That was fun...

But short...

Julia came to visit me for a month. (see Facebook photos) ===>

It was a grand ol' time. But now she's back home. That's not as much fun...

We did a lot of fun things though. You can check out a lot of them on that link over there on the right. But one of the things I hadn't posted on the F-book just yet is our trip to Obudu. Obudu is in the Eastern mountains of Nigeria, bordering Cameroon. The sights are breathtaking. God's got a pretty amazing creation!

Obudu used to be a cattle ranch but it's now a very fancy resort. They still have the cattle, just now you can have a delicious chunk of one for dinner! yum! I've honestly never been somewhere this fancy. Even in Canada. It wasn't cheap, so we stayed somewhere that was. We crammed four of us (Amber, Erica, Julia and myself) into one tiny room. There was a double bed that we managed to fit two mattresses around. One went on the side, one on the end of the bed. I was the lucky one at the end on the floor, so I got to smell Amber and Erica's feet each night...

The drive there was long. Took more than 9 hours (especially after our driver drove the wrong way for more than 30 minutes) but it was worth it. Obudu is one of the highest points in Nigeria and it has two ways to the top. One is a cool snakey road that winds its way back and forth up the green hills. The other (and even cooler!) is to take the longest cable car in the world and dangle above the hills!

We drove up the hills to get to our 'hotel' (too much luggage for the cable car...) and were swallowed by the clouds on the way. But not before getting a great view.

The next day we thought we would spend at the side of the pool. The pool is back down the mountain (too cold and cloudy at the top...) so we headed for the cable car. We bought our tickets for the cable car and the pool at the resort and took the trip down. It was very cloudy at first, but once we broke through... wow! So many times I wanted to just stop the car and take in the sights for longer. The cable car took us over several hills, with towers on the top of each, creating a new and even more amazing view each time we topped the next hill. It's hard, impossible really, to fully describe it all.
We chilled at the pool at the bottom for the day. Virtually the only people there for the entire day. Again, nicest pool I've ever been to. Outdoors (of course) in a valley at the bottom of the mountains. I hope I'm painting an adequate picture. The pool itself was quite the sight, let alone the 360° view around us! Two waterslides, two diving boards, a kiddie pool with fountain, two seperate pools and one complete with a tiny island! Needless to say, I did not feel like I was still in Nigeria.

We had lots of fun on the slides and lounging about for the day. I burned (of course) but it was still great. Then we took the cable car back up to the top, seeing more amazing sights all around us.

We ate at the ranch restaurants a few of the nights and had delicious meals. Thick juicy steak for me! AND coffee!! Like, REAL coffee! It's a rare thing in Nigeria, and well cherished. We had several cups each.

The rest of our trip consisted of a horseback ride (which was less of a "ride" as we thought, and more of "being led around slowly on a hourse for half an hour"... and a few hikes. There is a canopy walk that takes you right into the trees! Also cool.

Another hike brought us to a grotto where we could have swam. If it wasn't cold. Oh, and if there wasn't a constant stream of tourists...

I think that about sums up Obudu. Hard to really sum that all up though.

Apart from Obudu, we also went to Yankari Game Reserve where we went on a safari and sat in the hot springs for the rest of the day. We visited the Jos Zoo and Wildlife Park and Farin Ruwa Waterfall ('Farin Ruwa' means 'White Water' in Hausa).

Pictures of them are yet to come, bear with me! (I don't want to overdose you).

Enjoy some more pictures of God's beautiful creation on display in Obudu...