From Lagos To Ekiti – My Ikogosi Warm Springs Vacay!






“Do not even think about traveling to Nigeria! You will get kidnapped or worse still, bombed! We would have to scrape you off the wall first in order to fly you back home for a proper funeral!”
Those were the exact words one of my good friends said when I made my Nigeria travel plans known. Well, it is a good thing I did not listen to him!
Traveling to Nigeria was truly an eye opening experience for me; first and foremost, the whole kidnapping and bombing problems where now where nearLagosor Ikogosi…..ah, Ikogosi.
I got invited to Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort in Ekiti state by one of my gracious Nigerian friends, Oluwatofunmiloungbogbo (yes, I raised both eyebrows too, when I heard his name for the first time)
When I arrived at the resort I was immediately charmed by the beautiful, serene environment. Before I could open my mouth to say a word, a middle aged woman yelled “Okon O!” in my good ear – I found out that “Okon O” is the local dialect for saying “hello”.
I sat down to listen to the legend about how the warm and cool springs came to be. At least this was better than my experience of being sandwiched between 2 huge passengers for an hour in a Bolekaja (the local transport vehicle) while traveling from Ibadan to Akaran village – please do not get me started on how I sat for a whole hour in a Bolekaja (which actually is translated as “get down and let’s fight”) without passing out from the terrible heat. Well, I wanted to live it up like Indiana Jones and I got exactly what I was looking for….and then some!
If you ever embark on a Nigeria travel and you visit Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort, ensure that when you try the local pounded yam, please also be sure to ask for egusi or efo riro soup – everyone at the buffet table laughed at me when I started eating my pounded yam without soup!
I must admit, when I was traveling to Nigeria, I never thought that I would be in a very civilized environment – a misconception that many western foreigners have. I realized that many of the people I met were all college graduates – many Nigerians take education seriously. So puh-lease! Do not make the mistake of gesticulating a lot when talking to an average Nigerian.
E se o! (Thank You)

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