From savanna to surf in Africa’s metropolis sprawl

Nigeria, an African giant, is more often associated with safari, wild waterfalls, dense rainforest and savanna than epic surf adventure.

Lagos is the largest built-up area in Nigeria and is known as ‘the centre of excellence’ a truly vibrant metropolis, one of the fastest growing cities in the world and the biggest urban sprawl in Africa.

The port town with a vast coast is formed around creaks, sand spits and lagoons. It is here in the middle of this beautiful mess the Naija Surf Nuts are the warriors getting casually barrelled in the untouched breaks. In this part of the world the Atlantic swell takes pretty good care of the coast sandbars.

The places featured in our film show the essence of living in this diverse country:

• Osogbo Sacred Grove shows us magic and rituals in the depth of the forest;
• Old Papas Backyard mutates into the twin brother of J-Bay when the moon is right;
• G-Spot is great location for surf, but is well hidden down the coast;

All of these places are full of afrobeat music, which was created by the famous Fela Kuti, a legendary musician, and human rights activist.

Fela Kuti (left) pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre, human rights activist, and political maverick. Image: Creative Commons

His son keeps the vibe alive playing music on the New African Shrine, a place to immerse yourself in psychedelic african jazz.

The sweet smell of weed mixes with street food. Chicks dance, shaking what their mama gave them, and people find glory in their mere existence.

The surf spots are many and varied, but the best thing about them is they are often untouched.

Words, images and video from Armando Abraham

Untouched utopia - a thing most Europeans can only dream about

One of the more well-known breaks in Lagos