2008 | Biking from Lagos to Sungba’s Eredo – Nigeria

This was a trip from Lagos out to Sungbo’s Eredo – a circular 100 mile defensive ditch dug in the middle ages as the border of one of the kingdoms of the area. Apparently it took more manual effort to building the pyramids.

We travelled in convoy the 70km or so north east of Lagos the rough coordinates are shown on the map below.

The 112km ride north east from Victoria Island, Lagos to the Eredo

Sungbo’s Eredo is Africa’s largest pre-colonial construction and rated by experts as an unknown “Wonder of the World”. The Eredo is a rampart that is 1,050 years old, 100miles (160km) long, and 70ft (20m) high. Locals will need to guide you in and out as the structure is rapidly covered in encroaching forest. To build it, more earth was moved than during the construction of the Great Pyramids at Giza. The Eredo may have been built as a memorial to Bilikisu Sungbo, a childless widow, whose grave is nearby.

We were two SUVs myself on the KLR and Jonas Laucys, a young Lithuanian who had a 2003 KLR which seemed to have issues from the side-stand switch not being bypassed. We had an escort out there and were very happy as Nigerian drivers are notoriously deadly. A great day seeing something that few people know about and it was perfect biking out there as well. On the way back we stopped at one of the many beach huts dotted along the coast.