Adventure travel is gaining grounds in Nigeria.
Tourism usually focuses on sightseeing or experiencing different cultures from a relative point of safety or comfort. Adventure travel is more daring. It involves exercising some level of skill in physical activities while connecting with nature or the culture of a place. People go to Russia for space tourism these days; now that’s one of the newest extent of adventure travelling!
Adventure travelling comes in two categories – hard and soft adventures.
Soft adventures are leisure-related and educational. Examples are
safaris, culinary and wine tours, architectural tours (e.g. a tour of Stone Town in Zanzibar or Dubai City Tour), birdwatching and religious pilgrimages. For example, driving through Calabar town to see all the artworks at the junctions or visiting cities with attractive religious edifices like the Aba Nigeria Temple in Abia state is a soft adventure.
Hard adventures require you being physically fit e.g.
hiking, Zip-lining, rock climbing, snorkelling, mountain biking/cycling, surfing, free fall, scuba diving, bungee jumping, para-gliding, etc. A large chunk of daycation activities organized within Nigeria is geared towards hard adventures like the visit to
Idanre Hills or Iyake Lake.
Why do people go on travel adventures?
Here are 6 advantages of adventure travel:
Improves Your Physical Health
The strain adventure activities put on the body is enough reason to work harder at being physically fit.
Has No Age Restrictions
You don’t have to be young or a teenager to have fun. The whole point of saving for vacations retirement is so you can have enough money to create new memories. What better time to do that than when you retire? Toddlers, adolescents, working class, seniors can all travel and go on adventures to make life one big ride.
Let’s You Live an Alternate Life
People usually assume travellers are rich. Being a traveller gives you a chance to experience life without the cloud of familiarity. You get to meet people and get to know them. The fact that you do an adventure activity together lets you bond with strangers.
Builds your confidence
Living out your travel fantasy has a way of building your confidence in achieving the impossible. It frees you to dream again and again. You learn to dream big, actively plan, act and confidently share your experience with others.
Satisfies your Wanderlust
Growing up, we played suwe and e-ten on the streets; we rode bicycles and had dreams of being like the famous five who found adventure around them. These days, children rarely dream because they are in front of TVs, computer or phone screens. When we travel, we fill that place in us that dreams of going to an exotic location and our kids experience wanderlust for themselves.
Help you become open-minded
Travellers are more exposed and better able to come up with ideas. By being an adventure traveller, you get to open your mind and try new things. You see how other people do things and think differently to achieve a different result from what’s attainable in your locale.
