Calabar is one of the oldest cities in Nigeria and is popular called the tourism destination of Nigeria by natives.
The natives of Calabar pride themselves as inhabitants of arguably the most beautiful city in Nigeria. And that is why this travel guide contains everything you need to know before traveling to Calabar.
If you’re already in Calabar, you will find amazing things you never knew about the people’s paradise.
Most Nigerians and many foreigners have plans of traveling to Calabar.
And the travel goal of most people this year is to visit Calabar. For all the wonderful reasons, its understandable.
Calabar is a very beautiful city with rich cultural heritage.
Amazing statues.
Serene environment, and
Wonderful pleasure parks.
For a city that has a large base of students, plus a good number of immigrants from neighboring Cameroon, the city is an amazing place.
Here are 19 things to know before traveling to Calabar. Knowledge of these will help you explore the city and make your stay refreshing and enjoyable.
Where Calabar is located
1. Calabar is in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, – Niger Delta region. It borders Akwa Ibom, Benue, and Ebonyi states, and the country of Cameroon.
Calabar is strategically located at the edge of southern Nigeria.
A location many naysayers have attributed to its position in the nation’s developmental curve. Particularly when compared with other emerging cities.
2. Calabar is a really small city, and you can easily drive through the entire city from one end to another in less than an hour.
So in this city, everywhere is close. Whether its grocery shop you want to access or a shopping mall.
There is no far place in this town as the city isn’t so large.
3. As small as the city is, it has two local government councils; Calabar South and Calabar Municipal.
These two areas of Calabar are distinct in many ways that one begins to wonder why. That’s a topic for another day.
While Calabar South is a more rural, no-so beautiful side of the city, Calabar municipal is the pride of the city. It’s the more developed region in Calabar.
So small, yet dynamic!
Who are the inhabitants of Calabar?
4. The primary inhabitants of Calabar are the efik people, especially Calabar South.
Although not all residents are efik as is the case with other major cities.
In fact, only about 20% of the residents are efik people, while about 40% are Akwa-Ibomites.
About 38% are from all other tribes in Cross River and the rest of Nigeria. A tiny 2% are foreigners from Asia and Cameroon.
5. Talking about religion, about 65% of people in the city are Christians.
5% are Muslim, mostly hausas who migrated from the northern part of Nigeria, and 30% practice other religion.
6. Calabar has a very inconsistent climate.
This is coupled with extreme weather conditions – abundance of rain and abundance of sun.
Calabar is typically very sunny from January to June. The city experiences high amount of rainfall from mid-June to August, and high intensity of sun from September to December.
In the event that it rains between September and December, its usually extreme with thunderous winds.
And the result is, flooding takes over some parts of the city like Anatigha, Mbukpa, Godlie/Mount Zion areas, and Atimbo community.
These climate conditions make Calabar relatively very hot, and very cold either side of the temperature.
Cost of living in Calabar
7. One of the cheapest cities to live in Nigeria is Calabar, with most areas in the city well within the reach of average citizens.
Very few areas in Calabar are expensive to stay.
Therefore, if you are planning to live in the city for a while, you won’t necessarily have to spend a fortune for accommodation.
That’s not so much for a major city, capital of a developing state and first capital of Nigeria.
8. You might have probably heard of some tensions which makes you have reserve about security.
Calabar is a largely peaceful city. If you are visiting, you would necessarily not experience security challenges. This is because there is a responsive internal security within the city.
A friend of mine and I went round the entire city when we visited and it was all cool and good.
We kept late nights in some parts of the city. Places like Marian, and MCC areas where we stayed, in a bid to explore the city’s night life.
The streets are lightened up and the internal security of the town is great!
However I can’t tell the same for other parts of the city or the external security due to border clashes and all that.
Check out this list of 23 safety measures at school, home and workplace
9. Whatever you are looking to do, the city has many options.
If you are looking to take a boat cruize, Marina resort offers that while Tinapa resort can afford you all the luxury you may want.
And if you desire to go shopping, Spar Calabar Mall takes care of that.
If its pleasure and relaxation you seek, there are so many five star hotels in the city such as Transcorp, Channel View, Dannic Hotels.
Want to go clubbing? There is abundance of clubs in Calabar, especially at Calabal Municipal areas.
