Millennium Park
Commissioned in 2004 by Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II of England, Millennium Park is the largest public park in Abuja and it has a nice walkway with fountains and lights.
Millennium Park was conceived and designed by an Italian architect Manfredi Nicoletti, and it has become one of the main attractions of Abuja
Millennium Park offers a good spot to walk the dog or come for a picnic. Evenings are especially nice to enjoy the beautiful lights at the park.Parking is plentiful and the park’s entrance is off the Three Arm Zone road.
The
park has a narrow river running through its center and the remains of
what was probably more extensive riverside woodland clinging to its
edges.The river starts in the distant hills and many of the birds in
Abuja use it as a corridor to get from one area to the other.Millennium
park offers visitors opportunity to savour the freedom and freshness
that nature offers.Especially during the weekend when there is the need to relax, visitors can frequent the garden.A typical visit to the
part at the weekend, most especially on Sunday is thrilling.There are
ongoing plans in the pipeline to expand the park with projects to
include the millennium tower, cultural center and a museum that will
house a broad collection of African arts
Millennium Park has a small river that divide it into two parts by bisecting its main rectilinear axis.
One
side of the Millennium Park consists of unspoilt nature, brushwood as
well as greenhouses for butterflies and tropical birds.
The other
side is dedicated to the scientific knowledge of the natural environment
with its very traditional and rigid Italian Style Garden Layout.
Millennium Park also has series of fountains run alongside this white mark refreshing the public during the hottest days.
The roads are crossed by a series of multicolored bushes going from yellow to red with a very particular wave-like course.
Activities
*.Birds Watching:
Millennium park is a pretty good place to bird.
As
mentioned on10000birds.com, places like millennium park present good
opportunity for bird lovers to see different species of birds in Abuja.
*.Children play ground
*.Water fountain
*.Green plants
Cross River National Park, Cross River State
Cross River National
Park is an integral part of the Cross River State rainforest
conservation area, located in Boki LGA and spans from Kanyan to the foot
of the Obudu plateau with a total land area of 720sqkm of rugged
mountain scenery and rolling hills. The park is divided into two
sections.The smaller area to the north-east, Okwangwo Division, is
separated by about 50 km of disturbed forest from the larger Oban
Division. Oban Division iscontiguous with Korup National Park in
Cameroon. The Cross river and its tributaries drain northern parts of
Oban Division, while southern parts are drained by the Calabar, Kwa and
Korup rivers.The terrain is rough and elevation rises from the river valleys to over 1,000 m in mountainous areas. Soils are ferralitic
and sandy, and steadily become shallower with increasing elevation.
Cross
River National Park is one of the richest areas of tropical rainforest
in West Africa. Currently, the WWF, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation
and the Federal Parks Service are carrying out an integrated
conservation and development project in the northern part of the park.
The
project has created a proper boundary for the park, and programs are
being implemented against illegal hunting, logging and land clearance.
The
Park is home to many localised species of plants and animals which,
include gorilla, drill, chimpanzee, a gwantibo or golden potto forest
elephant, saleginella specie. Baboons, Leopards, Red Foxes, Drill
Monkeys, Buffaloes and Elephants are also found there. It also harbours a
rich collection of flora and fauna.
Obudu Cattle Ranch
Obudu Cattle Ranch(now known as the Obudu
Mountain Resort) is a ranch on the Obudu Plateau. It was developed in
1951 by Mr. McCaughley, a Scot who first explored the mountain ranges in
1949.He camped on the mountaintop of the Oshie Ridge on the Sankwala
Mountains for a month before returning with Mr. Hugh Jones a fellow
rancher who, in 1951, together with Dr Crawfeild developed the Obudu
Cattle Ranch. Although the ranch has been through troubles since, it has
very recently been rehabilitated to its former glory.
Location
The
Obudu Cattle Ranch known presently as the Obudu Mountain Resort is
found on the Obudu Plateau close to the Cameroon border in the North
Eastern part of Cross River State of Nigeria, approximately 110 km east
of the town of Ogoja and 65 km from the town of Obudu in Obanliku Local
Government are a of Cross River State.
It is about 30 minutes drive from Obudu town and is about 332 km drive from Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Climate of the ranch
The climate on
obudu cattle ranch is the semi-temperate mountain climate, which is the
general weather condition experienced on the plateau due to its
altitude.
Tourism
The ranch has in recent times seen an influx
of tourist both Nigerian and international tourist because of the
development of tourist facilities in the ranch by Cross-River State
Government which has turned the ranch into one of the well known holiday
and tourist resort centers in Nigeria.
