Chronicles of My March 12Trip Challenge: Ureje Lake, Banga Soup, And Other Stories

Hello people!

Hope you didn’t think that I abandoned my travel goals for this year?

Nah, I just have a backlog of posts that I have to publish and it starts now! 🙂

So I missed my trip for the month of March and decided to go swimming which as can be read in my stuff about me post, I haven’t done for years and years.

I changed my mind about swimming though, and decided to go see Ureje Lake in Ekiti which I read about in Naijatreks.

The location was just a few minutes from my house but my people, that trip was one chance!

First of all, the lake isn’t a tourist centre(somebody say huh?) but it could be one if the Government invests in it.

So I got to the gate, spoke to the person there who said that I had to get permission before going in(insert blank stare here) and he directed me to the man I was to get permission from.

In my mind I was thinking “this wowo place. They should be happy someone came here”
Frankly, I wanted to go back home but was just too stubborn to waste my transport fare like that.
I got to the man’s office who I was to ask for permission from and he started asking me silly questions – sometimes repeating the same questions over and over again.
What’s your name?
What do you do?
Where’s your PPA(because I told him that I’m a corper)
Show me your ID card.
This id card has expired(when the date is clearly on it)
I was like what?

At the lake

Haven’t you ever heard of someone just sightseeing and going on adventures before?
He said he wanted to be sure that I am not sent from the Government to spy on them?
What a laugh biko?
The experience I had in this trip was even more than the trip itself…
Finally, he gave me permission and walked me over to the lake.
The lake is pretty big and everything that Naijatreks described it as but I didn’t even stay long.

Entrance to the lake

The man just showed me and said we should walk back.

The lake

He did snap me pictures (I will give him that) but then he tried to place his hands on my shoulder and was asking me where is my husband.
In my mind I was like what is this????
This is one issue with the traveling alone thing, everybody wants to toast you and it’s annoying!
Anyway, I had heard that one could get fresh fish from the lake so I set out to look for a place to buy fresh fish.
I had asked a friend of mine to get banga for me from Delta State before and I needed fish to cook it.
And no, I didn’t see fresh fish but what I saw was manageable, I think.

While pricing the fish

The fisherman did try to toast me too(rolling eyes), and please it’s not like I’m pretty pretty, it’s just annoying all these toasting I’m getting just because I wanna see a new place and everyone thinks a corper needs a man so when you say I’m a serving corper, it’s just taken as a license to woo you. *sigh*
Got the fish for a good price anyway and then began the highlight of my trip.
I cooked banga soup and attempted to make the starch.
I say attempted to make the starch because it was an epic fail(I think), but I still ate it sha, it was manageable for me but not for a husband..hehe

After boiling the banga

Pounded and seived the oil out of it

Soup done, unto the starch..

Still turning the starch, this is where I missed it

Banga soup spices are so expensive in Ekiti, someone should have told me this before I came, I would have brought spices from Delta State.
Anyways, the soup wasn’t as sweet as my momma’s own but I tried, what with the little spices I had and no catfish, and it was a welcome change to eat banga soup after MONTHS off of it.

Sorry, started eating before I snapped the pictures

You can get the recipe from Dooney’s Kitchen here if you are interested in it…
And with that ends my trip for March.
I was disappointed with the whole Ureje Lake deal but the fish I got and my banga soup made my day.

My trip for April was more interesting.
*hint hint* I went to Idanre hills at Akure. (Yep, we be touring the city, lol)
Swoosh!
Just tune in for the deets later, I will be writing about it soonest. 🙂

Till my next travelouge,
Much love,
Frances.

P.S – You can read my previous travelogue on the 12trip challenge for all single ladies by clicking here
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