Fast food? Crunches and De Choice provide abundance of pies, cakes, pizzas, rice, soups, and ice cream.
If you so like ice cream and pizza, then Cold Stone and Domino Plazza at Marian road takes care of all your ice cream and pizza need.
10. Calabar is a very vibrant city with lots of young people. Simply put, its a school city.
The city is home to three public tertiary institutions; University of Calabar, Cross River University of Technology, and Cross River College of Health Technology, all located within walking distances of each other.
You might also check out:
So the city has an amazing night life, with lot of activities to go round.
From cultural displays to academic exhibitions.
These institutions organize carnivals as well within sessions.
Malabor Carnival in the University of Calabar is organized between July – September each year, and it offers a variety of cultural display for visitors and fun seekers.
11. The main means of transport within the city is through public cabs, private cabs, and tricycles (keke).
Since the city isn’t so large, you can expect to not be on transit for long.
There are not trains in Calabar. So don’t expect to see a train in the city.
One thing I observed is that the fares are quite cheap and affordable when you measure the distance.
The highest fare you can pay is ₦150 from one end of the city to another. With that, a round trip is still less than a dollar.
We paid ₦50 each most times to many places we visited. And only had to pay ₦150 when we decided to go from one end to another in a bid to know the size of the city.
What you should know about Calabar culture
13. They don’t eat people in Calabar. At least the best I know.
My friend and I heard that prior to visiting Calabar. But while there, we visited many restaurants. We were served meals with cow meat (beef) goat meat, and fish.
Still, because of our curiosity, we inquired further from natives and they said they had no knowledge of such.
“If at all, it’s not a practice in the city”, a friendly native responded.
14. Calabar has great cuisine. Some rich delicacies include white soup which has variety of meats such as liver, kidney, red meat.
Others are afang soup, vegetable, and pepper soup rice. These meals dominated the menu of most restaurants we entered.
When to visit Calabar
15. The best time to visit Calabar, unless you are going for other purposes, is during December. This is when the temperature is cooler, plus lots of festive activities in that period.
The city’s Christmas village at Marian is usually open from December 1st while the popular Carnival Calabar usually holds in December.
That’s after Christmas. It holds through the eleven-eleven square area, then to Mary Slessor avenue, and finally at Marian road.
So throughout December, the city boom with lots of fun activities that are capable of keeping you up all night.
Communication in Calabar
16. The primary English spoken in the city is English, which is used for business transactions as well.
However, efik language is the native language of the Calabar people and widely spoken among locals.
So you won’t have problems with communication within the city as English is used in public transport, as well as other public places.
Explore Calabar
17.Thinking about ease of financial transactions, especially with your bank?
Worry less because almost all commercial banks in the country are well represented across the city center.
First Bank, Zenith, Ecobank, GTB, Fidelity, and UBA all have a dominant presence within Calabar metropolis.
And you won’t have trouble locating any of them as they are within the city center.
Relaxation in Calabar
18. Although there are no beach in Calabar, there are parks and resorts to take care of your relaxation need.
When we searched for beach and found none, we went to Marina resort and it was all good.
The cinema is great, the boat ride is fun, the meals are great, and the atmosphere is really refreshing.
19. Calabar is a very serene city with trees on major walkways, giving the environment a very beautiful look.
Bear in mind that the roads are swept every morning in the city. And there was a time throwing off cans and nylons, even from a car was prohibited.
Not so sure about now, besides I didn’t need to throw trash off a car window at any time.
Though defaulters don’t get penalized, it’s an age-long tradition in the city, giving it a warming look.
The IBB way leading to the Margaret Ekpo International Airport is one of the most beautiful environment in the city.
The acclaimed people’s paradise is no doubt an interesting city to be. Thankfully this Calabar travel guide comes handy for you.
I hope you liked this post?
Please share it with your friends on social media so they can learn more about Calabar. You can also Join Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter.
Want to reach out or add something to this post, please leave a comment below. I appreciate you.
Maxwell is a Dietitian with passion for showing people hope. With nearly a decade experience helping people make key decisions on education and career, you can find him almost everywhere on this site. From answering admission and scholarship questions to creating tutorials and helping others live their best lives though nutrition. Connect with me on Twitter.
Which areas do the expatriate stay or live?
Where are the best hotels in calabar?