The Nigerian Field Society

Lagos Branch

Trips & Talks 2005
Hadeja - 02-2005	Imota - 03-2005
Argungu - 03-2005	Omo - 05-2005
Jos Plateau - 08-2005	Idanre-Akure - 09-2005
Cross River - 10-2005
Trips & Talks

August 6-8, 2005

Participants: John Barker, our trip organizer who has lived in Jos for 10 years. His children Roy and Laura who were already in Jos for their vacation and who welcomed us at the airport in Jos. Jack and his wife Michelle who liked Jos so much that they spent there another day. Guenther, who was fascinated by the nature. Mark who took the highest number of photographs. Thomas, who volunteered to write this trip report.

On Saturday morning at eight o’clock sharp we met at the domestic airport to escape from the bust of Lagos for a couple of days and get a fresh breeze on the Jos Plateau. We were told to bring some warm cloth as it could be cold. 

Not unusual for Nigeria, we soon found out that our flight would be delayed by two hours. But the time until departure passed quickly, as most of us met for the first time and we were curious to hear about the other participant’s experiences in Lagos.

On the Jos Plateau

When we landed in Jos we were struck by the greenness of the area. Some compared it to Scotland and from the temperature it felt like the UK. We soon were joined by Roy and Laura and then picked up by three cars from the A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute. 

Our first stop was to the oldest private hydro power generating company in Nigeria, Nesco, which was founded in 1928 and still running! We were quite impressed to see the equipment in excellent condition, most of it was installed in 1938. This must be one of the oldest power generating plants in the world that is still functioning. 

From there we headed to the lake and set down at a dam for a great picnic that had been prepared by Laura and Roy. Then, after a one hour drive through the beautiful landscape we arrived at the Guesthouse of the Leventis Institute where we checked in. By then it was already 9 pm. Time for dinner! 

The guesthouse of the Leventis Research Institute was our home for two nights

This we had in the best restaurant in town, lovely food and a warm atmosphere. The Chef was trained in the UK and surprised us with her great cooking skills.

After a long day full of impressions we enjoyed a lovely dinner in this restaurant in Jos

The next morning we met again at 7.30, just grabbed a cup of coffee or tea and left for a nature walk before breakfast. 

During our morning walk

Stunning! We saw beautiful birds and flowers (Sisal blossoming) and even some monkeys not too far away. By 10.30 we were back at the institute and all hungry for a big English breakfast on the terrace. From there we saw the monkeys again and Roy tried to feed them with a banana, but without success.

We continued the day to visit at first the local city museum and then a famous architectural museum that exhibited eight building constructions from across the country.

	Our Group at MOTNA (Museum of traditional Nigerian Architecture)

In the afternoon we got a tour through the abandoned tin mining site. Our guide was the former MD of the company which had closed down about 10 years ago. We were impressed to learn about the history of this site. At some point in time, more than 200,000 people had worked here until the mine was exhausted and it all stopped. We also had the opportunity to visit a former mining camp which is now a rural village.

We ended the day with an early dinner. As we all liked the place from the night before so much, we decided to go there again. We were joined by a French-British couple with their teenage daughter. This family is living in Jos for the past 15 years and it was interesting to hear their experiences. 

On Monday morning we had another nice breakfast on the terrace, this time watching the rain and then flying back to Lagos. 

It was a truly refreshing weekend, making us ready for the week ahead.


Thomas Ricke (Germany)

See more photos of the trip here!