Yenagoa Ox-bow Lake: The lake that stole my heart!

Still stood the skies above Yenagoa,
Not in fear of heights,
But in awe of a pristine wonder.

Here I stand at ease,
Above me soars a bow-shaped moon,
Beneath me sprawls a bean-shaped mere.

 

To my left and right spread an animated glass whose distant shores form a bow, and its mystifying beauty forms a potent arrow- an arrow made of glimmering reflections of a jealous sky, of ambient breeze that whisper rhythms of lullaby, and a distant skyline that is bedecked with spectating multitude of a thousand palm trees. Here I am, at the foot of Yenagoa Ox-bow Lake.

A floating jetty bounces gently atop the ox-bow lake. On it sits two love birds, tweeting and giggling. The man turns towards the shore and gestures to the lady at a suya stand. She walks down, takes an order and walks away.

In a few minutes, she picks a number of meat-loaded sticks off a dancing flame kept alive by a pile of red-hot charcoals. She slices the roasted meats into a plastic plate and dices some onions and cabbage into it, after which she skilfully sprinkles ground pepper on the meat balls and sets some sticks of tooth-pick on the meat balls at the centre of the plate.

She walks down to the water with the lip-smacking plate of hot suya and bottles of chilled soft drinks. The waiting ‘love-birds’ beamed with smiles as they were served, and without delay, the ‘lady-bird’ began to pick at the steaming hot meat balls. Her smiles further widened as the tantalizing taste dashed through her famished belly. For her, it is like heaven-on-earth hidden in a corner of her Niger Delta, enfolded in a blanket of romantic ambience and spiced with the awe-inspiring aura of a beautiful lake.

Yenagoa Ox-bow Lake is tucked at a corner of Yenagoa town, the capital of Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria. Overtime, most parts of the bean-shaped lake had been kept pristine, except for an area being dredged and sand-filled. A neatly tarred road leads to a wide circular platform at the edge of the lake, rimmed with numerous barbecue, suya and drink vendor stands as well as well-arranged sitting chairs and tables- all set to give visitors a memorable experience at the lakeside; an experience that will keep them coming back for more.

#Ox-Bow Lake: a lake resulting from former river bend. i.e. a small curved lake developed on a river floodplain by a river abandoning its original meandering course and cutting a new channel. –Encarta Dictionary

  – Satellite imagery of Yenagoa showing the Ox-bow Lake in red circle
(4° 54’33”N, 6° 16’42”E).

 

– Welcome to Yenagoa Ox-bow Lake.

– The road from the gate leads to a circular area, at the edge of the lake, rimmed with numerous barbecue, suya and drink vendor stands as well as well-arranged sitting chairs and tables…

– The circular sitting area and floating jetty (in red).

– Yenagoa Ox-bow Lake.

– A floating jetty bounces gently atop the ox-bow lake. On it sits two love birds, tweeting and giggling….

– In a few minutes, the suya vendor picks some meat-loaded sticks off a dancing flame kept alive by a pile of red-hot charcoals…

– She walks down to the water with the lip-smacking plate of hot suya and bottles of chilled soft drinks…

– Without delay, the ‘lady-bird’ began to pick at the steaming hot meat balls. Her smiles further widened as the tantalizing taste dashed through her famished belly…

– A dugout canoe moored by the lake side.

– Fishermen on the lake.

– “Hey are you trying to snap me?”

– Some of the locals sailing from one end of the lake to another in a dugout canoe.

 

– Water hyacinth floating on the lake.

– Isn’t this beautiful?

–  A panoramic view of the lake.

Bayelsa, Niger Delta, Yenagoa, Yenagoa ox-bow lake