Idanre Hill – Oke Idanre
Idanre Hill is one of the most awesome
and beautiful natural landscapes in Nigeria.Added to Idanre Hill beauty
which fires human curiosity is the fact that the entire people of Idanre
lived on these boulders for almost a millennium.
Located
inIdanre Town, about 24 kilometers southwest of Akure,Ondo State capital,
the ancient Idanre Hills had been a home for the Idanre community for
almost 100 years.
As a natural and cultural landscape, Idanre
Hills stands out well among all other places that have been listed in
UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
It is a cluster of intimidating and imposing hills housing some wonderful things which confound the senses.
The
hills surround the town, envelope it and dominate life in the town.
From any angle, one sees the hills and virtually every activity revolves
round this collection of hills.
Apart from that cultural role,
the town pulls the wealthy and the commoner, basically due to its
perceived mystical aura and the giddy excitement lovers of nature get
when they surmount the steep, daunting climb to the top, to witness a
spectacular view of the new town and adjoining hills in a breath-taking
manner.
Apart from its touristic value, the flora and fauna of the place had been under scientific study for several decades.
The
topography of the place will be of great value to mankind. Its physical
attributes include Owa’s Palace, Shrines, Old Court, Belfry, Agbooogun
foot print etc.
Gashaka Gumti National Park
Covering about 6600 sq km, Gashaka
Gumti is the Nigeria’s largest national park. This area is important not
only as a major watershed but also as a haven for a rich and exotic
assemblage of wildlife, given its strategic location at the interface
between the moist Cameroonian Highland and the dry Sub-Saharan Guinea
Savannah.
Gashaka-Gumti National Park is located in a mountainous
region of North-east Nigeria adjacent to the international border with
Cameroon, and immediately to the North of the Mambilla plateau. No roads
cross this remote region and only a few lonely footpaths wind through
the forested mountains towards Cameroon.
Visitors to the park are
able to enjoy lush forests, wide sweeping grasslands, cool highland
plateaus, rugged moody mountains, abundant wildlife, and fascinating
ethnic cultures, all combined within a single protected area.
There
are few other places in the world that contain such spectacular scenery
and such diverse wildlife. The hidden corner of west Africa that is
Gashaka-Gumti National Park is surely one of the continent’s best kept
secrets.Gashaka-Gumti National Park, the largest park in Nigeria, covers
an area of wilderness greater than 6,600 sq km. The park’s name is
derived from two of the region’s oldest and most historic settlements:
Gashaka village in Taraba State, and Gumti village in Adamawa State.
Gashaka-Gumti National Park was created by Federal Decree in 1991 by the
merging of Gashaka Game Reserve with Gumti Game Reserve.
Kamuku National Park
Kamuku National Park has a total land area
of 1121sqkm of typical savanna woodland vegetation and a wide variety of
birds and other animals like elephants, antelopes, oribi, waterbuck,
wet cat, green monkey, side stripped hyena and jackal.Located in Birnin
Gwari,Kaduna State, Kamuku National Park is also a home to the Secretary
Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius), Denhams Bustard (Neotis denhami) and
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvusabyssinicus).
The terrain is
largely flat, rising gradually eastwards to the Birnin Gwari Ridge,
which forms part of the eastern boundary. The park has Guinea Savanna
vegetation with, in places, some transitional Sudan Savanna elements.
Dominant tree species of the park include soberlinia doka,Terminalia
avicennioides and Detarium macrocarpum.
Also common are Danellia
oliveri, Nauclea latifolia, Acacia spp., Lophira lanceolata, Parkia
biglobosa, Prosopis africana and Isoberlinia tomentosa. Elaeis guineensis is
common in riparian forests that line small, seasonal rivers. Together
with the forest reserves in this area the park represents one of the
best remaining blocks of Sudan–Guinea Savanna vegetation in the
country’s protected-area system.
The park has an average annual
rainfall of 1,250mm with average temperature of 300C. It has two
seasons, the dry season which starts from November to April and raining
season from May to November.
The hottest months are March and
April, while the coldest month is December and January during the
harmattan period when temperature drops to the freezing point in the
evening and morning.
Yankari Game ReserveYankari Game Reserve is located about 225km east of the Nigerian city of Jos and it covers an area of 2,244 sq km. Yankari Game Reserve has been described by the Lonely Planet Guide as holding “about the only remnant of wildlife left in Nigeria.
