MY CALABAR EXPERIENCE - DECEMBER, 2016
😊Hi BDiarians!
I should actually cover my face in shame, I know. But since I'm already shamelessly in love with you, (that's a shame I don't regret), I have decided to just come back here and pick up from where we stopped. How have you all been? It's been how long again??? Can't believe I didn't even wish you lovelies a happy new year! My bad! I got so carried away with events that I would come here on some days, read through our convos, smile at myself and keep living my life.
Lol. Such an almost lazy blogger! But don't even think I didn't have enough gist for you guys...that'll be a HUGE lie! I have never had so many things to write about at the same time than I do now. My head is full. I feel like we should just have a conference call and I'll let you in on all that has happened since we last spoke.
I owe you guys this though...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Better late than never right? And happy new month too. It's February and the month of love, you better start sending in your gifts to me to avoid the rush of the 14th day.
During the hiatus, one part of me was considerate all the time. I know my readers are born hustlers and are super busy. So, I wasn't going to disturb them with my blog gists, I wanted everyone to be available to read and comment, and judging by the decrease in comments lately, I thought it was wise to give all of us some space to figure everything out. I later noticed that not even posting articles will further discourage visitors and nobody was going to say anything if they don't see something here to comment about. So yeah, I'll rather just do the writing and hope that you give me feedback with your comments (help a sister out abeg, say something!). On our last post, we had over 200 readers, and 0 comments...haba na! Una wan give me heart attack? SAY SOMETHING TODAY AND ENCOURAGE A SISTER! Thanks in advance Sugars.
A lot has happened but I'll leave one very important life changing gist till sometime later (you'll have to stay put so you don't miss out on this one). But in all of this, I discovered a new hobby!
Travel.
You see, because we work for this money and I cannot na comman go and kill myself and die, I decided to take a fun trip someplace different from my work environment. Sincerely, I wish I had a longer holiday. It was just a 4 day trip to Calabar. I had the Calabar carnival in mind as one of the reasons for the trip, but it so happened that the main deal (street carnival) was scheduled for the same day I was to come back to base, so I was going to still miss it anyway. Oh well, I did not let that deter me as I was so ready to unwind to end the year.
My journey to Calabar was pretty okay. Nothing much happened save for the flight delays and a running stomach I experienced upon arrival at my hotel due to the food I had on the plane. Something was definitely wrong with the fried rice, chicken and juice I had on the plane and I'm never eating on any Arik flight ever again. Tankyew!
Let me quickly add that if you intend to spend a couple of days especially at Tinapa Lakeside Hotel, you better pay upfront and in FULL, if not, your reservation might just be cancelled and you'll be left stranded. I almost experienced a shocker when I contacted the sales rep at Tinapa few days to my arrival and he told me that my booking was not confirmed because I had not paid in full and ''he was sorry, as there was no vacant room for the period and he'll ask the account unit to process a refund''. Whaaaaaaaat! I had already booked a return flight for the period and I wasn't even prepared for the drama all of these will bring. It took my Mr Fix It a few calls to make and I had my room back. Goodness gracious!
First night at Tinapa Lakeside Hotel was bleh. Nothing serious happened. A group of beauty queens also lodged for a pageant and they were having karaoke at the bar. I really wasn't up for it, so I didn't bother to stay around them. I needed some ''quiet''. I just had a bath and stayed at the floor's reception till I was ready to sleep.
Next day, Christmas day. I had breakfast and needed to find out the activities for the day. It appeared to me that the desk officers did not even know so much about the carnival. Surprised much. They were only concerned with the ''hotel'' and not that their guests wanted some fun and of course, a feel of the largest street carnival in Africa. For a pricey room, I found their customer satisfaction/hospitality service to be zero. And trust Nigerians, a lot of guests expressed their displeasure.
