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JOS 3-5 September 2004 Eighteen travellers left Lagos on the 0900 flight to Jos with EAS
Airlines to enjoy the cooler climate of Plateau State. Jos is at an
elevation of 3000 foot and is named after Jesus Our Saviour.
Saturday morning saw the group split into two, for bird watching at the APL Institute. Each group was led by very knowledgeable field guides from the Institute. Over a period of four hours, both groups saw around 30 bird species including the pygmy kingfisher, red bishop, blue fly catcher and red hornbill. Jason carried a very serious looking tripod. Betty-Jane not being a twitcher/ bird watcher recorded the species spotted and suggested that the activity should be called a “bird stand” and not a “bird walk.” The scenery in the Amurum forest was superb. Scattered trees in the savannah were supplemented by many more around the watercourses. A quick breakfast of cereal, omelettes, cheese and caviar (thanks to Mrs Okoro) led on to an interesting talk by Georgina on the A. P. Leventis Institute. We learned that the centre was set up in 2001 by A. P. Leventis to establish a community-based, sustainable management system for the Amurum forest in Laminga, with post graduate researchers from all over the world carrying out there field work at the Institute. Two birds, the Jos Plateau Indigo bird and the Rock Fire Finch, are found nowhere else in the world. The Amurum forest contains around 300 species of birds and 58 species of trees. Many of our party had thoughts of returning and obtaining Georgina’s E-Mail address. Afterwards we went to watch Bob Warren lay the foundation stone of a
hostel being built in the village at Laminga with funding from A. P.
Leventis and ExxonMobil. This will enable Institute visitors and students
to stay at the hostel in the local village. The press and local television
were on hand to record the event.
Our convey, then drove to the Kura Falls that exit from the series of dams and turbines on the Jos Plateau that make up an independent supply of electricity to Plateau State. The drive across the Plateau took a couple of hours through lovely scenery; quaint villages were spotted across a landscape that stretched for 30 odd miles. The vista was superb. The dams themselves held dirty brown water, looked quite shallow but were all very long and numbered around 6 in total. We were met by Mr Morris from the NESCO, who organised lunch, to the backdrop of a threatening thunderstorm. After lunch we set off on a brief bird watching trek. The roads were steep and rocks were seen to be placed behind rear wheels even with the hand- breaks on. The party then scrambled down to find the Falls that are right on the edge of the escarpment that marks the eastern edge of the Jos Plateau. The rain held off and we explored the Falls. The damming upstream had reduced some of the flow, but they were worth a visit, the water creating interesting water patterns on the rocks. Peter and Stacey Dacre, feeling adventurous, took to a spot of solo rock climbing. Our drivers then drove at break neck speed across the Plateau as the evening shadows started to fall. That night we had fine Chinese food and wines at the Hill Station restaurant in Jos.
By now we were used to early starts and after breakfast on Sunday
headed off to the only commercial dairy in Nigeria: Farm Fresh, now run by
a Swiss businessman. It was very clean, and efficiently produces milk,
yoghurts and Gouda cheese from Friesian cows, some of whom are crossed
with local breeds. The cows are artificially inseminated. However, a few
bulls are kept in case that procedure fails, and if they fail to do the
business a one ton bull called Joshua takes over. We had a great tour of
the farm and sampled some fine produce. The drinking yoghurt especially
was good. Our thanks to Andreas Blaser, Managing Director, for his
hospitality. Taking posters of the diary for display in Lagos we soon had
to be on our way to the airport for our return flight to Lagos.
More photos of the trip? Click here.
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| ©The Nigerian Field Society | ||||||||||
Lagos Branch
