And so my thoughts drift back to Calabar as I sit down to write this neurology letter. I am currently on clinical attachment to the neurology unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, South West Nigeria, but it was at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, where I was at medical school, that my journey into neurology began about 13 years ago. There I stood day after day on the consultant ward rounds as a medical student, struggling to understand all the concepts in the different specialities of internal medicine. But neurology was always different; with my knowledge of basic medical sciences I could understand the concepts easily. Like the wiring in a house, neurons are either connected in series (long tracts) or parallel (Renshaw cells). With pictures like these in my mind I was fascinated by neurology.

Calabar is the capital of Cross River State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It is one of the most serene towns in Nigeria, renowned for its well paved streets and luscious flourishing flowery paths. In Cross River are located the tourist attractions of the mountainous Obudu cattle ranch with its all year temperate …