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Event Details |
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Reconnaissance Trip to Nok – 4 June 2006
This was our
first field trip! The area of Nok is a
beautiful spot easily reached within a couple or so hours of
We continued
farther up onto the rocks which form the roof of the cave to see the panoramic
view of the area through which we had just walked, as well as the village
beyond. We had a snack there, and Felix
told us the legend of the Red Tree (literal translation from the local
language) – it is the only one of its kind in the area; it bears fruit but the
fruit does not germinate; lizards don’t climb its bark; it used to be that it
never lost its leaves; and it used to glow at certain times (there’s more, I
just forgot).
Though Felix insisted
that the climb down would be easier than up, this is not true. Nonetheless, everyone made it down just fine
(with a great deal of help of the guides and boys), and we walked back toward
the village.
Along the way,
Felix took us inside another cave, this one, he said, had been used as a kind
of tribunal space. It had also, quite
obviously, been used as a place where women ground grains communally – the
evidence for which is that several of the flat rocks lining the floor of the
cave have obvious grind-stone indentations in them. Felix said that, because this space had been
used as a tribunal, only virgins were allowed to grind their grist there.
Next, we
proceeded back through the village and stopped in a place with a very large
rock on one end, a kind of plaza in the middle of which stand two stellae, and
to the side of which a small trail leads, after a meter (yard) or two toward a
space between another rock and a very large, old, shade tree. Felix explained that the current village uses
this space as their current court.
On the way back
to the museum and cars, Felix took us to see a couple of reproduction
full-sized Nok heads, and then they opened up the little museum and we saw the
few remaining precious 2000 – 2,500-year-old Nok sculptures. The rest are in official hands, The British
Museum, and in private hands. Felix and
his associates are there, at Nok, to supervise the building of a proper museum
which is currently being funded by the state government, with support from the
federal government.
We gave each of
our guides a nice dash and drove back to
For more info on
Nok, click on: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nok/hd_nok.htm.
Replica Nok Heads
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Group on its way to caves |
Blue flowers along the way |
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Flora |
Flower head with seeds |
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Where we enter the cool jungle to start the climb up |
You must be less than THIS wide to pass |
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On the other side from front to rear: Felix - the museum curator Gayathri – Society member Joseph – one of the drivers Enoch – one of the guides |
Climbing up with the assistance of the guides |
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Storage urn - several hundred years old made of a
cement-like mix of sand, gravel, etc. |
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View from atop rock that forms the roof of the cave |
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Enoch displays dangerously heavy seed pods |
Gnarled rock |
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Communal grind stone in cave-like shelter. Legend has it that only virgins could grind
the grist as this space was also used as the tribal court. |
Orchid |
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Lilly |
Orchid |
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House in Nok village |
Newly planted cactus fence |
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House (mud brick) with pig sty attached |
Mature cactus fence |
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Piglets suckling |
Stellae in currently used holy site and tribal court |
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Nok head |
Nok pots |
Attendees:
Dorothy
Nonito
Alan
Gayathri
Susanna
Kyle
Roman
To co-lead a
trip to Nok yourself, contact one of the above attendees or Roland.
Rating:
Easy until you
have to climb the rocks, then strenuous both up and down, but only for about 15
minutes.
Security:
As usual, there
are many police blocks along the way.
Drive in a tight convoy, when one person stops - everyone stops, and if
at all possible have the lead car be one of those often “exempt” from being
stopped, among them diplomatic tags, Berger, PHC. Also, carry the most official Nigerian ID on
you that you have. Smile, be friendly,
pretend you don’t understand their hints at collecting “a fee,” try to pull
through very slowly and get on your way.
Nok village
seems very safe. We did not leave the
cars attended. If you wish, you may pay
a tiny amount (10N) to a boy or boys to “watch” your vehicle(s). This is, of course, just a token gesture. Several loose groups of villagers might
gather here and there to watch you, but they keep their distance unless you
involve them.
Gear:
Loose, very
maneuverable clothing – for pants those new light-weight ones with the leggings
that unzip are ideal, though you will be sliding down some rocks. Jeans are not a good idea as you have to lift
your legs up very high to climb the stones; shorts are just fine, also. Footwear which can grip rock and in which you
can wade through a very shallow stream is helpful, too. A sun hat is mandatory as is good sun block –
you will walk through in the sun for more than an hour (all together
round-trip). Lunch, at least a large
bottle of water per person for the walk, and a camera should fill out your pack
which should be snugly attached to your body.
Another large bottle of water for before and after, and maybe a change
T-shirt may be left in the car.
(I wore all the
wrong things – slip on Nigerian-style sandals, jeans, and a black clingy knit
shirt, no hat and I made it just fine.)
Costs:
Fuel for 3
hours’ driving, dash of 1000N each for Felix and any other guides you
take, 100N per post card you may buy from the museum.
Contact:
Be sure to plan
this trip at least one week ahead of time as there is no phone reception in
Nok, and you are likely going to have to call about a week ahead to reach
someone. Be sure to leave a text message
for anyone who does not answer the phone to ask them to call you to schedule a
trip. In your text message, leave your
name and phone number as well. It may
take several days for someone to receive your text message and call you back – they
have to go to a place where they have reception.
Be sure to get
in touch with the village chief, Alhaji Ibrahim Nok – tel:
Curator: Mr. Mang – 0802-790-9063
Also try: Abdallah – 0806-06503293
Enoch –
0804-545-8565
Jola L.G.C.
Timing:
Final timing
should be coordinated with Felix or one of his associates, but he recommends
that you come early, presumably mostly to avoid the mid-day heat. In early June, when we took this trip, we
left Abuja about 10:15, arrived in Nok about 12:00, took about 3 hours all
together to walk, climb, take pictures, eat a snack, climb down, and walk back,
and another hour around the museum, leaving about 4 in the afternoon to return
to Abuja before dark, of course!
Directions:
- From
- Turn toward Keffi and go 31miles east from
the beginning of the road in Asokoro.
- At flyover (overpass) at entrance to Keffi,
turn left and drive north toward Gitada (Gitata), Adure, Kwoi (Kwai),
- Stay on this road for about 75 Kilometers
(44.5 miles)
- Look for a turn-off to your right toward
Kwoi. The turn-off is very easily
recognizable as you will go through “McDonald’s-like” golden arches! Can’t miss it! And, there is a reproduction Nok head under
the arches.
- Go through the
- Turn left onto this road and continue slowly
just into the
- The road will split, continue leftwards – you
should now be able to see an old water tower beyond the trees on the right.
- Come to the next dirt road heading 90 degrees
to the right. If you have come to a
building marked
- Back up to the nearest street (dirt, of
course) to the right (just a few meters back) and enter the village.
- Drive very carefully through the village to
the huge tree with the base of the trunk mostly hollowed out by fire.
- At the tree,
turn left, and continue just a few yards bearing rightwards until you see
another large white sign for the National Museum of Nok leaning against the
museum building on the right.
There is a bit
more information on hard-copy which you can obtain from the Event Coordinator.