The Exhilarating Adventure Of Kayaking

Origin:

I’m pretty sure most lager beer drinkers familiar with a particular Diaego brand read that sub-heading as Orijin a Nigerian alcoholic drink made from African fruits and herbs except it doesn’t contain barley or hops like most beers.

Ok Let’s focus; Kayaking.

Kayaking unknown to many is one of the safest water exercise in the diaries of water adventure. Kayak which translates verbatim to “hunter’s boat” was believed to have been created thousands of years ago by the Eskimos; they made their boats using rib cages and bones of animals with the skin of seals as the body furthermore with the objective of fishing and hunting animals on the shoreline. It did not become a sport or commonly known until mid 1800s when the Germans and French sought to be part of the action. And in the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games Kayak was introduced as a sport for racing on white water which slowly made its way to National Stadium in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja – Nigeria.

It was my first time kayaking on Thursday and at the time I had very little knowledge about the sport even though it is no.6 on my wanderlust section of bucket list. That list is basically filled with water and high jumping adventures.

We made our way through the quiet stadium, this is one resource I am afraid the federal government has allowed to rot away slowly, with minimal or barely no maintenance at all. And to think they pass away opportunities that would bring life to, and generate resources for the stadium to facilities privately owned.

The path through to the kayaking section looked abandoned and less frequented. The grass area looked like it has been begging to be mowed and the foot path was barely visible as grass roots seemed to be growing over. The whole environment was discouraging at first but the adventure spirit animal in me was not gonna deter until she crossed off kayaking on her list.

I’ve always been scared of water, even though i started sailing the seas at an early age due to Daddy’s profession ( May His Soul Keep On Resting Peacefully In The Love & Bosom Of The Good Lord, Jehovah – Amen ). My fear is borne from the utmost deep respect of how water existed before all, and everything else was created, and how God used it to destroy the first world living only 8 people in survival; to top it all, there is no life without water.

Anyways, my companion and i got to the ticketing, and we were opportune to see three others who also came kayaking, their presence lifted our spirits more, as ours did theirs, they didn’t have cash so we had to share with them while they transferred the equivalent.

Quickie: Ensure to go with cash as the kayaking section is managed and maintained by a native and there is no ‘point of sale’ machine (POS) or any other form of sophisticated option for transaction except cash only.

We interacted a little bit, getting to know each other before we all hit the waters together while the native prepped our boats and neccessary equipment required for the kayaking. He was such a pleasant man, he showed us how he had cleared the area in expectation of our visit even though it was unannounced, he had an adolescent also assisting him. It looked much like they are the only ones that keep and maintain the kayaking area afloat.

Finally, he was ready and it was time for us to hit the waters. My nerves were racking. He got into one of the boats and demonstrated swiftly with such flexibility how we were to paddle the waters whence seated in our kayaks. We got suited up in our personal floating device ( PFD ) commonly known as life jacket. After which we were aided onto our kayaks, it was a sit on top type and stability and balance was highly emphasized.

I could feel my whole body shaking while being pushed onto the waters, but i was also loving the adrenaline being produced by my nerve racking excitement, one of Dickson’s sisters screamed out of fear from the rush she got and i knew i wasn’t alone. My companion didn’t wanna get into his boat, he kept yelling “i can’t swim” and all four of us replied in unison “me too” as neither could we. He finally got in and in the first five minutes we were playing on shore until we got comfortable

and unconsciously started going farther into the deeper areas of the water.

Soon we all forgot we couldn’t swim and began to enjoy ourselves to the point of taking wakanda pose pictures.

We selfied and did snapchat some more.

In 40 minutes, my companion who was hesitant in getting in had circled all the edges of the water;

His zest reminded me a lot of Atticus’ words that says “what good are wings without the courage to fly?”

He just needed a little encouragement and when we did, he flew beyond our expectations meanwhile, most of us couldn’t go beyond the middle.

At the end of the ride, my arms felt like i’d be doing armday at the gym and my waist, a bit cranky from sitting, in the way squatting would feel. So not only did i have such intense fun, i crossed number 6 off my list and got a workout session as bonus.

So for those of you procrastinating this activity for fear of drowning let me clearly state from experience that “it’s not that deep” and you can do it, achieving this, is only gonna show you how much more you are willing to try or go to enjoy your life or fulfil your goals. I hope to hear your experiences soon.

Quickie: important facts to note about opening hours and cost of ride per hour.

They are open everyday except Sundays.

10:00am – 5:00pm

Fare For Week Days : Almost $3 ( 1000 In Naira )

An on the weekends : 2000 In Naira.

If you have any questions for me or want to talk about anything you don’t wanna leave in the comment section, you can reach me via instagram DM here or here .

Thank You For Reading Through To The End, and catch you another time on another interesting share.

XO.

Slainte…🍷