Lekki Conservation Centre situated on Lekki Peninsula was established in 1990 as biodiversity conservation icon and environment education centre.
The nature park which covers a land area of 78 hectare is one of Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) foremost conservation project sites.
Lekki Conservation Centre which is normally a 15 minute drive, is under the management of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and it consists of swamp and savannah habitats.
Visitors are ushered into the reserve by a boulevard of coconut trees which leads to a well laid out car and Visitors Park. The reserve is a resort which provides the serenity and beauty of nature in a world class environment.
There is a cone-shaped building which serves as the auditorium for lectures, conferences, and seminars. First timers to the resort have the opportunity of seeing rare collection of beautiful pictures of endangered species of animals and plants arranged in glass stands around the oval hall.
The reserve has 1.8km nature trail behind the main buildings in which you are ushered in by two wooden tracks.
A death-defying 21 metre-high tree platform known as the tree house where you can have a panoramic view of the reserve, visitor’s center, picnic area and children’s playground among the trees and a bird hide overlooking a swamp/marsh which is home to crocodiles and monitor lizards.
In the trees are Mona monkeys and other species of monkeys while the open grasslands are home to bushbucks, Maxwell’s duikers, giant rats, hogs, mongooses and an impressive variety of birdlife. Park rangers are available to be your guide into the reserve.
The Nature Reserve: The nature reserve traverses a mosaic of vegetation types, namely: secondary forest, swamp forest and Savanna grassland. The secondary forest has witnessed significant growth since the centre was acquired and this has a notable impact on the centre. It is this natural secondary forest in which animals like Mona monkeys, bushbucks, giant rats, Maxwell Duikers and others reside. The swamp outlook affords tourists, especially nature lovers’ mouth watering opportunity of sitting back to beyond aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem interaction. On the other hand, the bird hide enables avid bird watchers snipe at unaware avifauna that are wading through the pool overlooked by the hide or foraging within the vicinity.
The Tree House: The tree house is one of the most fascinating features one can ever come across in an ecotourism zone. The tree house, stylishly seated on a stout dawadawa tree (Pakia biglobossa) rises above 25m. A well protected ladder is ruggedly mounted behind the tree to enable nature enthusiasts reach to tree house to savour the panoramic view of the tree canopy. The rest stops as the name implies serve as rest points and picnic site for small groups of visitors. They are located at about 250m apart on the nature trail boardwalk.
The Trail Boardwalk: A trail boardwalk was constructed in 1992 to the enrich tourists/visitors view of the vast resources of the nature reserve which is encapsulated on a mangrove terrain. The trail stretches a length of 2 Km. some of the side attractions along the trail are swamp outlook, bird hide, rest stops and the tree house. At the end of trail boardwalk seats the nation station – a recreation island in the middle of a forest. It has a semi-enclosed block structure containing the indoor picnic facilities and conveniences. The outdoor has outdoor game facilities mostly for children.
Bird Watching: Visitors get to see some of the African rarest birds with its unique walkway through the swamp forest at Lekki Conservation Centre. Among the birds recorded at the centre are Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Lizard Buzzard, Harrier Hawk, Grey Kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus), Red–Eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata), Blue Spotted Wood-Dove (Turtur afer), Green Pigeon, Wood Land Kingfisher, Allied Hornbill, Piping Hornbill (Bycanistes fistulator), Common Bulbul (Pyanonotus barbatus) etc.
This is a traditional oil from Mozambique and South Africa. It is popular as a skin moisturiser but can certainly also be processed to a food grade standard and eaten. Like pretty much all natural oils, it contains a large amount of oleic acid and is not ideal for people with scalp problems (e.g eczema, dandruff). It is also known to contain antioxidants.
This is a traditional soap from West Africa and is commonly made from oil (shea butter commonly and plant ash. Some say it is gentler than traditional soap but it is important to remember that soap is soap and it will always have a high pH. If that is something you are sensitive to, then do not use it.
I have previously talked about the use of butter (as in real actual edible butter) for hair care in Ethiopian communities. Thanks to a documentary on traditional people there, I have realised that the butter they use is what we refer to as ghee which is a type of clarified butter that you can find in Indian food stores. The butter is used to help moisturize and/or seal in moisture. Additionally, it’s used to strengthen hair which is possible in part due to the fat in butter, much like in coconut oil, is unsaturated
Intricate braiding is a feature of many traditional and modern African communities. There are many African women who traditionally (and in modern day) chose to wear their hair short as it is convenient and fuss free. However, from the Himba women of Southern Africa to Ethiopian tribes of Eastern Africa and even to the Nigerian women of Western Africa, there are many communities who traditionally (and in modern day) showcase long braided hair. Braiding long hair is as much for beauty as shown in the attention to detail as it is for maintenance of hair length. It is a protective style that has withstood the test of time.
