Tourmates' Workers' day (May 1st) Hangout at the Lekki Conservation Center, Lagos Nigeria

Introduction

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At a mention of the Lekki Conservation center, one thing that should come to mind for a neutral mind, is a preservation center of some sort for plat/animal . If same is asked however from a regular Lagosian( An inhabitant of Lagos State, Nigeria) who is familiar with this center or who avjust heard news of it , he'll tell you it's that place you can do that scary high level canopy walk on the longest canopy walk way in Africa.

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I was not left out in this second thought pattern. When the LCC is mentioned, what comes to mind is that fact that i could do a canopy walk there and this overshadowed the fact that it was supposed to be a conservation center first even before it has the canopy walk. Well, in the end, both features only ended up giving the about 78 hectare piece of natural resource conservation a befitting identity.

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On the 1st of May which happens to be a public holiday due to the workers day celebration on this part of the world, a tourists group I am part of decided to embark on a hangout with friends at this center. For a regular Lagocian (inhabitant of Lagos) it is strange to have a quiet place with trees, plants and animals to yourself and do some reflection. Our lifestyles are always on the fast lane from one endeavor to struggle to make money to the other ( an endless rat race) and this leaves some other patterns of one's life suffering. This was invariably the condition in which most of us friends are and the holiday break was just gonna be a perfect junction to try and see a way to make up for those loose ends.

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Lekki Conservation Center

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The center is located towards the outskirt of the City on a Large expanse of land taken over with funding from the Chevron Oil and Gas company while in care of the National Conservation Foundation making sure that the existing wild life in the location is relatively preserved. The astonishing thing is finding a place like this in Lagos bequeathed to the preservation of some wild life and plants especially because these locations are one of the most expensive placed in the state. It could just be likened to the similar efforts of the chairman of LUFASI Nature Park, Mr. Desmond Majekodunmi whose park we visited sometimes in January.

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On entering the premises, there is an attendance register every visitors would need to fill. During the tour round latter on and from a testimonial by a fellow tour mate, I found out the need for the attendance. The park is a very large expanse that one could forget himself and even get lost if some instructions and guides are not followed to the latter.

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So, as I said earlier, my intention was mainly to come get my feets on the canopy walk way which has made the center popular amongst many.On entry however and finding my way to the Almond tree to the right of the entrance waiting for friends to show up, I was soon pleasantly surprised when I saw a Monkey come by. Other persons there took steps away, but i moved closer to take some shots. Then one Monkey became 2,3,4,5 and then, i lose count.

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It was after this time I began understanding the real purpose of it being a conservation center, but I never knew there were still more in store. Soon enough, all friends came around and we took our spot somewhere behind the ticketing area, under a tree shed with concrete seats. Not long after our migration, the monkeys followed us haven seen that we had nylon bags with us. We latter got to know that the nylon bags attract them as they always have the feeling that there are some food items in it. In this case, they were right.

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It was time to settle for a nice picnic and devour the content of the nylon and our friends were at alert. It took one of us @truly_zizzy to give up her space and decided to feed the monkeys few steps away from where others were eating and it was a cute show. I'm happy however that i was able to take a record of that as seen below

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It was a really interestimg experience I must say. Not late after Zizzy did the feeding, one of us, Debo who had been to the center before and knew of the Monkeys' love for mangoes actually brought a nylon full of mangoes along and these lovely creatures just had a swell time to themselves. More interesting to watch is how they run away with these food items, struggling to take absolute possession of them.

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Not so long enough, we saw a tortoise stroll out of the point wherein he was and was obviously seen getting herself some grass to feed on. It was really beautiful sight for me. I don't always get to see nature stare at me so closely like this. The most surprising is the fact that these animals were just doing these things freely; no pressure and it was a beautiful sight to behold. We also took sight of a peacock and a peahen alike (beautiful creatures) . These moments were captured in the videos below.

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Then, as nature would have it, I was able to see live, how it looks like when tortoise are about to and eventually mate. Not long after the female tortoise came out, we just found this bigger tortoise said to be over 90 years old and both of them met and eventually matted.

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Daddy and Mummy

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And they matted. They were in this position for more than 30 mins that some guys were jealous haha.

