THE LOST HILLS OF DAWAKI

Hello from the other side, peace be to you & yours. If this is your first time on the blog, my name is Emmanuel Musa and I love adventure! Based on adventure (I heard someone say logistics in their head), I joined the awesome guys at Strides NG for my first ever hiking experience.

It has been raining daily in Abuja but on this Saturday, the sky was bright though fuzzy but it made for good weather to go exploring the hills of Dawaki (a suburb in Abuja). The hike began at about 7:30am and after receiving instructions on the hiking trail, off we went into trees, shrubs and hills. As a firm believer in the “first never follows” gang, I was right there at the front of the hiking squad and we came across some spectacular statues and landscapes which you can see in the following images:

After about 45 minutes of hiking through dense vegetation, we finally arrived at our designated settlement for this hike. It was a plain rock surface which provided enough space for everyone to catch their breath and recover from the undulating terrain they had just maneuvered. There is something so liberating about going up a hill, getting to a high point and just taking in nature in all of its glory. Words can’t describe the feeling…it has to be experienced!

Strides NG have a culture that all new hikers introduce themselves and share what they currently do. It provided a good networking opportunity for everyone present. Afterwards, we split up into 2 different groups with one group engaged in a fierce game of “concentration” while the other group channeled their inner flexibility in the Yoga class. I had always had this idea that yoga was easy so I pitched with the yoga group but I was soon to be proved wrong. The yoga stretches were in the words of Uche; BRUTAL! At a point, I couldn’t feel my quads. It was really a good session and I think I shall be signing up for more yoga sessions soon.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have any Sallah meat as all our Muslim friends were too busy eating to be concerned with hiking (who hiking epp right). We began our descent shortly afterwards and that brought an end to the day’s hike. I met some of the most amazing people yet and I reckon that it was a fantastic way to spend my holiday without breaking any bank (piggy or electronic).

If you are in Abuja and you are looking for a good adventure, then you should sign-up to be part of the Strides NG community (You pay a one-time fee). Local hikes are free and you get good discounts on out-of-state adventures. There is a really challenging hike coming up on the 16^th of this month and I am so looking forward to it. Btw, the hill we hiked didn’t have a name so we officially named it the LOST HILLS OF DAWAKI since we found it. Ok bye!

P.S: All images are Strides NG copyright except the stone statue & landscape images.