There is a lot of Colonial Architecture in the older parts of Calabar that are around Henshaw Town, Duke Town and the waterfront areas.
Duke Town church One of the oldest churches in Nigeria. It was established by the Presbyterian church missionaries. If you go to Eyamba Street just past the church there is a cemetery with stunning views over the town and river. Inside the cemetrey is the tomb of Mary Slessor, a missionary from Dundee in Scotland UK. She was very influential in this part of Nigeria.
Calabar Museum, on the hill overlooking the waterfront, in the Old Government House, the former residence of the colonial governor. The building was designed and built in Glasgow and shipped over in pieces. The museum concentrates on the history of Calabar, the region and slavery. It has a larger quantity of original documents relating to Nigeria. Since it is not heavily frequented by tourists you can easily get a guided tour from one of the staff. Interested persons could spend 3 hours there and barely touch the surface of the material. There are a lot of artifacts relating to the production of palm oil in the back which are fascinating too.
Drill Monkey Rehab Centre, Ndidem Nsang Iso Road hidden behind the Jahas Guest House. It was set up by two overlanders from the USA (Peter Jenkins and Liza Gadsby) who were biologists back home but who were persuaded by the Nigerian Government to stay in Nigeria and look after the endangered Drill Monkeys which were traditionally hunted and eaten in the Afi Mountain range that borders Cameroon. The couple now have staff in Calabar where they care for recently rescued monkeys e.g. those they capture from people trying to smuggle and export them and they also then return them to the wild at the Drill Ranch in Afi Mountains which is not too far from Calabar. You need a decent vehicle and map to get you to the ranch. The Afi Mountain Ranch (near Katabang) has cabins for guest accommodation and a forest canopy walkway (25m high!) for people to experience the environment more closely. You are able to visit both after prior arrangement with the team Tel: +234 (0)803 592-1262 Email: [email protected] Website: www.pandrillus.org. Go, meet Mickey the chimp and experience having him sit in your lap and fiddle with your hair.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Calabar
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Calabar - updated Apr 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Calabar hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
Calabar Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
