EkoUNIMED BIO TOUR (2021/2022)
On the 20th of July 2022, the 100 level students of Eko University of Medicine and Health Sciences (EkoUNIMED) embarked on an adventure to Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC), Lagos Nigeria. The main purpose of this was to witness all they had been learning about during their BIO 102 classes. Safe to say it was a fun filled experience.
Our journey started at about 9:13am checking for our estimated time of travel using google maps we should have traveled approximately 51km and our entire journey should have been about 2hours long. Considering this is the city of lagos, we arrived at our destination at 1:13pm taking a total of 4 hours.
On getting down from the vehicle we all gathered at the reception to coordinate ourselves and figure out what it is we were about to do. A short seminar was held telling us about the place and the things they did and the sights we were going to see while on the walkway. The tour guide told us that the new LCC Canopy Walkway was a 401-metres long facility with its suspended walkway transversing the unique LCC Nature Reserve to give a panoramic view of the mangrove forest canopy at its highest height of 22.5 feet above the ground level. That they were an advocate of letting animals roam freely in their natural habitat as none of the animals there were caged and they were all very human friendly. After this, we proceeded to collect our wristbands that allowed us gain access onto the walkway.
The journey of touring the walkway began, we were divided into batches containing 6 people as not more than 6 persons are allowed to walk the suspended walkways. After each suspension was a tower where we gathered for nature interpretation and picture taking. There were 7 walkways in total each higher than the last.
On getting to the last walkway, we descended into a courtyard where food and drinks were being sold by vendors. It was here that we divided into groups to perform the line transect method of sampling population. The whole activity took about 25-30 minutes as we took only about 4-5 readings. We were then free to roam about and enjoy the scenery, relax and eat.
Departure back to the reception to gather ourselves and prepare for the journey home started at about 5 o’clock, it took us about 30 minutes to walk back and settle down in the vehicles. We left at 5:32pm our journey back to school took about 5 hours 30 minutes as we arrived at 10:14pm. Overall, it was a very thrilling experience to find such an expansive area of natural beauty in a city that is usually congested. We visited during a renovation so perhaps that meant not being able to complete the walkway, regardless it was okay. The tickets are priced very fairly however be prepared to wait 30mins after purchase to begin the guided tour. Once the tour starts, it’s about 1.5 hours to cover the entire group including the canopy walkway. The main attraction here is the phenomenal tree-top walkways which are apparently the longest in Africa and the second-longest in the world. I’m a thrill seeker but for those who don’t particularly like heights, the sides are high and you will feel very safe. They do wobble but only 6 people are allowed on at once and it’s carefully organized, so the chances of being overwhelmed by the wabbling effect is thankfully small! It’s true that this is more about fabulous tree-top views than wildlife spotting, but you will see monkeys and we also saw a small crocodile. It’s also interesting to see the swamp landscape which would have been far more normal here prior to modern development.
Authored by
Abudu Halima and Unigwe Kingsley