I wasn't so impressed, but I sure knew I wasn't going to let anybody spoil my sacred 4 days vacation, so I just tried to have fun the best way I could. The boat cruise was fine and ended almost before it started, I wish it was for a longer time and there were great views and ways to take pictures. For fear that I may fall off the boat or my hat will, I just sat down there jejely to avoid stories that touch.
No, I wasn't alone on the trip. All I needed to have a good vacation was with me, so every other thing really didn't matter and so when others were complaining, I was having my self-created fun. I also met a great friend from Secondary school. She found me through the food I posted on IG on Christmas morning. How funny! She saw the food on IG and guessed it looked so much like what she was having for breakfast that morning too, so she decided to give me a call. Viola, we were at the same place. Suffice to say, I had a buddy till I left Calabar. Added advantage.
And then, leaving Calabar became dramatic. Arik air postponed our 9am flight till 12pm. By noon, they announced we would not be flying because of operational reasons which I later found out was due to the weather condition that day. I needed to resume work the next day, and I became paranoid. My colleague was on leave, so my not resuming the next day meant there would be no one in the legal department, which will obviously create a gap in service delivery for that day. Thank God for considerate employers. I put up a mail through to my HR and I was excused for a day.
I was faced with two options; come back by road early the next day, or risk going back to the airport and if we didn't fly, miss another work day. Crazy ish! I chose the lesser evil. I got on a bus the next day and spent 12 hours on the road so I could resume duty. Things we do for the mulla.
I know you pity me now. Oh well...I sincerely have gotten over all the disappointments, and I look forward to travelling again, this time, to someplace else. I really didn't get to eat the native dishes in Calabar and I regret that. Fisherman's soup and Afang and co were top on my list, but even the Nkwobi I ate couple of times there were just average, nothing over the top. And I hear that Calabars' cook very well? Truthfully, I didn't notice that with everything I ate.
I've learnt a few tricks which I'll implement next time I want to travel and I suggest you take notes now or bookmark this page. 1. Ask questions/research - find out from friends who have visited these places and get their reviews, you'll be more prepared for the journey. Browse fun places to visit, look out for discount on hotels and flight tickets or book your flight way early to save some cash. Some of these places we hear about as good tourist locations have actually outlived their glory. New locations are springing up that aren't so expensive and you'll get good value for your money. 2. Extra money - You should have this. Anything can happen. You may need to pay for an extra night due to a flight postponement (I had to), or for food or an upgrade in room/flights or for shopping. Just hold extra cash. 3. Manage your expectations - Because I had already prepared myself for a fun trip, I was really not so depressed when things were going south. I just made sure I enjoyed myself despite everything. 4. You need a buddy - Imagine travelling alone and getting to deal with all the disappointments yourself? Naaaaa. You don't want that. Have a shoulder to cry on...okay I admit, trips shouldn't be tearful ( But, I cried at some point, when everything began to get to me; I had to look for an emergency hotel for the extra night which was a downgrade from Tinapa, because I had already checked out, and just thinking about the 12 hours journey back home made me cry). 5. Gadgets/Novels/Snacks - Always have these. They are your next buddies after your buddy.
Any suggestions on places to visit? Home and abroad? Reviews? Cos I look forward to another good vacation sometime this year, maybe we wouldn't have to wait for the Christmas/New year break right?
Safe to say, I found a new hobby, and I'm loving it. Travelling it is! *runs off to update the hobbies section of her CV*...
Mwah,
Barby
I should actually cover my face in shame, I know. But since I'm already shamelessly in love with you, (that's a shame I don't regret), I have decided to just come back here and pick up from where we stopped. How have you all been? It's been how long again??? Can't believe I didn't even wish you lovelies a happy new year! My bad! I got so carried away with events that I would come here on some days, read through our convos, smile at myself and keep living my life.
Lol. Such an almost lazy blogger! But don't even think I didn't have enough gist for you guys...that'll be a HUGE lie! I have never had so many things to write about at the same time than I do now. My head is full. I feel like we should just have a conference call and I'll let you in on all that has happened since we last spoke.
