Phil has difficulty communicating with the Nigerian family next door due to a language barrier. In actual fact, English is the official language of Nigeria. While over 500 distinct languages are present in Nigeria, most of the population have at least a basic level of English as a lingua franca ("bridge language").
Sam Lloyd who plays Lester is best known as Ted Buckland on Scrubs (2001-2010), another ABC produced show.
The episode is titled after the famous explorer and the swimming pool game of the same name.