Dennis Great 
I woke up very early in the morning and started packing my bags because that day was the last day I will be exploring some beautiful destinations in uyo. Already my friend Jennifer is already set to move. To tell you the truth, I will miss Oron so much. I have never seen a place so calm and cool before. Mostly I will miss AKOS HOTEL, the staff really appreciate our coming. I felt I was living so part of myself here in Oron. But I don’t have any choice than to continue my journey. As an explorer you are born to travel to the world not just to travel to the world but to leave some memories behind so that people we tell your stories.
From Oron, we enter a Cab to Eket town for 800 Naira each. It was only 57 minutes, we got to uyo park, from uyo park we entered Keke to AKTC park. Already me and my travel partner Jennifer have already drafted a plan to explore the city uyo before going to aba that evening to take a night bus going to Lagos.
When we got to AKTC Park, we checked out the prices for aba. It was 1300 Naira per seat. The ticketers at the park thought we were moving right away not until I asked her to help us look after our bags and she said we should look for any security working at AKTC park to negotiate with them and they will keep our bag very safe. Thank God we saw one security man on black shirt approaching our way and I quickly called out to his attention. I told him about our bags that we need someone to look after our bags because we are about to explore the city of uyo and also we shall be back before 4p.m. AKTC PARK operates from morning to 6p.m in the evening so we need to meet up in time. I even promise the security man some Change to flex on when I return.
So we set out on our journey to explore the beautiful city of uyo. The Six places I explore in the city of uyo are :-
1.IBOM HALL; This is a state-owned event centre where social, economic and political events are hosted. A magnificent structure with state-of-art facilities, the hall has played host to a number of important events. It is also a popular landmark in the town. The space outside the hall is so big that it can contain more than 2 thousand occupants. From my observation I think the hall was built for remembrance of some heroes who have done well in the state. Anytime you feel like organizing any seminar or event, think of ibom Hall.
2. IBOM PLAZA: A tourist paradise, sitting in center of the beautiful and culturally rich Uyo city, Ibom Plaza was designed by the then Governor of Akwa Ibom and features a sitting arena modeled in line with the gothic Greco-Roman arena with a giant elevated screen for football and sports enthusiasts beamed through satellite.
Ibom Plaza was built in 2001 to provide a first class relaxation centre for the locals. It is notable as the heart of Uyo
Built by Akwa Ibom State Government.From the entrance of Ibom plaza, there is a table tennis board and a smoker board for playing. They have different businesses in the plaza. The structure that was constructed in the form of steps, you can actually sit down there to study your books and take nice pictures. Indeed, uyo is a great place to explore.
3. TROPICANA MALL: When it comes to infrastructure in Akwa Ibom, I will rate Akwa Ibom infrastructure to be 80%. Tropicana Mall is a place to feed your eyes. The steps to this mall seem so amazing. I enjoy every bit of this mall. This mall has a large space for parking. The car spaces are well beautified with flowers and carpet Grass. When I went inside the mall, I felt the need to relax before continuing my exploration to other Destinations in uyo city. What I discovered about this mall is that the mall has different businesses in it. Businesses like Amela Pharmacy, Nuet, Med plus pharmacy, Honours Fashion shop, Twice as Much, Soteria eye clinic, Royalline, Pointek, Kilimanjaro and many more businesses. All this business is found inside the mall. The mall looks decorated with good design and so beautiful to feed your eyes. Most of the decorations comes from the business owners in the mall. The mall has different eateries but I choose to eat from the De choice fast food. In Fact I enjoy myself while exploring the Tropicana Mall. Anytime you visit this mall, always go with a good camera phone to take good pictures and nice videos for yourself.
4. ITU Market; Itu Market is just a normal market where people come and do their buying and selling of goods. One amazing thing about this Market is that whatever goods people buy or sell are coming directly from the canoe or boat shipping the goods from the other village’s to ITU Market. Sometimes good’s are being sold on water using floating canoes.
5.Mary Slessor Monument; left for me, putting a monument of Mary Slessor in each state should be approved to show and tell more stories about the woman who stopped the killing of the twins. The monument was constructed to show the people of itam and other tourists that love exploring that Mary Slessor stopped the killing of twins. I have to climb to the top of the hill where the monument is located, that was when I saw a chapel that can hold over 200 seating capacity. Mainly looking at the chapel, it Still needs to be touched. The monument of Mary Slessor looks so beautiful.
6.Godswill Akpabio International Stadium; The magnificent of this stadium is something else. This stadium structure wow me. Even the stadium in Lagos is still learning from where this stadium is standing. The stadium is an all-seater national sports stadium located in Uyo, the state capital of Akwa Ibom. The Stadium seating capacity is over 30,000. This stadium was officially opened on 7 of November 2014.
After much exploring in the stadium, I found myself back at AKTC PARK for the journey to ABA where I boarded the Lagos bus all night.
Akwa Ibom Journey was a documentary journey.
I’m Dennis Chukwuebuka Okeke. I’m a Traveller, Travel Writer and lover of nature.
