This past weekend I had an opportunity to travel by water to Calabar , because of the construction going on along the Calabar-Itu high way. I must confess that this was a whole new experience to me. I am not a big fan of a large body of water, when ever I'm in a vehicle and we are crossing a bridge I will close my eyes because I'm scared of the water. This time I had to overcome my fear and use a boat.
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It was about 9a.m when I got to the port and the boats I found there was not so appealing, I asked myself if I'm sure I will embark on this journey, I saw a friend and she told me she was traveling to Calabar too, I asked her if she saw the state of the boats ? she smiled and said they are very strong and she uses water transportation to Calabar on a regular basis because it's faster, It's true that it takes 45minutes on water to travel to Calabar from Uyo while it takes 2 hours on road.
We entered the boats and we were about leaving, I asked for a life jacket to be provided for us but I was told there was non available, I told them I wasn't going again that safety measures must be taken. Some of the other passengers told me I was causing a scene, I told them if they don't regard their safety I do regard mine. My friend tried convincing me to go with them, I told her no that I will wait for another boat. After an hour another boat came and I joined them because they provided us with life jackets. We began our journey and got to a point where I couldn't see land again , I was just praying and then a little wave started I became scared and was shaking and the breeze was just so cold and was freezing.
We then saw so many boats coming from the opposite direction and I was wondering what happened. They informed us that pirates were attacking boats so they had to turn back. We turned back also then our engine stopped working , I was like God what is all this, I was 2 hours late to the meeting I had at Calabar, I had informed my partners about the delay and I'm glad they understood with me and said they will wait for me not minding how many hours it will take me to arrive.
We had to wait for another boat to come and trans-load us, the boat came and we boarded it, then information got to us that the pirates had gone so we set off for calabar. We got to Calabar and I was so drained and stressed out. I met with my partners and they told me to relax and rescheduled the meeting.
My experience of traveling by water for the first time was not a good one, I think the government should do more , provide security on the water ways, make sure that the register very jetty and give them safety guidelines which they must follow. Water transportation is a very important means of transportation and it can help lessen the pressure on our roads, goods can easily be transported through water. I hope that my next experience using water will be a good one next time.