That was 2016 and we were already at the park in Imo State, Nigeria by 7am Nigerian time to board a bus going to Obudu Mountain Resort.
Obudu Mountain Resort also known as Obudu Cattle Ranch is located at Obudu Plateau in Cross River Nigerian. According to history it was developed by M. McCaughly, a Scottish who first explored the mountain in 1951.
We took off past 9am because we needed to wait for a couple of persons to arrive before moving together.
We arrived the Obudu Mountain foot by 9pm Nigerian time. Then I thought the journey has ended, unknown to me, the journey just began.
Our bus started the mountain climbing. It was not a sweet experience at all. The bus was climbing on a vertical position on the mountain.
The mountain is 5,200ft above sea level.
Everyone was so scared.
Oh my goodness.
I prayed all kinds of prayers in my heart.
It was so late, staying at the foot of the mountain till morning was not an option, as wild animals can come out from the forest, or something bad might happen to us.
By the 2(two) sides of the mountain road were valleys with thick forest.
At a point the bus light was finding it difficult to penetrate through the thick cloud that covered the mountain.
We managed to arrive at the mountain top by 12am Nigerian time being the next morning. There was a big breath of relief from everyone. We checked into our hotel rooms till day break.
We were able to have enough rest, and we started our tour later in the day. Obudu Mountain Resort is a beautiful place to visit. There is no sunshine over there. It is always cold and cloudy. A thick cloud would literally come down and cover the whole environment that you wouldn't be able to see the next person close to you.
It has so many beautiful things that made it exceptional.
The stones over there are not like the normal black stones we see everyday in our environment. The stones are crystal white in nature.
The sand over there are not also like our normal sand, the sands are whitish in nature like the sands we find in beaches and in seas.
The environment was a beautiful sight to behold.
We visited the forest, it has whitish water falls that flows from a rock. The water tastes salty.
We visited the zoo, saw some of the animals. And some of us rode on the horses.
We visited a part of the Mountain and was seeing Cameroon from there. It was just separated by a valley with a thick forest in it . So someone can walk by foot through the Mountain valley and cross over to Cameroon borders.
The mountain has another part of it that is believed that whatever prayer one makes there must be answered. Wow, we actually prayed there anyway and some of those prayers came to pass.
The inhabitants were so friendly that wherever you feels like going, they would take you there.
But the irony of it all was that the people we saw there were opposite of what we expected to see based on the cool nature and whether condition of the environment.
I was expecting to see some beautiful people with nice glittering skin. I was so disappointed by their looks. Very black and dried skin.
I started asking questions on why should someone living in this kind of environment have this kind of skin. They have not been bitten by sun. The highest they can experience is rainfall. They hadly visit another community, reasons being that it is difficult getting a car going else where. They have everything they needed, provided by nature. They have natural honey as well. They eat bush meats and fresh fish from the rivers there.
So on my quest to know why this people's skin looks this way, i realised that they take this local alcoholic drink like water. Due to the cold nature of the environment, they take this local alcohol to always keep their body warm. Right from small, the little children start taking the local alcohol to enable them develop a thick skin against the cold. Wow it wasn't a good idea i thought.
Most of them doesn't understand English language, so one needs to talk with sign language to demonstrate what you are saying. But basically, they are beautiful in heart and very accommodating.
We spent 3(three) days in Obudu Mountain Resort. And it was time to go home. Everyone was like wow. How time flies. I never felt like going, likewise some of my friends. But we gat to go, our stay has expired and everyone has some other thing to catch up with at their base. We were set and started our journey, i found out that it was so easy to come down than to climb. It didn't take us much time unlike while climbing to come down. (This thought me a good lesson about life also; 'it takes a lot of hard work and rigorous times to climb to the top, but falling from the top is so easy'. So when you managed to get to the top, do everything possible to remain there).
Within a short while, we were at the foot of the mountain. The whole 3(three) days were so fun. So while we got into the bus, i told myself, Faith you must visit again.
It's been 4(four) years now and i am still desiring to visit Obudu Mountain Resort, of which i will do one day. I lost the phone in which directory i saved the pictures I took there, this post would have been better illustrated with those pictures. But nevertheless, that was my journey to Obudu Mountain Resort.
Thank you for reading through my post. It was nice visiting Obudu Mountain Resort and I know you would love to visit there one day.