I have always wanted to visit the sand dunes at the deserts of Yusufari.
I stumbled on a picture of a lady with her hijab on the internet that looked so much like pictures from my Dubai clients, immediately I concluded that I want to visit, and I was actually ready to give anything except my life to get there, and that birthed the zeal to move all the way from Lagos to Yusufari desert , in Yusufari LGA of Yobe state.
INTERMIDIARY
Already the maps of Nigeria reads possibility as to the actual presence or not, of the sand dunes in Nigeria.
Yobe State is in the North-East and also doubles as one of the most dreaded states in the entire Northeast, so thinking of planning a trip to such destination is a crazy idea especially when the thought of the trans-sahara historical slave route keeps flashing your mind.
THE MAIN TRIP
My travel buddy and I have always talked about how we would all like to visit the sand dunes in Nigeria and then clear our doubts and that of the general public as a whole.
It was time for us to explore the whole of Northwest and though we did a lot of research as to how and how not to get to Yusufari, it wasn’t feasible and it wasn’t even in our itinerary as planned by my colleague.
READ: News: Human migration of ancient civilization might have been determined by dust
Our northwest escapades got us to Dutse, the Capital city of Jigawa State where we arrived from Kano State. Carefully studying the map, we got to realize that Jigawa state is the only state that borders Kano to the East as against other bordering states that borders Kano to the west, such as Katsina and Zamfara. We thought of the proximity of the state of Jigawa to the states on the northeast and the possibility of visiting them, good for us, Yobe state happens to be the closest on the Northeast. It was there and then that we agreed to visit the Yusufari desert.
We agreed to sleep at any of the closest town, either Wusur, Gashua or Nguru, so as to continue to Yusufari early the next morning.
We boarded a cab from Dutse park to Hadeija, where we joined another one to Gashua. Both journeys lasted for about six hours in total and then the morning we joined a cab of just N500 return trip to Yusufari.
As we do traditionally, we visited the Gidan Serika (Palace of the Emir of Yusufari), who gave us a warm welcome and expressed how happy he was to have us around and our intention to visit the dunes. We were offered the Palace Safari truck and a driver who doubles as a tour guide, and of course, it came with a price.
The drive through the Safari was fun, watching the driver battle with his steering as it looked like the earth was gaining more control over his vehicle, the drive was a struggle, but he was obviously used to it, and guess what, he does it with love, smiles and always ready to answer any question thrown at him not minding his frequent disagreements with his steering, the Safari experience was fun, it was no different from what my clients experience in Dubai when they visit.
For our safety and to avoid falling into the traps of the bandits, we didn’t go live on Instagram and Facebook as we used to, and even if we wanted to, there was no reception.
The Safari drive started at 10:40am from the palace and it lasted for over an hour before we got in contact with the dunes. They were beautiful, at that moment, they were the most beautiful thing that eyes has seen. The guide has different locations for different types and features of the sand dunes.
While the first we approached had a brownish colour, we got to other parts where we saw mystery before our eyes, there were about four colors of sand that didn’t mix with one another . This is really NIGERIA, it actually really existed, and so many shocking words kept rolling out loud from my mouth
TIPS
The experience was all shades of amazing, and if you would like to experience this, then it’s important to note these tips;
• I made sure I was at a neighbouring town a day before the Dune escapade so as to leave as early as I could.
• If you’d like to visit, It’s safer to go in groups .
• We paid lose to thirty thousand naira for the truck alone
• Make your location discrete. You can tell just few trusted friends about your current location
• I had a budget, but I also had a lot of extra cash, which was why I got back in one piece.
The Safari Experience is always fun. Just like my colleague would call them “Risky Adventures of beautiful Outcome”
Best Travel Buddies
Nwachukwu Kingsley Uzoma
Iyiola Mariam
Makanjuola Ibrahim
By Umeokoli Cordis-Maria Yotamara