With about 550 elephants, this park has the largest elephant population in West Africa. However, sighting the animals is not so easy, as the vegetation in the area is quite dense. The best time to view the animals is late February to late April.
The Wiki Warm Springs is another attraction to visitors. It is located near the park lodge and is about 200m long and 10m wide, containing crystal-clear water at a temperature of around 31 degrees Celsius.
Baboons and elephants often come down to the springs. Accommodation is available at a hotel at thewarm springs. The other option is to stay in Bauchi, 117 km northwest of Yankari. Camping facilities are also available.
The park also has over 130 wells, all of which have interconnecting shafts sank. This settlement and the wells were once used as a resting place by the trans-atlantic slave traders of the early times.The park also has more than 59 caves located some 7km north east of Wikki camp. Other attractions are the hills, such as Kalban Hill – a flat top hill that enables tourists the opportunity to have a complete view of the park. Kanyo Hill provides a good view of the park and serves as a very beautiful picnic ground. Paliyaram Hill is a popular camp for poachers.
Awhum Waterfall
Awhum waterfall is situated at Amaugwe village of
Awhum town in Udi Local Government Area.This beautiful Awhum waterfall
is as a result of massive outcrop of granite rock with water cascading
over the top forming a stream.A section of the waterfall is always warm
through the season.
Awhum waterfall is 30 metres high and is located close to Awhum Monastery.
The
water is said to be curative (have healing power) and capable of
dispelling evil or satanic forces if and wherever sprinkled.It usually
takes about 45 minutes walk from the parking spot to the fall.
Chad Basin National Park
Located in the Sudano-Sahelian
ecological zone of the North-Eastern part of Nigeria between Borno and
Yobe States, Chad Basin National Park covers a total area of 2,258km2
and fragmented into three sectors.
The Chingurmi-Duguma sector is
in Borno State, is ina Sudanian Savanna ecological zone while the
Bade-Nguru Wetlands and Bulatura sectors are in Yobe State in the Sahel
ecological zone.
The park which is generally referred to as the
conventional basin of the famous Lake Chad, is indeed a veritable heaven
of adventure where visitors are spoilt with activities that will make
the spirit soar.
The park hosted prince Philip in 1989 when he
was the president of WWF and some parts of the park were also visited by
Charles and Diana in 1990.
Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary
Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary
is under the management of the Cross River State Forestry Commission and
it homes rare chimpanzees, gorillas and drill monkeys.On Afi Mountain
wild drill still survive, with other endangered primates including the
most endangered gorilla subspecies, the Cross River gorilla. The rugged
massif (1400m) is a critical watershed for dozens of communities.
Afi
Mountain is listed as an IBA (Important Bird Area)for Nigeria and hosts
one of the largest migratory swallow roosts in Africa.The forests on
Afi are a barrier against the encroaching derived savannah from the west
and north In 1993, Pandrillus started community protection patrols
using local hunters to discourage shooting and trapping, an education
programme in the 17 villages surrounding the mountain, and brought the
communities together as a common interest group for the first time.
The
mountain was then part of the Afi River Forest Reserve (383 sq km), a
production forest reserve for which logging concessions had been issued.
Pandrillus
community protection programme prevailed and made great strides in
controlling hunting, in particular developing popular support for
protection of “The Big Three” – gorilla, drill and chimpanzee.
Tinapa ResortTinapa is a business and leisure resort just north of Calabar, south eastern Nigeria associated with the Calabar Free Trade Zone. It is being developed in four phases under a Private Public Partnership(PPP)promoted by the Government of Cross River State. The resort is located by the Calabar River, contiguous with the Calabar Free Trade Zone.
Facilities
The Tinapa Free Zone & Resort has facilities for retail and wholesale activities as well as leisure and entertainment. For consumers, the resort has about 80,000 square metres (860,000 sq ft) of let-able space for retail and wholesale made up of four emporiums of 10,000 square metres (110,000 sq ft) each and smaller shops, warehouses, and so on. An entertainment strip contains a casino, digital cinema, children's arcade, restaurants, a mini amphitheater, a night club and pubs.
There is an artificial tidal lake that feeds from the Calabar River, a Water Park / Leisure Land and parking Space for about 4,000 cars.
Business facilities include an open exhibition area for trade exhibitions and other events, and a movie production studio commonly called "Studio Tinapa" or "Nollywood". It is set to become the most modern film production studio in Nigeria. There is a 243 room international three star Hotel. The resort also has a truck terminal, and gets power from an independent power plant.
