Monday, 6th September
Alright, as promised, the deets on the journey to the infamous "Crocodile City." Before I start, I would like to apologise for the late update. I got caught up yesterday but today is a fair day. Now that's out of the way, here it is... the journey as it unfolds (exciting eh?! I can just feel it). Here's the link to the previous article, just in case you needed a reminder https://read.cash/@The.Ada/final-destination-the-road-trip-to-the-infamous-crocodile-city-cfc0f4b4
So...here's goes nothing!
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So, we were all gassed up, packed up and ready to begin our venture on a 13-14 hour road trip to the city in the early hours of the morning though. We left home a day before the introduction party and I remember it was around 6:30am or 7am ish that we left the house. My dad hired a driver because he didn't know the route to Kaduna and he didn't want to put his family at risk (how thoughtful, Dad!). So, my Dad rode shotgun, while I was seated behind the driver and my Mom was by my side, behind my Dad. Brother D was behind me while Brother K was by his side, behind my Mom. That was our sitting arrangement.
The moment we begun the journey, my Mom took it upon herself to lead us all in a short prayer, committing the journey to God's hands and praying for journey mercies. After the prayer, it was like we could all breathe again and there was this relief we felt knowing and trusting God for a safe journey.
Looking ahead, I could see the stretched out road right in front of us, the light illuminating the roads, no much vehicles in sight, observing dawn which was in fact, breathtaking. I have anticipated the journey, researched, planned and now we were finally embarking on said journey. It was in that moment I remembered my checklist for plans on coping with my motion sickness and stuff. So I thought to myself;
Headphones ✔
Music ✔
Keeping active by singing ✔
Making conversations with Mom (preferably)✔
No eating or drinking from Mom's incredibly delicious feast (really tempting though)✔
Disposable bag (for when I do decide to yield and be tempted by the dish)✔✔
Map guide highlighting the local attractions ✔
It turns out that there are six states between us and Kaduna state. The order of the states are... Lagos state - Ogun state - Ondo State - Osun state - Kogi state - Abuja - Niger state - Kaduna state. In those six states there are various local attractions to look out for. So, knowing me, I researched these local attractions from these six states and here's what I found (in no particular order);
The Olumo Rock in Ogun state;
Idanre Hills in Ondo state;
Zuma Rock in Abuja;
Lokoja Confluence in Kogi state;
National Museum Ile-Ife in Osun state;
Kainji National park in Niger state, etc.
I was hoping we could actually enjoy learning more and looking out for all these local attractions but my Dad reminded me that we were on a deadline and there would be no time to stop by the attractions. He said the best we could do is just observe from inside the vehicle if at all the attractions are in our route. Yikes! And I really was excited and looking forward to seeing all these wonderful local attractions. It was safe to say I was disappointed but I wasn't going to wallow in it. Instead, I would keep an eye out for these attractions if only to just sightsee and so, I was secretly hoping that these attractions were in our route nonetheless.
So with my new found mission, I tried to stay active as possible by making small talk with my Mom. I was asking so much questions that even my mom was getting irritated. I took that as my cue to stop. I took out my headphones, plugged it in and just listened to music. Everyone was quiet and so I just as quietly as possible sang along to the songs I listened to while looking out by the window hoping to see at least one of the beautiful attractions.
It was about 10am and I found out that we were already in Ondo state. I was a bit sad cause I didn't get to see the Olumo Rock attraction but I was hoping to see that of Ondo state which is Idanre Hills. Still met with disappointment, the driver informed me that there was no way we would pass by there because he wasn't taking that route due to traffic. But, I still got to see some smaller hills and hilltops in Ondo state because the state is prominent for its hillside topography. I just didn't get to see the one I wanted to see which saddened me but not for long. At least I got to see some Hills.
Heading closer to Osun state, just when I thought this trip wasn't going to be much fun, Brother K goes and made the biggest mistake one could ever make on a road trip😂😂
Ask me what he did!
A/N: Well, if you want to know what he did, you're going to have to stick around and wait for the next part😂 and trust me, you don't want to be out of the loop on this one.
>>Good day everyone again, I'm always glad to have the opportunity to share my writeup here once again. This is one of many amazing writeups I'm going to be sharing and I'm just elated. I'm Grateful literally and figuratively.
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A cliff hanger😩. I'm looking forward to the next