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Thrills of traversing 10 Nigerian states in 9 days

On the June 25, 2021, I embarked on a nine day road trip with two of my fellow tour operators from Lagos, first to Uyo, the capital city of Akwa Ibom State for the Annual General Meeting of Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP). On the fourth day, which was our last day in Uyo, we decided on the spur of the moment to visit Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State and two other states. The road trip was a beautiful one as we drove through 10 different states. It was a most cherished and memorable exploration savouring the natural and rustic environment, the locals, their delicacies, culture, landscape, and so much more to last for a life time.

Akwa Ibom: Rich repertoire of Nigerian delicacies, historical heritage

This state stole my heart totally, from the good road network, over 20 tasty and yummy delicacies to a very rich cultural/ historical heritage. As a tourist, I’ll say Akwa Ibom State gave me the rich vibe of almost all types of tourism. The major highlights of my travel through Akwa Ibom will be their delicacies/ soups and the rich slave trade history, with the Amalgamation Resort at Ikot Abasi topping the list, most especially getting into the tiny slave dungeon our great grandparents were kept. It is an experience I’ll never forget.

Cross River: Alluring Obudu Mountain Resort

This is the most daring adventure during the nine days trip, we departed Uyo by a boat cruising on the creeks. There were too major marine police stops on the creeks, where we had to subject ourselves to the routine security checks. We had two other Nigerian tour operators join us on the adventure. Our destination was Obudu Mountain Resort, which was eight hours drive. We arrived Obudu town very late at night as a result the driver declined driving uphill to the resort as he said it was risky driving on the intestine road that late.

Therefore, we spent the night at the town and the next morning we headed for the resort where we were welcomed by the beautiful landscape, massive fogs and of course, an extremely cold weather that I’ve never experienced before in my lifetime. The visit to the resort remains the major highlight of my Cross River State trip, ranging from the beauties that lies within the mountain resort, which include the super accommodating people, amazing resort’s apartments, the canopy walkway, the mini waterfalls, the natural pool, to the well fed cattle and the breathtaking Holy Mountain.

Enugu: Fascinating Ngwo pine forest

We couldn’t do a lot at the coal city as we had to jump on the next night bus to Lagos but we had a quick stop at Ngwo Pine Forest, where there are thousands of pine trees lined in a beautiful formation. It amazes me that the pine nuts are very tasty and they’re sold everywhere in Enugu.

Anambra: Treated to rich hospitality

Our experience here was quite different as our bus stopped at Awka, the state capital, overnight to observe the curfew due to elections and other happenings within the state. We experienced city’s night life in a local bar where we met amazing people who attended to all of our requests even in the middle of the night. I was dazed that they could go out of their way to make us comfortable.

Edo: Amazing night life We stopped over at Benin City where

we lived quite comfortably because we had a host who made us feel at home and we also had time to get some good sleep compared to past nights were we hardly had enough sleep. Benin City is a beautiful and super busy city, drivers here drive in fast and furious mode. I’m grateful we experienced that part of the state. We visited the National Museum where we learnt a lot about the history art and culture of the people. We also visited arts and crafts market in Igun Street and a huge art gallery that houses over 10 young artists, whose areas of focus ranges from pencil painting to acrylic, sand arts to sculpting and so much more. My highlight of Benin City was the colourful and rich night life, from the bustling city’s nightlife club to bubbling bars and really nice deejays, dropping super amazing songs.

Benin City offers a whole vibe

Back packing through South South and South East Nigeria remains my highlight of all my travels in Nigeria and I’m grateful for it. Other states we drove through include: Ogun, Ondo, Abia, Imo and Delta. With me on the road trip wer: Tola Gabriel of ATGAdventours, Aisha Salami of Magsha, Regina of Riggi Travels and Lucia of Shimmers Services. Kingsley Nwachukwu hosted us in Benin City.

*Jumoke Munu, aka Jumoke Smiley, is a tour operator and the founder of The Smiley’s Place Travels, a travel and tours company based in Ibadan/Lagos

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