Holidaying in Akwa Ibom on a Budget! -II

After spending the first two days of my holiday watching the live football match between Nigeria and Cameroon and also visiting the Unity Park in Akwa Ibom which I wrote all about Here. If you haven’t checked it, please check it out so you can follow the gist well.

This post is mainly about my last days in Akwa Ibom state and also a cost breakdown of my trip which I promised to share. Sunday was more of a resting day as I actually didn’t even go to church. I have prayed to God for forgiveness don’t worry.

My final day in the state couldn’t just end like that especially since the rain ruined my plans for Sunday. My friends and I decided to do a mini road trip to visit another local government in the state which is the Ikot Abasi local government. Here I got to visit the Bridge of no return and the Amalgamation house which was apparently Lord Lugard’s office. One thing that struck my attention in this local government firstly was the motorcycle riders; they had umbrellas over their bikes to  protect themselves and their riders and this was super unique and new to me.

Now lets do a bit of throwback and remember Lord Lugard whose office was the Amalgamation House; Nigeria got amalgamated into Northern and Southern protectorates on January 14, 1914 by this British colonial master, we actually were taught most of this history back in School; there is so much about Nigeria’s history that we actually need to know about o!

Anyway, our first stop was to the Slave Bridge of no return. Here a police personnel we met there gave a brief history on how slaves were taken away through that bridge and  never returned.

The slaves are taken to the ‘dungeon’ a metal frame with a tiny opening where he or she is kept for weeks or months, before being exported overseas. but thank God today you can go and return as this sign saysThere were various compartments used to keep stubborn slaves, the personnel opened one of them for us, where we able to see inside the compartment well. You can watch this mini video of 20 seconds on what the inside of the compartment looked like Here

While going around the bridge, we came across a man with little children on a boat and we requested they take us around; which they gladly did.

Quick confession!: I was very sacred, I screamed a lot while trying to enter the boat but after all I was feeling like a pro and actually enjoyed the ride.?

While on the ride, the man showed us a place where a white man used to make boats till he passed away last year. After our successful ride, we took some pictures, thanked the amazing people there and thereafter headed to the Amalgamation House.

The Amalgamation House was a walk able distance from the Slave bridge of no return, it was the office of Lord Lugard while he was alive. There was no one there to give us more information; so I just took pictures of the place.

I returned back to Uyo and headed back to Calabar the same day. I hope that the place is actually renovated and made a better tourist attraction. This trip made me learn new things and I guess that’s one of the amazing things about travelling, it adds to your knowledge. There is so much we all need to know and I also hope that this post makes you to visit a new place and gain new knowledge. Just incase you need any suggestions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Since my Holiday was on a Budget, but not cutting to the lowest minimum, here is a cost breakdown of my trip. There are many ways yours can be depending on where you are coming from and what your plans are as this is solely based on my experience but I believe it would come handy to you.

Official this is my 9th state in my Journey on visiting 25 Nigerian states before I am 25 years old ?? .A Big Thank you to everyone who made my mini-holiday worthwhile; I appreciate you all. Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think of the post and please subscribe to the blog if you haven’t yet.

With Love,

Diusor.