My Dream Holiday - Personal Essay

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THE PEOPLE

The very hospitable inhabitants of the village near the Ikuru Atlantic Beach are the Ikuru people of Andoni Local Government area of Rivers State. They are known to have brought Christianity into Andoni and built the first Anglican Church1 and the first storey building which is still standing till today. The ancient storey building contain several cultural, religious and historic relics and are open to tourist. The Ikuru people are predominantly farmers, hunters and fishermen.

For tourist who are desirous to partake in extraneous activities, the villagers organise cultural displays thrice a week. At these display, various entertaining and well-practiced dancing steps can be seen from the agile and active youth groups. Multi-colour decorated masquerades with reflecting mirrors and knowledgeable drummers are part of cultural entertainment. The hotel also organise dance parties in the hotel basement at weekends. For me, however, I joined the Wednesday night classic music relaxation session where tunes composed by masters like Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Mozart, Ludwig Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky filled the air and caused all wilful souls to float with joy as though heavenly angels have come to share the last heavenly blessings. This recreation was very fulfilling and rewarding to me as I left the hall feeling refreshed, relaxed and even rejuvenated.

Undertaking this fourteen days holiday has given me a new lease of life as it has enabled me to re-attune myself to nature, re-focus into my inner self and above all review some of my daily activities in the recent past. I was able to review and analyse my successes and failures at work and adduce reasons for each and come up with a concrete determination to strengthen areas of identified weaknesses. I was also able to reflect on my social and religious interactions. I resolved to keep all friends with negative influence at bay and spend more time and resources on religious and charitable endeavours.

Spending a holiday this way is indeed beneficial to the soul and body. Off cause, there are alternative locations where one may have a similar experience. For example, The Thousand Islands and the Bahamas boast of similar beauty and tranquillity. However, the current national economic recession is a capital hindrance to undertaking a holiday to any of these locations. The need to look inward and patronise our entertainment and hospitality industries cannot be stronger at any other time than now. You are welcome to join me to Ikuru Atlantic Beach.

REFERENCE:

- Ejituwu Nkparom C.. Oron: A History of Obolo (Andoni) in the Niger Delta. Manson Publishing Company, in association with University of Port Harcourt Press, 1991