We packed our bags and headed to Abuja!

A penchant for adventure and the willingness to discard your definition of what the average city in our country is. We were able to do both; we got on our adventurous hat, and even forgot that we came from another city where everything is done in a hurry, and with little courteousness.

On first impression, the traffic-free highways, serene views, and utmost respect for law and order had us drooling in amazement. Yet, that's not all there is to Abuja. Beyond all the courteous uniformed men, who take out time to lighten your day before sending you on your way, are the amazing sights that we couldn't just wait to soak in.

We got to Abuja late in the evening, got settled and freshened up, then we set out to get a taste of what Nightlife in Abuja entailed. A handful of restaurants were still opened and they seemed to have a stream of beaming faces with little care as to what time of the day it is. We had a late dinner at Mama Cass, and went to a Suya joint afterwards. We all know that it wouldn’t really be an Abuja trip if we left that part out.

Abuja is famous for a lot of recreational spots and parks. Yet, if you come to Abuja and just do the parks and amusement spots, you will be missing out on a whole lot. So we went sight seeing, taking stops intermittently to capture every beautiful sight with the Camon C9. Our first stop, of course, was the Welcome to Abuja spot, as we got to Abuja really late the day before, and couldn't do this.

From then on, we moved to the Abuja National Mosque, also known as the Nigerian National Mosque, situated on Independence Avenue, across from the National Christian Centre, which we also stopped at. These unique places of worship built years ago, ranks high on our list of places to visit, and we were excited to do just that.

We also did a quick stop at the monumental Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) House, in the Business Central District of Abuja, and then we headed for the Gurara Waterfalls. But as you well know, rising spectacularly immediately north of Nigeria's capital Abuja, along the main road from Abuja to Kaduna, is the Zuma Rock. A large monolith composed of gabbro and granodiorite. The Gbagyi people used it for a defensive retreat against invading neighboring tribes during intertribal warring years back. Sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to Abuja”, the Zuma Rock was a breath-taking sight.

As you enter the Gurara Waterfalls, a force of nature so strong you can’t help but revel in immediately entraps you. From the point you set your eyes on the waterfalls, you become engulfed in a new world, a world where everything is sparkly. We were not going to miss getting a closer look so we took the climb down the fall, which on all counts is easier than the climb back up. But we did it anyway with the help of our awesome guides, who didn’t just provide us with directions, but also had some fun games to offer, and guess what? We got amazing shots on our Camon C9.

An hour and a half later, we were set to explore our next stop.

At the Millennium Park, our last stop for the day. We had a lot of smiling faces, happy children running around, and groups of people engaging in a fun activity or the other. It was Fathers’ day; and you could see parents bonding with their kids. No one is cranky with their children or squabbling with their partner. It was altogether a serene environment, and we even got to play African Basketball. The African Basketball is a game where a number of goodies are placed on the ground in rows and columns, the player is given a couple of loops for a fee, and allowed to throw them at the goodies till they get exhausted. Whatever the loop falls into, the player gets to take home. This has been in existence since 1984, and it doesn’t just sound like fun, it was fun.

Abuja entirely was a great experience, plus we had our celebrity tourist, VJ Adams to experience it all with us. We were not too thrilled to leave Abuja, but we were definitely excited to get on the road again, this time to Enugu – the coal city.

Do follow our #C9ja entire journey on social media here, here and here. And you can also get a virtual tour here.

This is a feature by TECNO.