Edited by Aloho Esiekpe and Olivia Eni
My First Time In Ekiti As A Corper (From Fear To Freedom)
Escaping the Lagos Rush
So, like I said last, I took a flight from Ibom Air to Uyo. Well, on getting there, It felt different. For a first time,r, it was actually kind of surreal. You know, quiet place, not much crowded roads,, and definitely not like half the country lives there (the usual Lagos lifestyle). Uyo on the other hand was quite the opposite. It was peaceful and beautiful. It was really something memorable.
Settling In: A Slow Start:
Anyways, as usual I wasn’t all up for going out on my first day there. I just wanted to gist with my friend and chill at home, pop on some Netflix along the line.
So, here’s the thing, I planned on staying for a week and I intended exploring to the fullest. So, my friend and I mapped out a plan of how the one-week vacation was going to be… which at the end didn’t go as planned but what the hell I had fun!
Table of Contents
Experiencing Uyo’s Christmas Village;
So, Christmas Village is actually a very big land owned by the State government and is open from December 1st to January 1st. So many businesses get to have different stands for advertisement purposes, and the government also hosts some musicians who come to entertain those that come to chill, someone like me
.
Anyways, I really thought I would be able to try everything and anything, but after buying pepper soup and the price was something else 
we had resigned to just enjoying the songs being played and singing like we were in a concert.
Note that the only time you can actually enjoy the Christmas Village is in the evening when the sun is down and the weather is chill.
Soft Life Moments & City Exploration.
Come second day, and we were back there trying ice creams of different flavours from different stands, not minding if we were going to have tummy ache later 
. We were really trying to enjoy our twenties before getting back to the reality of working our asses out! So that was the usual routine, sightseeing, the museum (which is actually a chill place to take pictures), the mall where you can get everything and anything.
Nothing too serious, just soft life, enjoyment, and vibes.
The Highlight: Ibeno Beach:
But Saturday was my favourite day of that week.
Long journey? Yes. But it was worth it. The gate fee was just #1000 naira, and you get to stay as long as you want to. Getting there, we sat down first to gather enough strength to play while also sipping our coconut water and taking pictures because why not 
. Then we went to play. it felt really nice not thinking about anything and just living in the moment, having fun and playing with the water… with me at some point acting like I was Moana of Mautinuie 
(the movie). After a dozen pictures and a gazillion videos… we decided to head back, sit down, and then we ordered some meat. That was when I got to find out that they host beach parties every December and people actually sell things there. So even if you’re hungry, there are places you can buy food and eat without stress. And for people like me 
you can tell the coconut vendor to give you the coconut after sipping your coconut water.
Heading Back & Wrapping Up:
So, we left around 4pm in order to reach Uyo on time. Then I had to go to Aba on Sunday and spend some time with my mum too. In all, Uyo was good and it was a really nice experience for real. Peaceful, beautiful, and just different from what I’m used to.
Definitely a trip I won’t forget anytime soon.
