Driving through Owerri and Calabar

Hiya!

How was your weekend? I hope it went well. I had a fun fun time here, and I'll share photos eventually. Again, my Snapchatters already saw everything that went down :) The username is BerryDakara.

Before I left Nigeria, one of the most important things for me to do was see my grandparents. Cakes also wanted us to visit his sister in Calabar. The easiest thing to do was to fly to Port Harcourt, staying with my parents and then drive down to our various destinations. The week before I left, we set off on our tripping across Southern/Eastern Nigeria and while it was tiring, we had a lot of fun. Scroll through for a few photos.

This is supposed to be a 'Welcome to Imo State' sign. Is there anyone who's in charge of making sure all these signs in Nigeria are maintained and kept in order? By the way, a soldier at the checkpoint there was trying to threaten me for taking pictures... he obviously didn't know that Cakes knows karate.

There's this Freedom Falls thingy in Owerri. I'm not sure what exactly it is or what it's for. Lots of people are usually around taking photos.

Did you know that the first time I saw these kekenapep tricycles was in Owerri? I was very fascinated by them at the time. I didn't know what pests they actually were.

I love taking photographs of sculptures I see. If I had my way, I'd stop the car every single time I saw a sculpture, come down and take lots of photos. I always want to know why the sculpture was made and what the significance is. This one below was in Owerri.

These ones below are some of the ones I saw in Calabar - there were soooooooo many but I took only a few!!!

Oya o, Calabar friends! Why do you have random sculptures of feet and hands? I was really intrigued by them.

Meanwhile, on the way to Calabar, we drove through some village settlements that had these contraptions. My mum said we should stop and ask what they were for...

They were making KAI-KAI! I've never had it before, but I think it's supposed to be extra, mega, ultra potent and will have you drunk in mere minutes!

We were really excited about being in Calabar, especially me, as it was my first time. 

We went to the famed Tinapa, but honestly, we were all very underwhelmed and disappointed. Maybe because it was a weekday, the whole place was dull. But I can't imagine this kind of place being in Lagos and empty on any given day. We took a few photos but all the hype we drove in with, had died. :(

The Marina Resort made a lot more sense. I had begged my parents and Cakes that we should go there at night, but they were all too tired and slept off. So the following morning, I made sure Cakes and I drove up to have a quick look around.

There is a Slave History Museum at Marina Resort. We were able to get in, and the ticket was just N100 if I remember correctly. I almost wanted to ask why it was so cheap, because again, having something like this in Lagos would cost quite a bit more. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I took some of a mural on the side of the building.

Also in the same resort is a section where you can dine and drink by the waterside. This is where I wanted to go the night before. I'm sure it would have been so cool! I'm pretty bummed we weren't able to.

I wish I had spent a little more time traveling throughout Nigeria, and not just spending a few hours or a day in different cities. My advice... don't wait until it's too late. You can follow Social Prefect, Naija Nomads, Naija Treks, Unraveling Nigeria on different tours across Nigeria [and Africa these days]. 

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