Needed: Tips for first time visitor to Abuja, Nigeria

[TraciC]

Hello Local Guides! I'm thrilled to be heading to Abuja in November and would love to hear your tips for my first visit to Nigeria's capital (or to this continent). I am going to be offline as I recover from surgery and will be reading as much as I can about Nigeria in general, but welcome your tips for first-time visitors. I unfortunately won't be there for longer than a few days but here's some helpful information about my travel style:

• I'm not shy to walk around a neighborhood or city; in fact I love it! 
• I love street art and historical monuments
• I love to have local food (but am a picky eater) but do try as best as I can try to local cuisine when out of New York City

@Anonymous: Might you be around? 

Hey @EmekaUlor, I know you'll be in town, so we should meet-up. 

Thank you in advance!

[Tamaa]

In My city not have a moderator for local guides, we need help, we want to have a moderator for balikpapan city. Thanks admin 

[EmekaUlor]

@TraciC Traci! Traci!  Traci! Traci....wow!

Yesssssssss

[EmekaUlor]

Traci is coming!😂😍😍😍

@TraciC wooow!

This a fantastic news for the Nigerian Local Guides community. 

Sure, you can check out some lovely places and taste some Local cuisine.

Here some places nice places to see in Abuja (in no order)

- Abuja City Gate
-Jabi Lake Resort 
-National Assembly( our Capitol Hill)
-Millennium Park
- Ventures Park
-Nike Art Gallery
 -IBB Golf Course
-Aso Rock
-Sarius Botanical Garden
- The Junkyard

.... many more

Get well soon

[LucioV]

Wow @TraciC! Local Guides Summit in Nigeria incoming?!?!?!?!

[Anonymous]

Wow, this is fabulous news. You are about to be richly amazed. 

[HelloSamsonR]

@TraciC is great to have you visit Abuja, you would definitely enjoy your stay. I would be in Abuja from November 12-18. I do not mind to show you around the beautiful, well planned city of Abuja during your stay. But before that here are some things you could do, during your short visit to make your visit a lovely one.

Things To Do in Abuja

You should try to visit Millennium Park Abuja. It is the largest park in Abuja. It is a great place to hangout while exploring nature at it's best. There are a lot of fun things you could do around the park like having fun rides, watching the scenery of the rivers, watching the birds etc.After your long trip from the U.S, i recommend you visit the park so as to relax the soul, the mind and the body. The park itself was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II, after the unveiling it has been a popular place to hangout for the locals. It's a family friendly environment and you would definitely enjoy your visit.

A visit to Zuma Rock would be definitely be a memorable experience for you. Am sure whenever you come across a rock or stone anywhere anytime, you would always remember the Nigeria's Zuma Rock :). Zuma Rock is a large monolith sitting at the entrance to Nigeria's capital city. The rock is a National pride. In ancient legends the rock served as a defence to the people. When entering Abuja or leaving Abuja you would definitely see the big zuma. At raining periods like this in Nigeria, the top of the rock brings out fire. If you visit and you see this, then you are fortunate. At your first visit, I will recommend you go for sightseeing. Roughly, it takes around 6 hours to hike the rock to get to the peak, but it could be very dangerous for someone with no experience in hiking. if you want to hike, then you need to go along with a professional. Make sure you wear comfortable clothings. There is a local community situated there called the Zuma rock village filled up with locals, you should try to visit and explore the way of living and their lifestyle as well. I have attached a 360 Photo, for you to have a peep into what Zuma Rock looks like.

 360 Photo taken by local guide @Anonymous

P.S

I don't intend to scare you, but the Zuma rock has an eye, nose and mouth and watches over everything. If you visit and you do find these features I mentioned, make sure you take a picture. I would be looking out for your experience when you find it :). There are legends and myths about that, I would be happy to tell you more that later on.

If you are an art enthusiast or art lover, Thought Pyramid Art Centre Abuja is another mind-blowing art gallery you need to visit when in Abuja. It is located in Wuse, Abuja. The art gallery contains traditional to contemporary artworks, paintings and relics of notable Nigerian and African art makers. When in these place you experience a new dimension of thoughts about art itself. It is a place where you see how Nigerians express their creativity through art. The environment is lovely and atmosphere is good. You would definitely enjoy your visit to the art gallery.

