Anytime I feel so stressed, I always love to visit an uncharted green environment. Unfortunately, I was in Lagos where urbanization has taken over unlike in the Northern Nigeria. In the afternoon while I was surfing the internet, I came across a conservative center in Lagos. I was surprised because it is on Lekki peninsula, a highly developed area dominated by the elites and foreigners. This made me curious that I had to clicked on their website to know more about the place.

In the 1980?s, Lagos undergone rapid urbanization, especially in the Lagos Island. This made some group of people in Lekki proposed about 78 hectares of land to be left uncharted for the future generations to see how Lekki was, before urbanization. Although, they faced a lot of challenges but in the end, they got supports and funds from Chevron Petroleum Company and others to actualized their dream. Today, Lekki Conservative Centre is one of the places that attract both Nigerians and the foreigners.

Reading the history inspired me which spurred calling my friend, Rasheeda to visit the place with me. She wasn't surprised I wanted to visit a place like that because she knows I love adventures. We checked the opening hours and plan to visit on a Thursday. LCC is located at opposite Chevron headquarter in Lagos and it can be sited from afar because of the tall mangrove trees. At the entrance, the securities welcomed and directed us to the reception. The receptionists welcomed us with a lovely smile and told us to sit asking our names and then gave a brief history of the conservative center. She said all animals are given freedom, so she won?t guarantee us seeing all the animals. We then paid 2000 Naira per person to tour the whole center with a guide to explain some specific locations in the center.

As I crossed the gate, I immediately noticed the green and tranquil environment. It was so quiet that I was thinking all the animals were asleep. As we moved, we saw monkeys on the trees following us and my friend started showing a fright. The guide told us it was because we were holding nylon bag and they will be thinking it?s food. We came to the canopy which goes up to 20 feet high and very swingy. We also saw a fish pond and ground chess where I played with other tourists. It was a very long walk and I relished every bit of it.

When we exit the gate, I was famished so I bought snacks from a shop nearby in the center. Then 6 monkeys came close to me which I found amazing, so I started feeding them the snacks. Then a group of girls wanted to pass but were scared of the monkeys. The shop-owner left her shop to help them to pass then a monkey entered the shop, opened the glass container and took two snacks. Everybody started laughing except the shop owner who frowned saying the girls must pay for the snacks. They argued with the shop owner and finally paid for the snacks. The visit to the conservative center is something I relished and I?m sure my friend Rasheeda had the same feeling. 

Reference http://www.ncfnigeria.org/projects/lekki-conservation-centre