Calabar

Calabar is the capital city of Cross River State in South South Nigeria. It is a charming and quite peaceful city. Attractions include the Slave Museum, Calabar Free Trade Zone, Tinapa Business and Tourist Resort, Cultural and Civic Centre, Calabar Port and university campuses.

Understand
Calabar is one of the oldest trading centers in Nigeria. The city is set on a natural hill overlooking the Calabar River. Calabar had been inhabited by the Efik speaking people since at least the 17th century and became a center for slave trade at the dawn of the trade.

After the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the 19th century, the city became a major port for palm oil trade and other export and import commodities to and from the hinterlands. Calabar's economy unlike other neighbouring city-states in the Niger-Delta area for most of the 19th century was based on palm plantations, akin to those in the Americas.

With the coming of colonialism, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries it became one of the biggest colonial administrative centers and capital of the Niger Coast Protectorate, later called the Southern Nigeria Protectorate (1900-1914).

Calabar is now the capital of Cross River State of Nigeria. The city is a major center of tourism in Nigeria. The Calabar Carnival is the largest street cultural festival in Africa. The carnival holds in December annually and attracts thousands of visitors and guests from all parts of the world. In a nearby municipality called Bakassi, there was a territorial dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon in 1981 based on colonial appropriations that almost caused the two countries to go to war. But Bakassi was eventually and reluctantly handed over by Nigeria to Cameroon in the end.

Like other major cities in Nigeria, power supply could be a major problem. The Federal Government of Nigeria is developing a major plant near the city to boost domestic and industrial power supply. Water is easily available in the city and it is of very good quality.

The city is a few hours drive to the Obudu Mountain Resort which had hosted many Presidential Retreats and conferences in the past. There is an airport which has connecting flights to other major cities in Nigeria.

By plane
Calabar is about 1 hour from the city of Lagos by plane. Calabar is about 25 minutes from Port Harcourt and has an International Airport.

By boat
There is also a regular boat service from various parts of Cameroon's coastline which will transport vehicles and people. You can get Cameroonian visas on the boat which can save you a lot of time. However, you can use Calabar as a base before transferring into Cameroon by road slightly further north (through Ikom).

By bus
There are several car transportation services into Calabar from all parts of Nigeria including the major cities of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Yola. They include ABC Transport, the Young Shall Grow, Elim Tours, AKTC, Peacemass, Transit favor, and Nyanya transport company.

Get around
The local authorities have made a great effort to make the streets safe by enlarging them, removing potholes, and adding stripes between lanes. Local taxis are not advisable as the cars are very old and quite often the drivers are not particularly experienced. As long as you are careful Calabar is quite safe.

See
There is a lot of colonial architecture in the older parts of Calabar that are around Henshaw Town, Duke Town and the waterfront areas.



Do



 * Calabar Carnival, known as "Africa's Biggest Street Party" held every year through the month of December and attracts thousands within and beyond Nigeria. The festival includes music performances from both local and international artists, a boat regatta, fashion shows, Christmas Village, traditional dances and the annual Ekpe Festival.

Buy


The old town is remarkable for its great variety of small shops where you can get just about anything (but expect to bargain). There are two great markets, Watt Market and Marian Market. Materials in Calabar are second to none. Beautiful waxes from Ghana, stunning materials from all over Africa can be found in Calabar. There are many very professional tailors who can make wonderful clothing from linens, etc. Fresh live fish direct from the sea are available.



Eat

 * Go to Bogobiri Corner (Suya Arcade) and enjoy suya from the many vendors.
 * Freddy's Restaurant is the local eaterie. Run by Ellie and a very professional staff, Freddies is a successful and well run restaurant. Main menu is Lebanese foods but Ellie will try to please everyone. Good salads, fish and best of all huge prawns are the best. Local beers, wines and all drinks are available and all at good prices.
 * Chinese restaurant at the Mirage Hotel is well run and although fairly limited menu, food is good - not cheap though.

Internet cafes

 * Cross River State IT Village, at Women Development Center Parliamentary road. Equipped with state of the art IT facilities, Wi-Fi, Wireless Internet, IT capacity building and Coffee shop and restaurant.

Cope
The major religion of the state is Christianity. There are numerous churches from the orthodox to the more contemporary including the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church and the Presbyterian church.


 * Sacred Heart Cathedral (Egerton Street)
 * Sacred Heart Cathedral (Egerton Street)
 * Sacred Heart Cathedral (Egerton Street)

Go next

 * Port Harcourt
 * Cross River National Park, which has 16 species of primates and Nigeria's most pristine remnant of rainforest, is a good place for ecotourism and wildlife viewing. But it is rather underdeveloped and will require some planning.
 * The Agbokim Waterfall crosses over the precipice in 6 or 7 different channels to make quite a sight, but necessitates utilizing a local guide in Ikom to the north of Calabar to find it.
 * If you have a lot of money to burn and want something like an all-inclusive Nigerian highlands staycation, Ubuntu Safari Lodge is about 6 hours north by car.
 * Douala, Cameroon, is 470 km by car, or 9 hours, but you travel through the English-speaking parts of Cameroon, where there has been a successionist guerrilla war underway since 2017.
 * The Kwafalls, 45 minutes from the city. In 2002, when Nigeria hosted Miss World, Kwafalls was where all contestants had their photo session, a very unique rock scrambling can be experience with a good guide.
 * Oron