Nigeria - West Africa - page 685

Susanne's remarkable house and the cooperative shop run by the artists of the New Sacred
Movement (41A Ibokun Rd) .
There's no reason to stay anywhere else but the divine Nike Ambassador Guest House (r
N5000-7000) with lovely gardens (including giant tortoises and peacocks) and an incredibly
friendly staff. They can take you to Nike's traditional Yoruba craft workshops for Nigeri-
an youth as well as the village where local women make traditional black soap.
There are several contemporary art galleries where you can buy fantastic crafts includ-
ing the Nike Centre for Arts & Culture (Old Ede Rd) and Jimoh Buraimoh's African Heritage Gallery (1
Buraimoh St) .
Also wander through the Oja Oba Market across from the Oba's Palace - it's packed
with stalls selling juju material.
Okefia Rd is the main motor park. Minibuses leave regularly for Ibadan (N500, 90
minutes) and Lagos (N700, three hours).
WORTH A TRIP
ILE-IFE
Ile-Ife is considered the traditional birthplace of Yoruba civilisation, and holds some of the most revered spiritual
sites where people still worship traditional deities. Head to Oòni's Palace , where one of the king's servants will,
for a small fee, show you the shrine within the palace walls, take you to see Oduduwa's staff, and teach you fant-
astic Yoruba creation stories including the tales of Moremi the warrior-princess, Obatala and Obameri. To get to
Ile-Ife, take a bush taxi (N400, 45 minutes) from Oshogbo.
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Benin City
052
Benin City, which served as the capital of the Benin Kingdom, starting in the 15th century,
gave rise to one of the first African art forms to be accepted internationally - the Benin
brasses. Today the city is the centre of Nigeria's rubber trade, and a sprawling metropolis.
The National Museum (King's Sq; admission N100; 9am-6pm) has displays of beautiful brasses.
On nearby Brass Casters St sculptors reviving the 'lost-wax' sculpture technique can show
you their works in progress, and sell you one of your own.
The totally bizarre Revelation Tourist Palazzo on Victor Awaido Ave has simulations of slave
markets, ritual practices, ancestral shrines, and odd punitive practices.