INTRODUCTION
I talked about the upcoming meetup of @stemng, a branch-out of @steemstem, and how much I looked forward to meeting some nerds and putting faces to the names of the awesome writers and scientists. I promised you a feedback; well this is it… with some findings of mine.
Picture credit: @gentleshaid
The meetup was a success and I am glad I went. I met the people behind the awesome posts which leave me with new knowledge. I am really glad that I met @gentleshaid who introduced me to @steemstem and served/serves as a mentor in that regard. He truly is gentle.
The Lekki Conversation Centre, LCC, is a wildlife reserve whose location has been conserved for about thirty years, according to our tour guide, and shows the original environment of Lekki before rapid civilization took place, changing the look into something maybe more conducive for human habitation.
THE NEED FOR WILDLIFE RESERVES
The venue for the meetup was a great choice by the organizers as I appreciated the need for more of centres. Unlike zoos, wildlife reserves have been argued by many to be the ideal way to get humans to appreciate animals. The wildlife reserves leave these animals in their natural habitat and they are not made or turned into a circus-like attraction.
)
Photo Credit: @agbona
These reserves also serve as a great place for research purposed. These animals are still in the wild and so still give accurate data when tests are done, which in turn can be used for inference since there will be minimal error. Preserving these animals and their habitat helps retain part of the essence of the environment. In as much as technology brings about great innovations, these innovations are also disruptive, and not necessarily in a good way. These reserves help protect animals from going extinct due to the greedy and sometimes ignorant practices of mankind.
Education of the coming generation of scholars and citizens also take place in these reserves which still retain some of the historical outlooks of that environment. There is no better education than that which tells how things were in earlier times and show and tell how they have evolved over time. These conservation centres give this opportunity.
MY EXPERIENCE
As I walked through the 2km boards of the centre, I looked out for snakes and other creatures which I consider dangerous, like crocodiles.
)
Photo Credit: @agbona
The most exhilarating part of this visit had to be the canopy walk. The canopy walkway is reputed to be the longest in Africa and the second longest in the world after one in Malaysia, and at 401m long is not advised to be traveled by people who are acrophobic. I am acrophobic, but I had to have the experience, call me brave or stubborn. Having a total of seven bridges, the canopy walk took every ounce of my courage, as I prayed that I don’t fall off despite the assurance from the guides about how safe it is.
The view from the top was worth it as is always the case with everything that has to do with heights (I wonder why). We could see the whole expanse of the reserve, and we caught our breaths between bridges by taking pictures, you can see how tightly I put my fist to my chest, my heart was beating too fast!
)
Selfie at the top with Agbona and Emperor!
MEETING THE NERDS
What is a gathering of scientist without a time for questions and answers disguised as a discussion? We got to know each other and bounced some questions off Gentleshaid and learnt a little more about the Steemit platform and the steemstem community, @agbona and @samest shared a bit more about crypto-currencies too. For someone who bonds over communication, this was delightful for me as I laughed at jokes and made some of mine, while I learnt a bit about the team.
Who said nerds were boring? This was no gathering of boring nerds! I met @agbona @rharphelle @funmiakinpelu @samest @gentleshaid @eurogee @dandymee @real2josh @amazonaesh @emperorhassy @synik @sogless @mrbreeziewrites @bookiie @temitayo-pelumi @thurllanie and @herbayomi, in no particular order. Interesting folks!
We took some random pictures in the areas we could cover in the land areas which is approximately 78 hectares, and by the time we walked back to the reception, we were drained by excited. We hurriedly took the last pictures, as we prepared to get back into the hustling and bustling of the city of Lagos where we knew we would be welcomed back into reality with the traffic jam of the rush hour.
)
Image Credit: One of us
MY THOUGHTS
I was impressed that despite the congestion Lagos State is known for, it manages to reserve the wildlife spot, retaining the natural environment for citizens and tourists to go and rewind. While some may argue that this is simply another source of revenue, I say it is a great source of revenue, talk about killing two birds with one stone, although we didn’t kill anything in the reserve, I mean it is a reserve, right?
BEHIND THE SCENES
Finally, this picture shows why the wildlife reservation centre is necessary. In this picture, Agbona was trying to convince the peahen to take a picture with us, but it disagreed. Our gaze on the peahen, as we waited for it to make up its mind, shows that it was in its environment. We were not. These reserves help keep a balance on our world. It’s simply a case of live and let live.
)
Photo Credit: @gentleshaid
Hi @djoi!
Your post was upvoted by utopian.io in cooperation with steemstem - supporting knowledge, innovation and technological advancement on the Steem Blockchain.
Contribute to Open Source with utopian.io
Learn how to contribute on our website and join the new open source economy.
Want to chat? Join the Utopian Community on Discord https://discord.gg/h52nFrV
@djoi, thanks for this beautiful summation of the meetup
It was a great and unforgettable experience meeting the "keyboard wizards". I have learnt a lot through this platform and it was incredible seeing some of the brains behind it.
Please to meet you Dee-Joy... lol
Amazing. I was reading everyone's stories of the meetup and I always find new things that each of you experienced.
I will be going to the SteemSTEM meetup in Italy, wish I joined you there, also :D
@alexdory, now you gat me wishing I'm coming to Italy! Have fun. Hopefully we get to meet someday in one meetup.
Amazingly awesome meet-up, it was really nice to see your beautiful faces. Till we meet again, stay cool.
Glad we met. I actually learnt something here
This is the name of the bird, right?
Yes sir it is the female of the one with the beautiful tail.
Wao
Your feedback is as important as the situation of Nigeria but will it be considered.... I wish this country would do see to this
Thanks for sharing ma
It was really nice meeting you guys, a lot of funny characters and beautiful minds, thanks to @stemng and @gentleshaid for the wonderful experience
@djoi, it was a wonderful experience. It's great meeting you. Thanks for coming around.
This is a well-written piece summarizing our engagement that day, it was a thrilling encounter, and I learnt a lot from the experience.
A real pleasure meeting the StemNG folks
WARNINGCONFIRMED SCAM!
DO NOT FOLLOW any instruction and DO NOT CLICK on any link in the comment! - The message you received from @minhajhussain7 is a
For more information, read this post:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@arcange/phishing-site-reported-steem-link-premium
If you find my work to protect you and the community valuable, please consider to upvote this warning or to vote for my witness.
This post has been voted on by the steemstem curation team and voting trail.
There is more to SteemSTEM than just writing posts, check here for some more tips on being a community member. You can also join our discord here to get to know the rest of the community!