Project history
Tinapa was initiated by Governor Donald Duke as a way to boost business and tourism in the state. Over$350 million was spent on initial development.
The first phase of Tinapa Business Resort & Free Zone, Calabar, was commissioned on the 2 April 2007.
Tinapa is a 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) drive from Calabar by a roundabout route, but the Federal government is building a more direct 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) access road to link it with the city.
IITA Forest IbadanInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a research and training institute for students as well as professionals in the area of agricultural research.
Located just a short journey northward of Ibadan city, the institute is not only a research site, but also a huge leisure estate that is well known as a birdwatchers’ paradise.
In response to specific development needs, IITA works with research and development partners to deliver research outputs that are achieving an initial outcome.
They then use this research outcome to excite and attract more partners who will ultimately take charge of the up-scaling and out-scaling of the technologies by broadening participation and increasing the chances of success and ultimate development impact.
Much of the IITA’s 1000-hectare campus is used for scientific research on improving food production in Africa.
A third of the campus consists of unspoiled tropical forest, a natural preserve for birds and other fauna, a lake about 3 km long, developed to provide irrigation water and attracts hundreds of species of resident and migratory birds.
The lake has been spawned with various fish species and is a lodestone for anglers.Guides are available for visitors wishing to take a tour of the forest, try their luck at angling in the lake, or watching for rare migrating birds.
Okomu National Park, Edo StateLocated in Ovia South LGA, the park which lies about50km west of Benin City, Okomu National Park, formerly the Okomu Wildlife Sanctuary, is a forest block within the 1,082 km² Okomu Forest Reserve.
The park holds a small fragment of the rich forest that once covered the region, and is the last habitat for many endangered species.
The park holds a remnant of the Nigerian lowland forests that once formed a continuous 50–100 km wide belt from the Niger River west to the Dahomey Gap in Benin.
To the south and southeast the forest was separated from the coast by mangrove and swamp forests, while to the north it merged into the Guinean Forest-Savanna Mosaic Eco-region.
Okomu National Park is about 200 km² of wildlife sanctuary, a rainforest ecosystem that is the habitat for many endangered species of flora and fauna.
The state government formally defined the sanctuary in 1986, with an area of just 66 km2 before the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)took over management of the sanctuary in 1987, and extended it to 114 km2 by adding a one-mile wide buffer zone. The sanctuary was later taken over by the National Parks Service in 1999.
Okomu is a home of forest elephants, buffaloes, red river hogs, chimpanzees, leopards, bush baby, putty nosed guenon, porcupine, pangolins, duikers, antelopes etc.
The white throated monkey which is one of the rarest monkeys in the world today is found at the park as well. Butterflies and birds are abundant making it one of the best places for bird watching in Nigeria.
Ikogosi Warm Springs The Haven of tourists in Nigeria. Ekiti State is richly endowed with tourism potentials. Tourists to the state would be irresistibly charmed with the beauties of Ikogosi where warm and cold water oozing from different sources flowing separately to join in a pool but each retaining its thermal identity.
Ikogosi Ekiti, where the warm spring is located is in Ekiti West Local government of Ekiti State of Nigeria. It is situated in a valley and from the surrounding hills rises the warm spring.
Traditionally speaking, there are many stories from the indigenes of this town regarding the origin of the warm spring. A version of the stories rests more on the traditional belief of the people that both springs (Warm and Cold) were wives of the same husband who turned to springs water in the wake of rift and rivalry between them. The hot and ill-tempered first wife believed to have turned to the popular warm spring while the cool-tempered second wife turned to cold spring water. The husband became the undulating hills that encompass the springs. It is well established that some of the Villagers still worship the springs as their deities.
The scientific proof could not be wished away in favour of the traditional belief. The possible and plausible scientific explanation is that the deeper a body of water goes underground, the hotter it becomes and if by chance it is forced back to the surface through some earth fault, the temperature will be relatively high.
The Baptist mission in the early 50s established a youth and conference centre and other conviniences on a hill adjacent to the warm spring area. This started attracting different people from far and near, even foreigner started visiting the centre to the the work of nature. At the wake of 1978 however, the Ondo State acquired this popular tourist centre from Baptist Mission. A few infrastructure were put in place by this Mission before the resort centre was acquired from them by the State government, but, after the acquisition of this centre, however, both the federal and the state government focused attention on how to develop the centre to a modern tourist resort.
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