Hello, Bayelsa!

My trip to Bayelsa had to be the most spontaneous I’d ever taken. I wouldn’t have imagined traveling from Aba to Bayelsa, which was five hours away, on the same day I was invited. But I did!

I applied for a two-week job and had been waiting to be called for field training that was not even supposed to be on this day, given how unprepared I was. However, the call came in, and I needed to be in Bayelsa before the afternoon of that day.

I threw in almost all of my clothes because I didn’t know how to pack light, and in no time, I was on my way to the park to catch a bus.

Obtaining My Bus Ticket From Peace Mass Terminal

Obtaining a bus ticket from the terminal was not as difficult as I had expected. Unlike some short-distance transportation companies, you do not purchase tickets directly from the drivers. Instead, you walk into the terminal, find whoever is in charge of tickets to the state you’re visiting, and purchase your ticket.

Cost of Transportation From Aba to Bayelsa 

At the time of this writing, traveling from Aba to Bayelsa via Peace Mass Transit costs N2700. The last time I traveled in 2021, the cost was about N2200, which is a significant change. I also heard it had something to do with the flood that ravaged Bayelsa for about a month.

Traveling From Aba to Bayelsa Via Peace Mass Transit

I found Peace Mass to be quite comfortable.

I chose the single seat because I didn’t want to interact with anyone.

Our bus left the park at 10:02 a.m., and I plugged in my headphones and listened to my worship playlist for most part of the ride.

If the roads were in good condition, this would have been a short trip. Instead of through Port Harcourt, we traveled all the way to Owerri before entering Elele in Rivers State and finally, Bayelsa.

When I listened to all of the songs on my playlist, I switched to an episode of Break Into Travel Writing by Alexa Meisler, one of my favorite podcasts. Hearing her and Jordan Campbell talk about sponsored post collaborations for travel bloggers gave me the clarity and confidence I needed to pitch to some of the restaurants I was able to work with during my stay in Yenagoa.

My First Impression of Bayelsa State Post-Flood

Except for the East-West Road, which had deep portholes, the road network wasn’t so bad. The sight of rivers and bridges indicated that we had entered Bayelsa State.

We arrived in Yenagoa at 1:58 p.m., and the first thing I picked was the smell. It smelled like a fish pond, which made my stomach turn a little. 

Through the bus window, I could see people going about their daily lives as if their homes hadn’t been submerged in water like two weeks ago. It was wonderful to see those happy faces again. 

At Tombia Roundabout, everyone got off the bus, except for me and one elderly woman. The other passengers, I was told, were NDU students who had just arrived at their school junction.

The driver informed us that he would be ending the journey here because he had somewhere else to go. This was so uncouth and arrogant, and I did not keep calm about it. I made it clear to him that his bus was booked to take me from Peace Park in Aba to Peace Park in Yenagoa regardless of where everyone else got off, and that his personal emergencies were not my problem.

The elderly woman argued the same thing until he promised to take us to a much closer Peace Park in Okutukutu, separate from the main one. That didn’t bother me; I just needed a recognizable starting point for the second leg of my journey.

On our way to the park, the most amusing thing happened. The driver and the woman interrupted my screen time and invited me to the front seat so I could keep an eye out for the park. Excuse me? A Peace Driver could not find his own bus park?

This was a little surprising, but he cleared that up by saying that the park was not on his route. I put my phone away and sat on the seat behind the front passenger seat. I spotted the park quickly, but the driver missed it and had to go around again. He drove carefully this time so he wouldn’t miss it again. We entered the park, and the bus screeched to a stop.

I walked out of the park and crossed to the other lane of the main road to begin the second leg of my journey to Yenizue-Gene, Yenagoa, where my sister was staying.

I’m thrilled to be in Yenagoa and can’t wait to share my experiences with you. So far, I’ve had the opportunity to explore some incredible places, which I will detail in future blog posts. If you want to be notified when I publish them, please subscribe below.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Let me know if there is anything you look forward to seeing me do in Bayelsa, and I will do my best to try it out while I am still here, or the next time I visit.