Hidden away from the city centre, the Zuma Rock Golf Resort has lots of attractions. For the busy executive, it is a perfect place to rest and unwind.

By Victor Daniel

where is zuma rock located?

Zuma Rock sits prodigiously in Madalla, on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, west of the Abuja metropolis and visible from over 50 kilometres away. Domiciled in Niger State, the monster-stone stands at over 900ft, towering above any other rock in northern Nigeria. Famed for its feature at the back of the ₦100 note, the gigantic monolith oversees a sprawling expanse of greenery to its north, a resort named the Zuma Rock Golf Resort.

The Zuma Rock Golf Resort is a Lebanese-run seven-hectare space of lush vegetation consisting of many attractions, such as wildlife, restaurants, a swimming pool, apartments for lodging and a golf course. A guest is ushered into the place through a gated entrance that opens into a beautifully tended route that snakes all the way to a modest reception building. On the drive from the gate to the reception, one is treated to beautiful, aesthetic views of trees, tended lawns, golfers and mahogany-coated antelopes galloping gleefully in the distance.

Seated at the reception are two smartly dressed receptionists, one of which handles the telephone directories while the other attends to the customers in person. There is a couple of people lined in front of the receptionist, so I’m made to sit on the black leather couch while I wait my turn, just beneath a splendid portrait of a beautiful island in the Caribbean. While I wait, I’m given a brochure detailing the pricelist of the lodges available at the resort. If you are looking to have a weekend getaway at the Zuma Rock Golf Resort, it will cost a tidy sum. Rooms range between ₦25,000 to ₦50,000. If you, however, desire royal treatment, then the penthouses might be your thing.

Much more than the green

The apartments are housed in each of one of six one-storey guest chalets symmetrically arranged along the same lane as the reception. A new one is being built at the end of the road, and the chalets are sitting opposite the vast, green lawn, against the beautiful reflection of the sunset. Since the end of the COVID-19 lockdown, new measures have been implemented to give guests at the resort an exclusive experience during the course of their stay.

One of these concessions includes limitless access to the entire course and complimentary access to the swimming pool. Prior to the lockdown, one could visit for a single day tour of the resort without lodging. All they had to do was to pay a token of ₦5000, and they would be allowed a tour.

The rooms are lavishly furnished with some of the sleekest fittings found anywhere in the country.

For a more profound experience, the resort makes available some recreation for the guests. At the back of the guest, chalets are a Kettler Outdoor 10 tennis tables where guests typically come out to play when the scorching Abuja sun is friendly enough to allow for some outdoor activities.

Other recreational activities include biking and horse-riding, which guests have to pay for. The bills are calculated on an hourly basis, with bicycles available for ₦2,000 per hour and horse-riding going for ₦4,000 per hour. In the evening, guests (which typically consists of European and Asian expatriates) can be seen biking along the entire stretch of the resort, especially on the bike lane stretching from the reception area all the way to the end of the road where a new chalet is being constructed. Guests also have the luxury of variety as they are given the option to choose from any one of the different models of bicycles on display under the bicycle shed at the entrance of the golf course.

The horses are kept in a stable at the northern end of the course and are only made available at sunset.

The Zuma Rock Golf Resort runs a subscription-based golf membership club, with subscriptions pegged at ₦250,000 per annum for members who have unfettered access to the golf course at any time of their choosing. Non-members may also make use of the course for a token of ₦10,000 per session. On weekends and holidays, the Zuma Rock Golf Resort becomes a carnival of high-earning Abuja men and women who troop in with their golf kits to spend the whole day swinging.

Myths, wildlife and exotic cuisine

Even though the wildlife are let to roam on the course, human activities do little to deter them from roaming around in their little groups. The guinea-fowls skitter, run, and fly together, hunting for grains and little insects. The pigeons hover around, sometimes chasing golf balls mid-flight. The antelopes are more elusive though, preferring to recede from humans walking in clusters. When they think no one is watching, they chase the wind, their silver-black ivory horns gleaming against the reflection of the orange sunlight. In this resort, the sun makes everything more beautiful.

The Zuma Rock settles majestically in the background, visible from any part of the resort. The perfect view, though, is when you’re sitting at the poolside of the Cilantro restaurant. Located just behind the reception, Cilantro is the only restaurant in the resort. An Indian restaurant with a mission to “change the perception of Indian food in Nigeria”, Cilantro serves a wide variety of Indian and continental dishes which do not include beef and pork. “We use halal meats only,” the base of their menu reads.

The Zuma Rock is as much a monument of international repute and a symbol of immense significance to the natives who have lived around it for centuries. Magnificent in size and reputation, the rock has been an object of sheer fascination that has never ceased to inspire myths and legends. The rock is adorned with contours that natives have often interpreted in interesting ways. One of such contours seems to take the shape of a human face, which the natives have interpreted as being the face of the Zuma rock deity. The Gwari people, who are traditionally settled at its base, believe the rock to be a gateway to the spirit realms and that when people die, their spirits live inside the rock.

The Zuma Rock Golf Resort is no doubt one of the best tourist attractions in the country, with its beautiful, aesthetic ambience. For a three-day retreat, there’s a lot to do and even more to see, but the novelty eventually wears out after the first couple of days, if there aren’t more recreational outlets than the ones already available. There are already plans to make it more fun, Mr Rami, the Lebanese managing director, has assured.

Victor Daniel is a lawyer and writer. His works have been published in Brittle Paper, The Kalahari Review, African Writer, Ngiga Reviews, among others. His nonfiction, God’s Mailbox is a Traffic Jam, was published in the first edition of Selves: An Anthology of Afro Nonfiction. He has been a feature writer for Diaspora magazine, Nigeria Abroad, since May 2020. This article was first published by Four Points Communications in NCDMB’s Local Content Digest magazine.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.