Qualla: Calabar https://qualla.com/calabar en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/0/v/u/calabar-wk/hero-small.webp Qualla: Calabar https://qualla.com/calabar Calabar: Introduction https://qualla.com/calabar/ Photo credit Victor Eyo, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Efik people settled on this hill above the Calabar River at least four centuries ago, and the city has been reinventing itself ever since. Slave port, palm oil emporium, capital of the Niger Coast Protectorate, and now the self-declared tourism capital of Nigeria -- Calabar wears its layered history in its architecture, its markets, and its famous December carnival, which packs the streets with enough color and noise to earn the title "Africa's Biggest Street Party." It is a city that has repeatedly found new reasons to draw the world's attention.

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Image: Victor Eyo | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/0/v/u/calabar-wk/s0vu-calabar-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Calabar: Centuries on the River https://qualla.com/calabar/ Photo credit UK Government, Public domain. Calabar's position at the junction of the Calabar and Great Kwa Rivers made it a natural hub for trade. By the seventeenth century, the Efik-speaking community had established a flourishing commercial network, one that included, unavoidably, the transatlantic slave trade. Enslave...

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Image: UK Government | Public domain

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/0/v/u/calabar-wk/s0vu-calabar-centuries-on-the-river.mp3 0:06 2 full Calabar: Where Duke Town Meets the Waterfront https://qualla.com/calabar/ Photo credit Ei'eke, CC BY-SA 4.0. The older quarters of Calabar reward exploration on foot. Duke Town and Henshaw Town preserve colonial-era architecture -- verandahed buildings with rusting corrugated roofs that speak of a time when European trading companies competed for riverfront advantage. The Slave Museum d...

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Image: Ei'eke | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/0/v/u/calabar-wk/s0vu-calabar-where-duke-town-meets-the-waterfront.mp3 0:06 3 full Calabar: The December Transformation https://qualla.com/calabar/ Photo credit Muyiwa OSIFUYE, CC BY-SA 4.0. Every December, Calabar undergoes a transformation. The Calabar Carnival, revived in its modern form by Governor Donald Duke in 2004, fills the streets with competing bands distinguished by color -- green for Passion 4, red for Seagull, orange for Masta Blasta, blue for Bayside, ...

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Image: Muyiwa OSIFUYE | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/0/v/u/calabar-wk/s0vu-calabar-the-december-transformation.mp3 0:06 4 full Calabar: Beyond the City Limits https://qualla.com/calabar/ Photo credit Favouridowu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Calabar serves as a gateway to some of Cross River State's most striking landscapes. The Cross River National Park, home to sixteen primate species and Nigeria's most pristine remnant of tropical rainforest, offers ecotourism opportunities for those willing to plan ahead -- the p...

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Image: Favouridowu | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/0/v/u/calabar-wk/s0vu-calabar-beyond-the-city-limits.mp3 0:06 5 full