Finima Nature Park covers about 1,000 hectares on Bonny Island in Rivers State. For the Rivers destination, the park is a distinctive natural area; boat regattas in the state’s riverine communities offer a different, cultural perspective.
Nature Walks in Finima Nature Park
Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) established the park in 1999. The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has managed the park since 2011. Rangers lead nature walks there. The programme also includes educational excursions for schools, universities, researchers and organised groups. Nature walks and educational excursions are different formats. If you are planning a walk or excursion, confirm the arrangements for each directly with the park.
Boat Regattas and Cultural Traditions
In Rivers State, boat regattas take place in riverine communities as rites of passage for deceased kings or as part of the coronation of a new king or a prominent chief. At national or state cultural festivals, communities or Local Government Areas compete against one another in regattas for prizes and awards. The boats travel in columns, accompanied by drums, singing and shouts. The races therefore have both ceremonial and competitive contexts. If you want to plan a trip around a particular festival, check the dates in advance.
Iria or Ngbede is also among the cultural traditions of Rivers State. The ceremony marks a girl’s coming of age and her transition to womanhood. The state’s food culture includes various traditional dishes influenced by the region’s natural environment and habitats.
Nigeria: Historic Landscapes and Festival Culture
In Nigeria, Sukur shows how a historic settlement, landscape and cultural practices form different facets of a place. The documented history of the settlement, with its iron smelting, flourishing trade and strong political institutions, dates back to the 16th century. Terraced fields, dry-stone buildings and paved stone paths shape the landscape. The Hidi is the political and spiritual leader of the community. His palace is built of dry stone; numerous shrines are grouped around it, including some made of ceramic.
Many disused shaft furnaces for iron smelting have been preserved in Sukur. They were operated with bellows and were usually located near their owners’ homes. Traditional terrace farming and its associated ritual systems continue to this day. Regularly observed festivals and ceremonies are regarded as signs of cultural continuity.
Other Nigerian festival traditions include the annual procession festival at the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove. It lasts twelve days in July and August, renews the bond between the goddess and the people of the city, and helps preserve living Yoruba cultural traditions. The Sango Festival of Oyo marks the beginning of the Yoruba Traditional New Year in August. As an act of ancestor worship, it takes place in Sango near the ancient Koso Temple. At the start of the festival, on the eve of the Yoruba New Year, followers and worshippers of Sango share and eat roasted new yams and palm oil.
Discover more destinations: Port Harcourt, Owerri, Yenagoa, Ondo, Gombe, Ogun, Plateau, Bauchi.
For the overview of the wider region: Nigeria.