I owe you guys this though...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Better late than never right? And happy new month too. It's February and the month of love, you better start sending in your gifts to me to avoid the rush of the 14th day.
During the hiatus, one part of me was considerate all the time. I know my readers are born hustlers and are super busy. So, I wasn't going to disturb them with my blog gists, I wanted everyone to be available to read and comment, and judging by the decrease in comments lately, I thought it was wise to give all of us some space to figure everything out. I later noticed that not even posting articles will further discourage visitors and nobody was going to say anything if they don't see something here to comment about. So yeah, I'll rather just do the writing and hope that you give me feedback with your comments (help a sister out abeg, say something!). On our last post, we had over 200 readers, and 0 comments...haba na! Una wan give me heart attack? SAY SOMETHING TODAY AND ENCOURAGE A SISTER! Thanks in advance Sugars.
A lot has happened but I'll leave one very important life changing gist till sometime later (you'll have to stay put so you don't miss out on this one). But in all of this, I discovered a new hobby!
Travel.
You see, because we work for this money and I cannot na comman go and kill myself and die, I decided to take a fun trip someplace different from my work environment. Sincerely, I wish I had a longer holiday. It was just a 4 day trip to Calabar. I had the Calabar carnival in mind as one of the reasons for the trip, but it so happened that the main deal (street carnival) was scheduled for the same day I was to come back to base, so I was going to still miss it anyway. Oh well, I did not let that deter me as I was so ready to unwind to end the year.
My journey to Calabar was pretty okay. Nothing much happened save for the flight delays and a running stomach I experienced upon arrival at my hotel due to the food I had on the plane. Something was definitely wrong with the fried rice, chicken and juice I had on the plane and I'm never eating on any Arik flight ever again. Tankyew!
Let me quickly add that if you intend to spend a couple of days especially at Tinapa Lakeside Hotel, you better pay upfront and in FULL, if not, your reservation might just be cancelled and you'll be left stranded. I almost experienced a shocker when I contacted the sales rep at Tinapa few days to my arrival and he told me that my booking was not confirmed because I had not paid in full and ''he was sorry, as there was no vacant room for the period and he'll ask the account unit to process a refund''. Whaaaaaaaat! I had already booked a return flight for the period and I wasn't even prepared for the drama all of these will bring. It took my Mr Fix It a few calls to make and I had my room back. Goodness gracious!
First night at Tinapa Lakeside Hotel was bleh. Nothing serious happened. A group of beauty queens also lodged for a pageant and they were having karaoke at the bar. I really wasn't up for it, so I didn't bother to stay around them. I needed some ''quiet''. I just had a bath and stayed at the floor's reception till I was ready to sleep.
Next day, Christmas day. I had breakfast and needed to find out the activities for the day. It appeared to me that the desk officers did not even know so much about the carnival. Surprised much. They were only concerned with the ''hotel'' and not that their guests wanted some fun and of course, a feel of the largest street carnival in Africa. For a pricey room, I found their customer satisfaction/hospitality service to be zero. And trust Nigerians, a lot of guests expressed their displeasure.
I wasn't so impressed, but I sure knew I wasn't going to let anybody spoil my sacred 4 days vacation, so I just tried to have fun the best way I could. The boat cruise was fine and ended almost before it started, I wish it was for a longer time and there were great views and ways to take pictures. For fear that I may fall off the boat or my hat will, I just sat down there jejely to avoid stories that touch.
No, I wasn't alone on the trip. All I needed to have a good vacation was with me, so every other thing really didn't matter and so when others were complaining, I was having my self-created fun. I also met a great friend from Secondary school. She found me through the food I posted on IG on Christmas morning. How funny! She saw the food on IG and guessed it looked so much like what she was having for breakfast that morning too, so she decided to give me a call. Viola, we were at the same place. Suffice to say, I had a buddy till I left Calabar. Added advantage.
