The SS3 students of the 2019/2020 academic session embarked on an educational excursion to the United States of America. The trip was scheduled to last for six days. We left for Lagos on 24th of October 2019 and arrived in Lagos at dusk. We spent the night in Tourists’ hotel, thereafter, boarded the flight to Abu Dhabi, UAE using Etihad airways.

The following morning, we boarded the first flight to New York City, USA and we landed safely at John .F. Kennedy international airport, New York. The “take tours tourism group” were on hand to assist us and they did their job professionally and fantastically well. Furthermore, the following day we were taken to the hotel where we were to stay for the night in New York. The next morning, we set out as early as 6.00a.m for our tour of the day. Interestingly, the first place of visit was the Empire building, the tallest building in America (and the tallest building we’ve ever seen!).

After wards, we went to the twin tower that was destroyed by Osama Bin Laden and was replaced by an enormous water outlet where their names were inscribed on the black paints surrounding the surface. Over 500 lives were lost in the aftermath of that carnage.

Thereafter, we were ferried to New Jersey to have a panoramic view of the eminent Statue of Liberty which symbolizes liberty and freedom of Americans from slavery. We also saw the statue of ‘the charging bull’ which symbolizes continuous growth in the American economy. In the evening, we went to the “Times Square” where a lot of commercial activities and concerts took place. We also saw the Trump towers, a hotel owned by Donald Trump. We had the opportune moment to buy souvenirs there. The tour driver drove us back to our residence for the night in New Jersey.

The following day, we visited the White house which was the official residence of every American president, but we were not permitted to go close because it was claimed to have closed for the day. Our tour guide expressed displeasure with the development that since Donald Trump got into power, the white house was almost always unavailable for tourists. Nevertheless, we were told that the white house has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, 3 elevator and 8 staircases. Without delay, we went to the Lincoln Memorial, a building containing the Abraham Lincoln statue, who happens to be the 16th president of America and one the most famous presidents. In the building, we also saw a large writing on the wall that talks about human rights and freedom. On that note, we ended our tour for the day and retired back to the hotel booked for us by our tour guides for the night.

The next day, we woke up early and commenced our journey to Buffalo City to visit the (Guess?) the amazing Niagara Falls! We took a boat ride on Maid of the Mist to view the beautiful scenario of Niagara Falls. From our observation, we discovered that the Niagara Fall is a collection of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara gorge between the Canadian province of Ontario and the USA, we also saw the largest horse shoe fall also known as “Canadian fall”, which straddles the international border between Canada and the United States. It has a total height of 167ft (51 m); the average flow rate is about 8500culfits which is about 2400m3 per second. Niagara Falls is formed both for its beauty and as the valuable source of hydroelectric power, balancing recreational, commercial and industrial uses has been a challenge for the steward of fall since the 19th century. After the fun filled ride at the Niagara Falls, we went back to our hotel.

We woke up early the following day and we went to the Harvard University. We arrived at Cambridge a little late because it was a six hours drive from New York. As soon as we reached Harvard University, the tour started and it lasted for approximately one hour, fifteen minutes. The University is said to be one of the oldest universities in the world. It is over 300 years old. The name ‘Harvard’ was given in remembrance of the biggest donor (though usually mistaken for the founder). The school motto is ve ri tas which means ‘Truth’ and the symbol is that of a pig. The Harvard building structures from up view forms a question mark (?) which means that students should always ask why? The John Harvard statue is right in the university and it is a very notable statue in the United States of America. There is a myth that touching the left foot of the statue brings good luck. The statue was built in 1884. We saw the various buildings, library and the memorial church of Harvard students who lost their lives during the war. At the end of the tour, we took a group picture with the tour guide and went to Hampton Inn hotel for the last night.

Finally, the tour came to an end, we took pictures as a group, then we stopped at the Yale University for a little while, and off we were to the airport. The knowledge of us returning home was accompanied with mixed feeling; quite unbelievable knowing that the excursion had ended and all of a sudden, we wanted to stay back despite the climate and food. We checked in into the airport and after several hours, we were on our way back home. We left with the assurance that by the grace of God, we would visit the United States of America again.

PLACES VISITED

Ø Empire building, New York city

Ø South(Twin) Tower, New York City

Ø Statue of liberty, New York city

Ø Trump Towers

Ø New York Times Square

Ø White house, Washington DC

Ø Lincoln memorial, Washington DC

Ø Niagara falls, Ontario

Ø Harvard University, Cambridge