This was my ambitious Itinerary for Day 2. Read what we did on day 1

1. Go on a Tour of the facility 
2. Visit the Nursery 
3. Play Golf 
4. Swim 

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit institution
that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger,
malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across
sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security,
increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. www.iita.org

basically, they do research on some major staples for African countries. E.g Looking for the right terrin to grow the best type of yams in Nigeria or what specie of Mango is the best? Those type of things.  They grow plants for research purposes, take readings, have scientiest and the whole nine yards. Mr Seriki took us to one of the screen houses where they planted peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes with the aim of knowing at what will bring the most yield, how much fruits can they get out of it, things like that. They grow for research purposes. We saw the rice padding, maize plantation, mango plantation (has different species of mango), cassava, yam etc. It was indeed an educational tour and eye opening.  Really great option for  homeschool tour. 

So many things to see. We didn't have access to go into some of these places because it wasn't an official tour. 

We went swimming.  Just generally dipped in the pool and had some fun till evening. It was friday night and the snack bar was popping. They had pizza, we ate ordered some pizza and called it a night. 

We took some time in the morning before we left to take some bomb images. Once should go here at least twice one to explore and one to just rest! It will definitely be worth it. 

Read my full review and last article in this series next.

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 We are in IITA for a short holiday and the most FAQ is "How much" "What's booking like" I will share everything in this article.

IITA is an institute and they have a pretty strict policy so you can't just visit without making a reservation.

To make a Reservation you send an email to iita-reservations@cgiar.org stating the days you'd like to book for, they will tell you if it's available and what rooms they have with a copy of the current rates.

Here are the rates as at March 2022

My process: I called their reservation phone line (got on their website) asked for the available rooms and sent a mail but I didn't get a response to the mail so I called about 2 days to the day and found out they did not see my mail but responded to me immediately after the call. 

Apparently, they are very on top of their reservation emails and they will respond to you. 

Just note that they are booked and busy so don't do last minute. 

 UI Zoo was our next stop on our Ibadan adventure. 

The University of Ibadan Zoological Garden was established in 1948 primarily as Menagerie to support teaching and research in the Department of Zoology. With time the animal collection grew in number and diversity and the Menagerie gradually became a full fledged Zoo in 1974. It welcomes a large number of visitors from far and near every year.
The University of Ibadan Zoo, like most modern zoos, displays wild animals primarily for the conservation of endangered species, as well as for research purposes and education, and so also for the entertainment of visitors.
The garden is home to a wide array of animals comprising mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. [Source]

First Impression: 

The attitude of the woman at the pay point was also not nice at all. My cousin made a statement that it’s how they are in Ibadan, lol.  There were vendors outside that sold snacks and drinks.

When you enter, you’d start by seeing a few animals and honestly not expect so much because you won’t really see from the entrance how big the place is but when you walk in, you’d see how many more animals they have.  The place also brought so many memories for my sister from her childhood excursions. Apparently, the state the zoo is in is like a shadow of itself from years ago.

Gate fee for university of ibadan zoo: 

500/Person 

Some of the Animals they have: 

The zoo has the most animals I’ve seen in a zoo. 

• Geese 
• Hyena 
• Lion 
• Giraffe 
• Camel 
• Jackal 
• Ostrich 
• Bob cat 
• Snaksssss - different species
• Crocodile 
• Baboon 
• Monkey - different species 
• Crocodile etc. 

What we loved about the place?

We loved that they had a lot of animals to see. The environment looked clean and all the animals were labeled with names, Yoruba names, igbo names and a little story about them. 

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the giraffe in all it’s glory. 

What we didn’t like?

The toilet wasn’t clean. I didn’t like that there was a vendor selling toys and marketing to the kids which I didn’t appreciate. It made our kids cry for things we didn’t want to buy. We didn’t like that some of the animals looked so lonely and unkempt. The Lion was also sleeping when we were there. 

Wished the place was more maintained than it is. 

Other things to note: 

Get some snacks and water for you and the kids. You will be tired after the walk around the zoo. 

Cuddly Ratings

I would give it 4/5 cuddly loves. 

Have you been to the University of Ibadan zoo before? What are your thoughts?