And then, leaving Calabar became dramatic. Arik air postponed our 9am flight till 12pm. By noon, they announced we would not be flying because of operational reasons which I later found out was due to the weather condition that day. I needed to resume work the next day, and I became paranoid. My colleague was on leave, so my not resuming the next day meant there would be no one in the legal department, which will obviously create a gap in service delivery for that day. Thank God for considerate employers. I put up a mail through to my HR and I was excused for a day.
I was faced with two options; come back by road early the next day, or risk going back to the airport and if we didn't fly, miss another work day. Crazy ish! I chose the lesser evil. I got on a bus the next day and spent 12 hours on the road so I could resume duty. Things we do for the mulla.
I know you pity me now. Oh well...I sincerely have gotten over all the disappointments, and I look forward to travelling again, this time, to someplace else. I really didn't get to eat the native dishes in Calabar and I regret that. Fisherman's soup and Afang and co were top on my list, but even the Nkwobi I ate couple of times there were just average, nothing over the top. And I hear that Calabars' cook very well? Truthfully, I didn't notice that with everything I ate.
I've learnt a few tricks which I'll implement next time I want to travel and I suggest you take notes now or bookmark this page. 1. Ask questions/research - find out from friends who have visited these places and get their reviews, you'll be more prepared for the journey. Browse fun places to visit, look out for discount on hotels and flight tickets or book your flight way early to save some cash. Some of these places we hear about as good tourist locations have actually outlived their glory. New locations are springing up that aren't so expensive and you'll get good value for your money. 2. Extra money - You should have this. Anything can happen. You may need to pay for an extra night due to a flight postponement (I had to), or for food or an upgrade in room/flights or for shopping. Just hold extra cash. 3. Manage your expectations - Because I had already prepared myself for a fun trip, I was really not so depressed when things were going south. I just made sure I enjoyed myself despite everything. 4. You need a buddy - Imagine travelling alone and getting to deal with all the disappointments yourself? Naaaaa. You don't want that. Have a shoulder to cry on...okay I admit, trips shouldn't be tearful ( But, I cried at some point, when everything began to get to me; I had to look for an emergency hotel for the extra night which was a downgrade from Tinapa, because I had already checked out, and just thinking about the 12 hours journey back home made me cry). 5. Gadgets/Novels/Snacks - Always have these. They are your next buddies after your buddy.
Any suggestions on places to visit? Home and abroad? Reviews? Cos I look forward to another good vacation sometime this year, maybe we wouldn't have to wait for the Christmas/New year break right?
Safe to say, I found a new hobby, and I'm loving it. Travelling it is! *runs off to update the hobbies section of her CV*...
Mwah,
Barby
Hey Barby
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the travel club! Once you get bitten by the travel bug, there is no cure..lol
On the hotel: I think it's wrong for a hotel to give away your reservation because you didn't pay in full. Rather, they should simply state they don't accept part payment. Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I'll keep this in mind when I visit Calabar.
PS: I have a travel blog at www.chapterone.com.ng (moving to travelwithapen.com). You're welcome to check this out for more inspiration about places to visit - cheaply too..
Hi Amarachi, indeed I have been bitten by the travel bug! Already planning trips in my head.
DeleteThe hotel said payment should be made in full. But they never indicated that a guest must stay for a minimum of 3 nights. So if I made payment for two nights for instance, I expect reservations for two nights. If on the second night, I indicate interest for another night, they should exercise the options of either renewing for an extra night or stating that they were fully booked. That was what I expected from them. I think no hotel has the right to tell you the number of nights you should spend with them.
I'll check out your blog right away. Nice to have you here!
I definitely want to visit Calabar! Our own California lol. I really want to serve there during NYSC but when I think about the long distance ehn. Welldone.
ReplyDeleteWww.laitanbee.com
You should @Olaa. Calabar is a beautiful city. You can stay within the town, so you have a feel of the city. The nightlife is amazing too. I only found out a night before I left. I wish I had more info about the place.
Delete