I get bored easily and exploring new places sort of helps to keep me grounded. One weekend I’m checking out a waterfall or hiking up a mountain, and during the week I’m back at my daytime job with so much clarity. Such experiences keep me going until my wanderlust kicks in again.

The last Independence Day weekend saw me taking a road trip to Kwara. When I told people I was going to Kwara to explore some places, all I kept on hearing was, “What’s in Kwara?” In fact, if I gave out ₦1000 for each time I heard that, I would be in serious debt now. No jokes.

Kwara state has more than 70 tourist attractions ranging from waterfalls to hills and ancient buildings. In fact, Nigeria’s first museum is actually in Esie, Kwara state. Mungo Park, the first non-Nigerian to see the River Niger, has a cenotaph to his credit in Kwara State. It is so sad that some of these places are either run down or not talked about enough. I mean, Kwara has the highest waterfall in Nigeria and the second highest waterfall in West Africa. But do people know about this?

I left Lagos for Ilorin on Sunday and I arrived after about 4 hours on the road. My first stop was the Post Office where I was going to meet up with my guide Omotosho of Omotosho tours. The first thing I told him was that I was on the search for the best Tuwo in Kwara and I wasn’t going to leave till I found it. Now, with that info in hand, we set off to our first place in the city – Okuta Ilorin. After some photos on the rail track, that is.

Okuta Ilorin
One of the versions of the history of the city believe that Okuta Ilorin is where the city of Ilorin derives its name. This translates to the stone that sharpens iron, i.e, a whetstone. Another version believes Ilorin is the Land of Elephants (Ilu Erin) which was later metamorphosed to Ilorin from ILU-ERIN. There is a neighbourhood in the city called Oko Erin meaning ‘Elephant Forest’. Now, I didn’t go there, but I went to Okuta Ilorin, so guess what story I believe (for now).

Loveleelee:
I get bored easily and exploring new places sort of helps to keep me grounded. One weekend I’m checking out a waterfall or hiking up a mountain, and during the week I’m back at my daytime job with so much clarity. Such experiences keep me going until my wanderlust kicks in again.

The last Independence Day weekend saw me taking a road trip to Kwara. When I told people I was going to Kwara to explore some places, all I kept on hearing was, “What’s in Kwara?” In fact, if I gave out ₦1000 for each time I heard that, I would be in serious debt now. No jokes.

Kwara state has more than 70 tourist attractions ranging from waterfalls to hills and ancient buildings. In fact, Nigeria’s first museum is actually in Esie, Kwara state. Mungo Park, the first non-Nigerian to see the River Niger, has a cenotaph to his credit in Kwara State. It is so sad that some of these places are either run down or not talked about enough. I mean, Kwara has the highest waterfall in Nigeria and the second highest waterfall in West Africa. But do people know about this?

I left Lagos for Ilorin on Sunday and I arrived after about 4 hours on the road. My first stop was the Post Office where I was going to meet up with my guide Omotosho of Omotosho tours. The first thing I told him was that I was on the search for the best Tuwo in Kwara and I wasn’t going to leave till I found it. Now, with that info in hand, we set off to our first place in the city – Okuta Ilorin. After some photos on the rail track, that is.

Okuta Ilorin
One of the versions of the history of the city believe that Okuta Ilorin is where the city of Ilorin derives its name. This translates to the stone that sharpens iron, i.e, a whetstone. Another version believes Ilorin is the Land of Elephants (Ilu Erin) which was later metamorphosed to Ilorin from ILU-ERIN. There is a neighbourhood in the city called Oko Erin meaning ‘Elephant Forest’. Now, I didn’t go there, but I went to Okuta Ilorin, so guess what story I believe (for now).

so you want to to read all this because someone travelled?