the shangri will throw our way? A lucky one, no doubt.
Fanny xx
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