Weekend at the luxury hotel in Uyo

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May 16, 2016 2:31 PM

Richard Tanksley, Head of Pulse shares the experience of his vacation at Starwood's Le Meridien Ibom, Uyo.

Rich Tanksley, head of Pulse, having fun at SPG

Its not every day that I get invited for an all-expense-paid vacation to a tropical golf resort in Nigeria. So when Starwood invited me to come to their Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort on the banks of the Akwa Ikpa River outside of Uyo, I found it hard to refuse.

After a quick flight on Dana Airlines (with an upgrade to business class in exchange for a selfie) and a 45 minute bus ride, I arrived at what could only be described as a resort in a tropical paradise.

The resort itself is beautiful, but it's the setting that makes the hotel, and more importantly, the golf course, special. The undulating landscape, still filled with many original tropical trees, slowly slopes down to the river where local Akwa Ibomites hand-make huge wooden canoes for transporting goods and contraband (it was said) to neighboring states and Cameroon.

If you play golf, it would be hard for you to find a better place to play it in Nigeria. The par 72, 6361 meter course opened in 2007 after being designed by Ritson Golf Design. The course was the first course in Africa to be named as best resort course by Golfweek Magazine. It is listed as number three in Nigeria with top 100GolfCourses.com.

Golf in Nigeria is not a new or a small thing. Africa has about 830 golf courses, with half of which are in South Africa. Nigeria has 53 courses listed on worldgolf.com. The first real golf course in Nigeria was Rayfield in Jos which was built in 1913 (about 18 years after the first course in the US opened).

Interestingly, Rayfield opened, many years before Nigeria was a state. The Kano Golf Club was founded in 1908 with 3 holes. The addition 15 holes are coming soon. The Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria has several dozen professional players registered as members and continues to expand its membership with frequent intakes of new professional players.

The course itself at Le Meridien is beautiful. You play on a course that was carved out of a tropical forest. My favorite hole is the 3rd hole, where your ball drops 200 feet down after teeing off on a cliff overlooking miles of tropical rain forest. The clubhouse near the marina is an old colonial house that has been turned into a casual Italian restaurant with a beautiful upstairs deck overlooking the river and the rain forest.

I have to admit that as the head of Pulse, I might have been treated better than the average guest, but even if so, the level of service at the hotel is fantastic. That combined with amazing food made for a heavenly experience. The various restaurants serve a combination of continental and Nigerian dishes.

They even have a live cooking station where the chef prepares Nigerian soups in front of you. I spent most of my meals eating things I can't normally get though; like salmon, capers, brie cheese, and other things that make some Nigerians question my sanity.

In the evenings we sang Karaoke at the night club in the resort, drank too much, danced, and did the normal things that one does when on vacation.

Overall the visit to the resort was a fantastic experience and one that I would be happy to repeat. If you are looking for an easy get-away from the city, or you play golf, I highly recommend you check this place out.

Written by Richard Tanksley.

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