an excursion to obudu mountain resort by eguriase s. m. okaka

An excursion to Obudu Mountain Resort By Eguriase S. M. Okaka As I waved goodbye to my schoolmates on the early morning of 15th July 2011, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was happy that I was going to see the popular Obudu Mountain Resort and on the other hand, I was sad that my friend Lola was not with me. Our Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Ewang, had wanted all JSS 3 students to go on an excursion to one of Nigeria’s most important natural endowments before our external examination. We left the school as early as 5:00 a.m. as the journey, according to our teacher, would take about six hours from our school in Aba. The journey was smooth and we spent time chatting and enjoying the lovely natural scenery that is missing in Aba town. Many of us had lived all our lives in Aba, so we enjoyed every bit of our journey. We got to Calabar a few minutes before 9:00 a.m. and preceded to Obudu which we were told was about three hundred and thirty-three kilometers from Calabar town. Our journey from Calabar to Obudu was much more interesting to many of us who are lovers of nature. We kept our eyes wide open to see and enjoy the beauty of the thick forest and vegetation we passed by. The cold fresh breeze of the mountain area greeted us as we alighted from our vehicle. Before us was imposing gate with its welcome sign that leads to where one of God’s most beautiful gifts on earth-nature is showcase. A well-dressed lady of about thirty years cheerfully and friendly welcomed us and introduced herself as our guide. She gave us a brief history of the Resort before showing us around the resort.

The Resort, we were told, is situated on Obudu Plateau. The Cameroon border is on the north-east part and it is in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State. On the eastern side of the town is Ogoja. The Resort is about three thousand, two hundred feet above sea level. It has beautiful and breath-taking scenery that keeps one wondering about how blessed our country Nigeria is. Our guide took us round later to see the beauty of the Resort. We drove and we walked sometimes. There are hills and valleys, trees of the rainforest on hilltops and green grassland that bring one closer to nature. The Resort has accommodation for tourist in different forms. Some are African huts suspended on stilts. Many of us have not seen such huts before and we were amazed. Another interesting sight at the Resort was the area where the birds were allowed to live in their natural environment. Before then, I had never seen such large concentration of birds moving about undisturbed and not bothered about what was happening in the environment around them. We later went to the natural swimming pool. We enjoyed watching swimmers dive in and some of us felt like joining them too. Our teacher told us we were not prepared for this and so we would not swim. I felt sad when it was time to leave but our teacher cheered us up, saying that we must leave as we had a long journey ahead of us. We bade our guide goodbye and boarded our bus for the long journey back to school. We got back late in the night. The picture of the magnificent images and scenery in Obudu Resort is not what one can forget easily. Obudu Mountain Resort is indeed a paradise on Earth. Summary writing Fishing Fishing dominated the economy of communities living along the coast, lagoons, delta and the big rivers. Many people in the Niger Delta, the Yoruba along the lagoons and the riverine Igbo on the Niger, were professional fishermen. In the north, there were also the Nupe, Hausa and Borno, especially the Wurbo and Junkun along the Benue River and the Kede and Kakande along the Niger. Professional fishermen could leave their localities for distant areas to fish. For instance, the Gunyawa and Sarkawa left their Kebbi homeland for four months every year to go on fishing expeditions. The Ijaw could also be found in Epe, Lagos and Badagry on fishing expeditions. Besides searching for fish, many professional fishermen engaged in the allied activities of making or repairing nets and canoes. The most important implements were traps of different types, nets, paddles and dugouts. Most of these implements were manufactured in these fishing communities. The major techniques used involved setting and throwing lines and nets. The fish they caught were sold to traders who in turn sold them to customers. Those not immediately consumed were persevered by smoking, drying or salting. Summary questions • The fish that were not eaten immediately by fishermen were not preserved by • A. Salting • B. smoking • C. drying • D. scaling • What happened to the fish caught by fishermen? A. They were sold to traders by the fishermen B. They were sold to the customers by the fishermen C. The fishermen consumed then immediately D. They were often cut to pieces • According to the passage, the major occupation of people living along the delta is A. Smoking B. Salting C. Fishing D. Repairing canoes and nets • According to the passage, which of the following does not belong to the fishing communities? A. Riverine B. The Kede and Kakande C. The Yoruba D. The Tiv • An alternative title of the passage could be A. The fishing activities of Nigerians. B. The types of fishing methods among Nigerians. C. The fishing activities of the delta people. D. Techniques and implements used in fishing. Vocabulary of fishing The words below are all associated with fishing. Check your dictionary for the meaning of each one of them and then answer the question that follow using these words.

• A large group of fish swimming together is a --------------------. • A --------------- is a fishing boat. • The act of using a trawler to catch fish is known as ----------------. • A curtain netting suspended vertically in water to catch is a -----------------. • A ------------------- is a person who catches fish as a sport or as a job. • A fisherman who catches fish as a sport in rivers and lakes rather than in the sea is an --------------------. • ------------------ is a type of fish. • A fish uses ------------- to breathe. • The ----------------- is any of the open spaces in a net. • A ---------------------- is a strong thin string with a hook on the end for catching fish. • A --------------- is a weight used to take a fishing line or net to the bottom. • A light object attached to a fishing line that floats on the water surface is a -----------------. • Fishing for the purpose of selling in large numbers is ----------------------. • A ----------------- is a vertical spar that supports sails or flags on a ship. • ------------------- is a verb meaning ‘to throw something that is light in weight.’ • A ------------------- is sharp piece of metal for catching fish. Eguria.blogspot.com