Ibeno Beach - My Visit To The Longest Sand Beach In West Africa

The video attached to this article is a 2 Minute video that shows me at Ibeno Beach. Towards the end at (1:11) , It shows the water in slow motion.

Hello everyone. How are you all doing today? This year has been full of drama for me. At the beginning of the year, things didn't really go well for me. Fortunately for me, I returned to hive in the last quarter of the year and my life has changed drastically. Just like a Scripted Movie!
Few weeks ago, I went for a Chess trip with my friends to Akwa-Ibom State, one of the highest oil- and gas-producing state in my country Nigeria. After the chess tournament, we decided to visit the Beach which turned out to be a day i will never forget in my Life.

The chess tournament was played by a small group of friends in a place called Eket, which is one of the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. I also stayed in an hotel. Interestingly, i observed that the hotel rooms where named according to some places in Akwa-ibom.

_Ukanafun & Ikot-Ekpene are names of places in Akwa Ibom

The Chess tournament was a way to celebrate the year and Merry together, we all have a close relationship with each other so the atmosphere was a happy one.

Round 6, @tigranspinoza vs @samostically

The sponsor of the chess tournament suggested we visit the beach after the chess event. It was an idea we welcomed although the major challenge was transportation to the beach. We were 7 in number and the only car available was a 4-seater. So we all had to go in batches, I went with the first batch. It was a 22 minutes journey to the IBENO BEACH , that's about 18km by road.

Ibeno beach is the longest sand beach in west Africa. The beach is located in Akwa Ibom, southern part of Nigeria.The Ibeno Beach is one of the beaches on the Atlantic Ocean along the shorelines of Ibeno. The beach is a beautiful tourist site and one i was happy to visit.

According to Guardian Nigeria

Ibeno Local Government Area is located at the South end of Akwa Ibom State, occupying a vast coastal area of over 1,200 sq. km. It stretches from Okposo I at the eastern flank, bordering Mbo Local Government Area and Bakassi Pennisula to Atabrikang village on its Western flank. It is bounded in the South by the Atlantic Ocean and shares border with Eket, Esit Eket, Onna and Eastern Obolo local government areas.
Ibeno Beach stretches for about 30 kilometres from Ibeno to James Town along the Atlantic coastline of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. It is said to be the longest beach in West Africa. With its beautiful coastline, Ibeno provides endless natural facilities for tourism, water sporting, beach soccer and general boating.
The endless white sand dunes extending as far as the eyes can see along the Atlantic are unaltered by the waves that pour violently on the seashore. History has it that the area was first occupied around 1200-1500 BC by Ibeno indigenes.

We got to the beach around 3pm, and it was a bit crowded because of the time of the year. During the festive period, alot of people go visit the beach. One thing i was quick to notice was the security in the place. There were alot of Armed officers at every corner, This was to stop every form of criminal activities that might occur.
We grabbed a chair and waited for the second batch to arrive. While we were waiting, we ordered some snails and beer to put into our bellies.

The clouds were looking peaceful, I think it is because of its understanding with mother Nature. The smell of the beach sand was Crispy, From where I sat, I could hear the splashing waves and the sea mumbles. It felt good. The place was crowded but i didn't seem to feel any noise, it felt quiet and serene. I stared for so long and got lost in my thoughts. I wondered how the beach connected to the Atlantic ocean, If i could survive by rolling into the waves for few minutes. The thoughts were so beautiful, I didn't even notice when my friends arrived.

I handed over the phone camera to @anonymee, A very close friend of mine and an old Steemian who hasn't had time for a hive return. He took alot of pictures, some of which i can't post as they contain faces of people i don't know. However, here are some pictures he took that i liked that doesn't really show anyone's face and also depict the beauty of the beach with wonderful camera effects.

I went to straight up to the beach to have fun, I was accompanied by another Chess player @perpz , who is having the best time of her career at the moment. She just became the National Chess Champion. she also has a non-active hive account via steem, but she intends to return back to #hive and #Hivechess Next year.

@samostically & Woman Fide Master @perpz

In the video attached to this post, I did a slow motion of the waves coming at us. You can see it at (1:11) . It was fun to play as sometimes our foot wear got away from us and we had to wait for the water to bring it back, I tried it again and the footwear kept coming back, I loved the game but I didn't push my luck as i didn't want to go back on bare foot.

Some of my friends were playing volleyball, I decided to join, but it was too stressful for me, it felt more difficult than playing on a hard court. Beach volleyball is hard, i never knew, I fell down a couple of times and i missed some crucial points for my team. Although, it was all for fun, it still felt great and interesting. I saw some other people playing football, I wanted to join them also but i was too tired already. Everything looked like stress for me. All I wanted now was to go back to the hotel and continue in my dreams.

In Conclusion...

I might not have told the story the exact way i felt, but trust me, Ibeno beach is great and a nice place to visit, Although, the beach is in a local government area, it can be accessed by Air, through Uyo, the Akwa-Ibom State capital.

Thanks For Reading & Watching