Things to see and do Nigeria

Fifth Chukker is a fantastic resort located in Kaduna and focused on all horse-related activities. Located on a vast fertile plain, it combines large green spaces, polo fields, a swimming pool, a bar-restaurant and offers many outdoor activities. A change of scenery and rest is guaranteed, whether you are here to attend a polo tournament, improve your riding skills, or recharge your batteries in the open air with a bike ride or a hike in the surroundings, which offers beautiful plateaus, hills and beautiful plains where goats and zebus graze. But the simple walk from your hut to the restaurant or swimming pool is already charming, especially if you are lucky enough to be there for the flowering of the flamboyant ones. Good to know, FIfth Chukker also organizes excursions to the Durbar of Zaria and Kano. It is essential to find out about the security conditions in advance, which vary very quickly in Nigeria. It is the Swiss Manager of the Polo Equestrian Academy, Barbara Zingg, who has access to the Emirs and offers you a breathtaking experience through the rich cultural heritage of northern Nigeria.

A popular beach on the Lekki side, Elegushi is the family spot of the weekend, popular with local Nigerians for picnics or to enjoy suyas and grilled fish at tables at the small local gargotes. Possibility to do a micro-balade on horseback along the beach, or to start a paintball game nearby. Be careful, if the place is very cheap, we were told that the price could vary according to the customer's head... to good hearer... Elegushi is also known for its clubs, crowded from nightfall on weekends.

A completely different atmosphere from that of its neighbour Tarqwa. More wild and natural with its few herbs that scattered over the sand dunes, it faces the blue ocean, with a few deckchairs and canvases stretched between four bamboos as a beach hut. The place takes its name from the small lighthouse at the end of the pier, and if you only look at it and the wind that shakes the waves, you could almost think you were in Brittany for a crazy second. That is forgetting the hundred or so cargo ships waiting to enter port. To stay there, different possibilities between Tarqwa and Lighthouse beaches, or inquire at Crocodile Smile Lodge directly on the ocean side.

Pretty beach with strong waves, on a stretch of land caught between lagoon and ocean, which can be reached by a nice boat trip. Various private resorts allow you to spend the day or weekend on the beach, most of which are quite expensive - or even overpriced. Everyone can pick you up by boat, but tight budgets will prefer to organize themselves, from the landing stage to Tarqwa (Jetty of the Napex car park). Among the local establishments, Inagbe Resort is quite affordable and offers canoe trips on the lagoon side as well as a pretty beach on the ocean side. Otherwise La Manga, Casa Ilashe, the private Pop Beach club, HOV Beach resort, Sencillo, Ilashe resort or the beach-house of the Jet-Ski Club, accessible to non-members for a fixed price. Do not go to Ilashe without first contacting an establishment.

Nice road from Osogbo, which offers you a dive into the dense vegetation, palm trees, red laterite and ochre brick houses on the outskirts. Charming city of Ijesha on the way, where you can see the Nigerians living at a pace that seems very different and much more pleasant than that of Lagos. As you approach the village of the falls, the relief becomes more important and a small plateau of tropical mountains gives a very nice panorama.

The falls are a beautiful outing in nature and a beautiful hike for lovers. Take a guide to be quiet, and negotiate the price before the ride, even if it means leaving it at one of the steps to continue alone. After a first flight of concrete steps where an old djembe player welcomes you (beware, in Nigeria nothing is free), you feel the humidity increasing as you go deeper into the forest, before reaching the first of the seven waterfalls. The water that fuses on a gradient of stone is clear and drunk by the inhabitants of the village (do not try).

To reach the second level, a fairly steep (and slippery!) step up followed by a small steep descent. In this clearing of greenery, a dru net of water falls more than 10 metres high: it is the largest of the seven waterfalls. You can admire the luxuriant vegetation and the breakthrough to the light of trees with long, long trunks. The environment would almost encourage us to think of ourselves as the pioneers of the origins, if visits to schools or other tourists - sometimes in large numbers - did not joyfully enliven the place!

The hill is the site of one of the city's five original settlements, which served as a place of protection, worship and drilling for scrap metal workers. Today, the rocky summit, which rises to a little over 500 metres in height, is reached by a flight of uneven steps in the city centre (not easy to find!). The whole is a gradation of ochre, orange and red laterite tones. This gives you a beautiful view once you reach the top, where the city, its emblems and the few water points that surround it stretch as far as the eye can see before your eyes.

Apart from the two sacred monsters of Abuja, various smaller hills will give you pretty excursions, very different depending on whether you crapahuit in the rainy season or in the dry season. Nice view from Katempe, but also on the hills around Aso Rock.

Unfortunately, the national emblem and massive symbol of Abuja cannot be visited, due to its proximity to a military area. It is not for nothing that the term is also used to refer to the central political power, a kind of Nigerian White House. Nevertheless, urban legends run on the possibility of climbing the summit or not, and it is in any case possible to walk around the surroundings where you already have very beautiful panoramas of the city. Even more than elsewhere, do not progress without the agreement of the residents!