From Lagos I went to the quiet capital of Abuja. What a difference this place was! I had some problems over money in my last hotel in Lagos, and I expected the same issues in Abuja. The capital is known for having ridiculously expensive hotels and restaurants. Nearly all foreigners here are coming for a short business trip or working for their own government or maybe an NGO. As a backpacker, though, I had to stay in a regular hotel and personally cover the crazy rates, which is why I didn’t plan to stay so long here.
I had talked to some locals in Lagos and others who had traveled to Abuja as well. All had said it was nearly impossible to get a room for under $100 a night. I was happy when I found a reasonably nice place for that price. When I checked into the hotel, for no apparent reason the receptionist offered me a 50% discount. Of course, I was wondering what the catch was.
After Lagos, I figured maybe when I checked out they would accuse me of not paying or deny offering me such a crazy deal and threaten to call the police if I didn’t pay a fine. That sounds rather paranoid and extreme, but after what Lagos did to me, at the time it sounded pretty reasonable. When it was time to check out of Abuja there were no issues, just genuinely nice people working at an awesome hotel!
Above is the Hilton Hotel in Abuja, one of the city’s most expensive hotels, with rates exceeding $500 a night at the time of my visit. The second photo is an example of some of the new buildings that have been constructed as the capital continues to grow.
Another immediate observation in Abuja was the cleaner and less crowded roads. Even though Abuja isn’t much of a tourist destination, it was certainly a relaxing break for me coming from Lagos. There are a few landmarks in Abuja, such as the National Cathedral and the National Mosque pictured above. Even the taxi driver whom I asked what there was to see and do in Abuja responded with, “Abuja… nothing!”
Even though Abuja is an almost brand-new city, much of the infrastructure and the markets didn’t look much better than in other Nigerian cities. As a matter of fact, my first thought on coming to this market was that I had higher expectations for it being in Abuja. I was even more surprised when I saw the self-proclaimed sign, “Utako Ultra Modern Market.”
There are two other famous places in Abuja: Millennium Park and Aso Rock. Millennium Park is a very clean, well-maintained city park that has open areas for picnics, a few vendors selling food, playgrounds for kids, and plenty of space for those wanting to play sports. It was a large but simple park, but still one of the nicest I’ve visited in Africa. Above is a view of Aso Rock, a famous landmark of Abuja.
My highlight of Abuja for sure was when I heard live music in Millennium Park and came across this band. They had some small tracks placed on the grass where they were rolling a professional videographer back and forth. After one of their songs ended, I went up to them and asked what they were doing.
To my surprise, they immediately asked me to join their group and pretend to play drums and dance. They said since I was white it made sense and would help promote their music video. I’m not much of a dancer or drummer, but I certainly did my best!
