For us, the bliss started on Friday 19 Dec when we hopped into a bus in Lagos heading East... didn't the Wise Men head East as well? This was one long journey, we started off at 7.30am and reached our destination after 8pm. Usually, I am told, the journey is not this long, but we were victims of some unscrupulous traffic police in two places that took up at least 45minutes; and the roads were not as good all the way. But aren't these regular such that they have become de-facto considerations when travelling...East? Don't ask me if it is not for these reasons that people prefer to fly to the East, instead of going through all the hurdles with doing road. I wanted to experience travelling by road in Nigeria, and also it served as a good sight-seeing to me as we drove across many states. More so, the Port Harcourt airport (which is closest to Eket) had been closed for refurbishing, and this would have meant flying into Calabar, which is about 2hrs drive to Eket. This lovely village is located in the state of Akwa Ibom, in the oil-rich zone of East Nigeria. Eket is an 'oil village' with oil exploitation happening in and around.
Eket is Aunti Rhoda Ikono’s (our Best Man's wife) village. They were celebrating the traditional wedding of her younger sister on Saturday 20 Dec. It was a colourful ceremony, with lots of food and drinks though not as many varieties as you will find in a similar feast, or any party in Cameroon.
On Sunday, we left in a convoy for Ikpene Inuen (I might have got this spelling wrong), Mr Ikono's village. His house was still under construction, but that did not tamper the partying that ensued and ran throughout the week. Everyone slept on a mattress on the floor, with power cables criss-crossing because our source of light was a generator, and the electrification of the house was not complete. There was no shortage of food or drinks throughout our stay there, but again not many varieties of food...mainly jellof rice; pounded yam or garri (eba) and afang soup (in Cameroon called eru, though the recipe is slightly different). Anyway, I enjoyed these the first two days and then wished I could eat something different! Think of 'poisson braisé', fufu (corn) and kati kati (chicken), 'Ndole', etc. How I miss Camer at such moments!
We culminated our stay with a family thanksgiving marking the 60th anniversary of Mr Ikono's uncle, and celebrations marking Aunti Rhoda's nth birthday; and headed back to the hustle and bustle of Lagos on Sunday Dec 28
Eket is Aunti Rhoda Ikono’s (our Best Man's wife) village. They were celebrating the traditional wedding of her younger sister on Saturday 20 Dec. It was a colourful ceremony, with lots of food and drinks though not as many varieties as you will find in a similar feast, or any party in Cameroon.
On Sunday, we left in a convoy for Ikpene Inuen (I might have got this spelling wrong), Mr Ikono's village. His house was still under construction, but that did not tamper the partying that ensued and ran throughout the week. Everyone slept on a mattress on the floor, with power cables criss-crossing because our source of light was a generator, and the electrification of the house was not complete. There was no shortage of food or drinks throughout our stay there, but again not many varieties of food...mainly jellof rice; pounded yam or garri (eba) and afang soup (in Cameroon called eru, though the recipe is slightly different). Anyway, I enjoyed these the first two days and then wished I could eat something different! Think of 'poisson braisé', fufu (corn) and kati kati (chicken), 'Ndole', etc. How I miss Camer at such moments!
We culminated our stay with a family thanksgiving marking the 60th anniversary of Mr Ikono's uncle, and celebrations marking Aunti Rhoda's nth birthday; and headed back to the hustle and bustle of Lagos on Sunday Dec 28
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Such moments are worth living!
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