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Then, the peacock and hen

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The Canopy Walk

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After spending time with the animals, we did some team bonding games (concentration precisely). This involves tourmates picking a particular list of a noun and in a rotational and orderly manner, each one calls out the name that comes to mind. For example, one person could start with names of countries and everyone calls the one that comes to mind. Anyone slow to respond or couldn't say anything when it was his turn is "punished" by having to take a shot of vodka.Do you think that's a good enough punishment? Haha, hut that's what it was. It was fun as it helped everyone bond and have some good laughs.

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Now it was time to go on the walk of the over 2km board walk to the 401 meter canopy walk way itself which happens to be the longest canopy walk way in Africa. I really enjoyed specially the board walk as it made me feel nature in it real form. The trees, the swamps, the butterflies and Monkeys with the silence just gave those soothing feelings and appreciation of the works of nature. Although we were told we could find Crocodiles and Snakes loitering around (which was gonna create fears in some), there was an "assurance" that they likely would move away from us as they too are scared by the noise we make when we move.

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Let's get on the board walk

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On getting to the start point of the canopy walk, those who think they might not be capable of going on the walk were provided the option of continuing on the board walk to the Family Park (this is where the canopy walk leads you to). The canopy walk has 7 stages with 3 ascending walks, 3 descending and one leveled plain at the topmost height which stands 22.5 ft. From this point, one could sight the Atlantic Ocean and other features around and stand side by side with a tall palm tree. Only 6 people are allowed on every walk per time (obviously for safely reasons)

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Lets Conquer our fear of height; let's stake the walk

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The Family Park

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One interesting end of this center is the family park which has amongst other things, varieties of games like chess,Ludo, draft, snake and ladder with the exception that these are not board but "ground" games. There are also Rotundas, Gazebos, family huts,barbecue joints,jungle gym facilities like monkey bars and mini zip lines e.t.c which helps to make one's outing quite enjoyable.

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There is also a preservation of the aquatic life around here with the koi and Tilapia Ponds.

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These fishes seemed to be "enjoying the life of their head" 😀

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Unfortunately for me, we couldn't spend much time at the family center because our camp was already set at the entrance area of the park.We soon received a call of our folks of their return to the meeting point and we decided to head back through the board walk ways. It was a long walk.

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At a point, we saw some farm houses and latter got to see a tree house. I had seen a picture of the tree house ladder access while making some google searches of the site before visit. It was on sighting it that I remembered that I actually saw it and was inquisitive of what the structure looks like. I didn't waste time to get a hold of the ladders and find my way up even when other folks were afraid to do same. To my surprise, I found a "white couple" enjoying the sight at this location who were very free and delighted to appear on the lens of my camera.

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We soon found our way back to our convergence point. It was around 5:30 pm and the access to the canopy walk was being blocked. We saw as the last set of adventurers negotiated their way on the walkway. Few steps couldn't get us out of the woods but at the end, we made it 💪
. We united with friends again, took dunch, played some games,took photos and cut our tourmates cake.

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Conclusion

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My experience here is not one that would find it's exit from my memory so soon. I loved the way nature smiled at me and I gave it a perk. It was a beautiful experience watching the Monkeys play around especially and not afraid of humans hutting them. I'm still stunned at the way the tortoise came out of it's hiding and was just doing her thing like it's no man's business. Now, I appreciate what freedom means to animals.

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Above all, I'm glad this is located in Lagos, Nigeria where I actually expected less of a conservation effort as found here. I implore anyone who hasn't been here yet to add this location to their bucket lists of places to visit when they come around here.

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THE END

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All picture and videos were taken by me with my Infinix Zero 4 Smartphone(Except when I was climbing the tree house...lol) and when the battery died, (on the canopy walk way) I switched to my Samsung A6 Pad.

Do you love what we do? Tourmates by Ada the Explorer is an initiative by a young travel enthusiast. She plans trips for people and helps them have a nice time out; far from the turmoils of the land. Below is a calender of the planned tours for the rest of the year.

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I was on the April tour with Tourmates, or I should rather say I've been on every tours organised by tourmates this year. My next travel post should be on the tour to Ekiti last week. Watch out.

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For more info, contact @adatheexplorer on Instagram (I've persuaded her really much on joining steemit)

BEHIND THE SCENES

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I couldn't just resist having this in this post. Awesome connection with nature and perfectly timed shot.

Ada the Explorer herself; the convener of "Tourmates"

Thanks to our tour Photographer Oisaemeka_ (on Instagram) for these shots.