A Trip to Beautiful and Scenic Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State, Nigeria

The Yankari National Park is the premier game reserve in Nigeria. Yankari Park and Wikki Warm Springs are located around the Gagi River, approximately 1 1/2 hours by road, southeast of Bauchi Town. The beauty and size of The Yankari Game Reserve make it the most pop­ular reserve in Nigeria. Set up in 1956 and opened to the public in 1962, the main game-viewing areas of the reserve are open all year round - http://www.nigeriaembassyukraine.com.ua/yankari_game_reserve.htm

Beautiful Yankari Game Reserve located in the heart of Bauchi State's Alkaleri LGA , brings to me both cherished and not-so-great  memories. Coming in from Gombe State Airport ( unfortunately Bauchi State does not have an airport so you must choose between Jos Airport in Plateau State and Gombe State Airport),  you take about a 90- 120 minute drive to the junction where you turn into the Yankari  Game Reserve (YGR) road. The air is clean and there is a great deal of greenery as you take the drive up to YGR. Actually, as we drove up to the reserve it drizzled for short while and everything smelled fresh and pleasant.

When you get to the gate of the reserve, you will need to drive another  41 km or so to reach the the YGR camp where the hotel, training rooms and other buildings are located.  YGR is located over a 100km from Bauchi - the state capital.

As we embarked on the drive from the gate to the camp, I had mixed feelings. I did not know what to really expect but the there was a lot to see as we drove on - Guinea Fowls strolling  majestically from one side of the road to the other; their feathers glistening. We tried to maintain the speed limit of between 30-50km per hour. Obviously, some other driver may not have observed the suggested speed limit as we found one of the beautiful birds squashed to death on the tarmac.

The ride was very smooth, no potholes as the road was well and evenly tarred all the way to the camp. We also found many monkeys who ran deeper into the bush as we approached. We  saw what looked like Gazelles moving in a herd as we drove along.

When we got to the camp and the reception, we saw beautiful bungalows painted in a dark mud colour.  We were given keys to the outhouses, not very close to the reception. Apparently, many groups were having training workshops here and the better accommodation closer to the reception  area were all occupied.

When we got to where our assigned  rooms were located we were greeted by a colony of baboons. Great, we thought, we  were afterall, in a game reserve. I recalled my visit almost a decade ago to a game park in Kenya's Naivasha region in the Rift Valley. We also stayed in bungalows and often at night, the Hippos would come around and we would find  huge fresh droppings around our room doors as we emerged in the morning.

The difference here was that,  as we found in the rooms of some of my colleagues, the baboons actually find their way into the rooms. We could see their paw marks on the walls. In one of the rooms, they had actually removed  a ceiling board in the bathroom and the bathroom was strong with the stench of the baboons.

Wikki Warm Spring. Photo By Hammed Adefioye

We got rather worried when we found that in their desperate scavenging for food, they would quite effortlessly slide open windows and  even doors if these are not tightly secured. In fact one of the men informed us that the baboons were more likely to snatch bags from women whom he described as the "weaker sex". I wondered if baboons needed to be sensitized on gender issues until another explained that the apes were more likely to grab a bag from a woman because they  have found from experience that women are less likely to attack them or to retaliate. It was quite comic when a baboon stealthily entered the conference room and removed a bowl of Massa (a rice-based cake popular as a breakfast staple in Bauchi State). We also found a number of warthogs around the residential area of the game park. These herbivores generally minded their own business as they moved around the grounds.

There is a well stocked shop  with grocery  and other essential items as well as  a  museum and restaurant.  The tennis court which is closer to the meeting rooms needs some attention but seemed otherwise okay

The other minus we encountered in the reserve was fact that they did not have access to PHCN-generated power. The generator worked only from about 6am to 6pm in the hotel rooms; though the meeting rooms were supplied with power during the day. The camp is very large and so generating power only with generators can be capital intensive and would drain the little revenue that the reserve generated as a tourist center.  It was therefore not unusal that the camp grounds remained in pitch darkness when night fell. The only lights came from the outlying chalets and residential buildings. The darkness can be quite unnerving on your first night but as you stay longer, you kind of get used to it.

The Bauchi State government needs to look closely at this as well as issues of water supply and maintenance if the  reserve is to become a good revenue earner. The YGR is scenic and beautiful and has huge potential if well managed. Perhaps, a private firm with a good record can be contracted to run it? If well run, it would not only  bring in revenue for the state but also provide employment for the people of Bauchi State. While we were there, we saw a few foreign tourists  and a lot of other people including children, swimming at the  Wikki Warm Spring which is one of the great attractions of this reserve. The spring maintains a steady temperature of about 31 degrees centigrade. It is a beautiful and rare gem  and in addition, there is an ancient cave nearby.

We only really started to enjoy the facility after we were moved to the hotel rooms closer to the reception which had metal meshes to keep out the baboons and other creatures out.

For one thousand naira (about $7) only per person or six thousand naira (about $40) for a group of about six persons, you could enjoy a two-hour drive in the reserve vehicles through the forest trails and have the opportunity to view the Elephants and Lions; on a good day.

As a public relations professional, I saw in my mind's eye, what do reserve could look like if the State government decides to turn the place around. Yankari Game Reserve is an asset to the State Government and they ought to do something about it and bring it to global standards in order to encourage tourists to come in from Nigeria and all over the world. Issues of security will need to be beefed up and the State will need to work at providing an airport so that tourists can fly directly to Bauchi and take the about 100 km ride to the game reserve. helicopter rides to the reserve from "Bauchi Airport"  will make the Yankari Game Reserve even more attractive. As Nigeria seeks to diversify the sources of revenue ( beyond petroleum) tourism is one area we can work at. Cross River State is already working at this, and we need other States to do the same. WE need to show-off the beautiful aspects of our land and culture to the world and cut down on the negative press and the single negative narrative that Nigeria attracts.