Looking to eat like a local and explore Nigerian cuisines, Local cuisines or African cuisines, then Jevenik Restaurant is your best bet. This is also a list where you can find African restaurants in Abuja: African Restaurant in Abuja. For the first time eating a Nigerian food, I would recommend you do not eat something too spicy or something that has stew. You should eat vegetables soups as your first experiment, you would definitely love it :).

Jabi Lake is another place you could go for sightseeing to see the Jabi lake. Beside the lake you also have a Jabi Lake Mall shopping mall where you could go for shopping for some basic needs. Get to see and explore how shopping malls in Nigeria looks like. There is also a cinema in the mall, I recommend you try to go watch some some movies, some Nigerian movies may airing too, you may decide to watch one. The link I provide contains dates and showing times of movies in the cinema, you may decide to check it out.

You should also try some street food in Abuja. Have you ever heard of or tasted Suya or Kilishi before ? You definitely need to give it a try. There are many top spots to eat that in town but I would recommend you try Yahuza Suya Spot, they serve the best in town.

Lastly on my things for you to do, you should visit Gurara Waterfalls. Gurara Waterfalls is located in Niger state, sharing borders with Abuja. It is just 1hour, 15mins Drive from Abuja. You should go for sightseeing. There are a lot of hidden stories about this most famous waterfall in Nigeria and you can only know this stories by visiting and having the chance to interact with the locals for you to get the proper knowledge about the waterfall. It is also a National pride. The Gurara Waterfalls was discovered by a Local hunter called Buba in 1745. Buba belonged to a group of tribe called the Gwari’s. The Gwari’s are a group of people basically found in the North Central of Nigeria stretching towards Abuja the Capital of Nigeria to Niger State. When you visit Gurara Waterfalls you would meet these people, they are the locals. They are very quiet and a welcoming group of people. There are legends and myths of the waterfall, if you do visit, you would have the opportunity to interact with the locals as they would tell you their rich history. If you intend to visit Gurara Waterfalls for sightseeing, I strongly recommend you go along with a Local Guide. I have attached a 360 photo which I took at the waterfall.

 This was one of the most riskiest shot  I have ever taken as a local guide, but it was worth the risk :).

Additional Information You Might Need

Since you are in an unfamiliar territory I need to share some few other tips with you.

You are in Abuja and predominantly you have a lot of Hausa people living there. You may come across the locals and you may need to interact by saying hi, rather than saying hi you could say Sannu, as that is the popular greeting language there. Familiarize yourself with it, if you say this greeting language to them, you would become their best friends because it sends a feel you understand their language and culture, they would be very happy with you and will celebrate you.

When you arrive in Abuja make sure you register with the American consulate here:Smart Traveller Enrollment Program. It is good you do because it is used to assist U.S citizens in terms of emergencies.

You should also try to avoid late night walks,  if you walk at late nights, you should be in the company of a companion who knows the local community well. make sure you go along with a means of identification any time you go out as it is very important.

You would definitely enjoy your stay, let me know if you may need help or additional information, I would be glad to help out.

[Abdullahi_cap]

You are most welcome to Abuja, Nigeria @TraciC. It a pleasure having you in our country. While you are in Abuja, take your time to explore Abuja. One of tourist places i will love you to go is "Zuma Rock" located at the gateway of Abuja when coming from Suleja, it's around Madala (it is been displayed at the back of our 100 naira notes). Although Abuja is the  central of Nigeria so you tend to get mix cultures. You can taste some of the Nigeria meals, for example meals from the neighboring states(Hausa's) you can have a taste of masa @Sagir once wrote about how it been prepared. Other delicacies will be discussed by other LG's  Wish you a happy stay in Abuja

[helga19]

Wow!

It is great news for local guides in Nigeria!

Thank you for sharing this  news dear @TraciC

Best wishes,

[TaofeekOseni]

Currency of eight independent countries (Benin,Togo, Senegal, Niger,Mali, Guinea Bissau,Ivory coast, Burkina Faso)

5000 CFA

50 Cedi

Ghanaian cedi. Unit of Currency in Ghana

 Welcome to Abuja!!

Welcome to Nigeria!!

Welcome to Western Africa!!

You did mentioned that this is your "first visit to Nigeria's capital (or to this Continent) 

It is right time for me to start making collection of my SOUVENIR gifts for our August visitor.