|
ATA
Ecotourism |
|
About Historic
Calabar, Nigeria Did you
Know .... •
Calabar, capital of Cross River State, Nigeria was
selected as official site for the Africa Travel
Association's 10th Ecotourism Symposium, an annual
international event that attracts travel agents,
tour operators, tourism industry executives and
government officials, including Ministers of
Tourism. •
Calabar is a strategically located seaport on the
Atlantic Coast, a short distance from the Cameroon
border in the south eastern corner of
Nigeria. •
The Calabar and Great Qua rivers plus several
creeks of the Cross River serve the city, which for
several centuries was an active slave trade
port. •
Major visitor attractions include the International
Museum, Botanical Gardens, Sports Stadium Complex,
Slave History Park and the University of
Calabar. •
Historically, Calabar has been inhabited for two
millennia and was discovered by European navigators
in the 1400s. •
Calabar was the former seat of Government of Niger
Coast, Southern and Oil River
Protectorates. •
Calabar is a Free Trade Zone with an international
airport and seaport facilities. •
C•
alabar
is close to the city of Port Harcourt, an important
merchant seaport that is known worldwide as the
center of Nigeria's oil industry. •
The popular Cross River National Park, three hours
north of Calabar by auto, includes Bosahi Okweango
Forest Reserve and the Southern Oban Hills Forest
Reserve. West Africa's most biodiverse ecosystem
this park is home to elephant and lowland gorillas.
drill, chimpanzee and red columbus
monkeys. Comments "Although
the tourism infrastructure in Nigeria is not as
developed as in other places in Africa, Nigeria
offers perhaps the best variety of tourist
attractions and destinations in West Africa.
American tourists will discover numerous unique
scenic attractions which differ from one place to
another scattered throughout Nigeria that will
allow them to experience and enjoy the people of
Nigeria as they come in contact with the
fascinating history, ancient traditions and varied
customs of Nigeria's proud heritage." Helen
Broadus, ATA Board Member From
Cross River State Website |
||||||
by
Muguette Goufrani