MY WATERFALL/ MOUNTAIN CLIMBING EXPERIENCE (OLUMIRI WATERFALL)

Hey lovelies…..it’s been so long since my last write-up, but I promise to make it up to you via this post. 

The Sallah break was a really long one for me and so I had to plan an adventurous trip with my colleagues from work and my housemate turned sister. Surfing the internet, I found Olumiri Waterfall Erin Ijesha in Osun state. I strongly believe you would like to visit after this piece. So I wanted a low budget holiday trip which would also be fun.Being the camp leader and the adventurous mama as friends and family  call me, I made a list  that would accommodate the transportation(fueling) , gate fee, carpark fee and feeding for four people, excluding the drinks. At the end of the day we all contributed less than #4,000 each while we used one of the available cars. We also didn’t plan on sleeping over  so it was basically a one day exploration. 

It was a two hours trip from Ibadan with the help of google map and a speed limit of between 80km/h and 120km/h. The map was very accurate so yes you can trust the map for the direction if you are in doubt. We certainly said a word of prayer before leaving.

First direction landmark to the waterfall

The car park 

Beautiful art work at the entrance

Happy people

The gate fee was #500 for adults and #300 for children. There were no eateries there but they had locations where you could have a great picnic. Its best you cook from home when visiting the waterfall. We got a tour guide who charged #1000 for the tour and he came in handy especially in the area of picture taking. He told us there were over  200 steps to climb , and the waterfall was in seven levels/layers but since we came pretty late he advised not to get to the seventh level. If you are planning a trip to Erin Ijesha its best you leave early enough so you can get to the 7th level where the source of the water can be seen.

It was a great adventure which taught me too much and am sure not forgetting the experience in a hurry.  The first level  was such a beautiful view. I had never seen such beautiful creation in all my life. The torrent of the water was OMG. There was unspeakable joy in my heart like a river as I saw and felt the water pour down on me.

A part of the first level 

First level relaxation

I certainly had a good shower there trust me. Lady I can play for Africa. We went on to the second level which had even more stair cases and that was where the actual jungle adventure started. I felt like TARZAN the cartoon boy.

Lady I Tarzan

Finally we got there and I had to take off my flip flops because it was quite slippery however the floor was void of sharp objects which could cause injuries .

I was feeling like a serious champion after climbing the steep slope. Honestly it was quite difficult but nothing compared to the third level.

At this point, I sure felt like “Ekemma the beautiful princess washing up in the river” lol.

Level three was certainly no childs play at all. Now to you my readers, I must advice that you never take uncalculated risks if you know what I mean.  The third level was completely void of steps. You are left with rocks and over grown roots of very old trees and things that look like forest weed which were very strong and came in helpful. I must confess, I cried a bit while climbing. Brethren it was the toughest  thing I have ever done in this life. The third level taught me the power of focus I.e  It would teach you how not to chat while reading or doing serious business. You needed to see me climbing those rocks. It felt like a journey of no return because looking back or looking down to see where or how far you have gone was like a death sentence. I looked back once and was petrified because I couldn’t seem to find the path I had taken up to where I was. My beloved, it was the scariest thing in my whole life. 

 

This was me trying to make my way down the rock after we had gotten to level 4. By the way this was one of the best paths coming down, so imagine what kind of path led us up there. It was narrow, scary. Any form of carelessness or lack of focus, you could slip and fall. Now climbing to level 3 taught me perseverance, focus, and it reminded me that the way to the top is not a joke. If I am ready for success there is a great price to pay. It proved to me that not everyone would eventually get to the top but with determination , strong will and trust me an encouraging team or group of company you will make it. As we got to the fourth level, we were the only once there as most people felt the comfort of the first, second and third was just enough risk for them. It certainly taught me endurance too. Yes I learnt one great lesson too. There was a point on our way coming down that had different paths that could lead us further down. Others had gone ahead of me and so they told me to take the exact path they had taken but because I knew it wasn’t going to work for me, I chose another path and eventually made my way down there. I learnt that sometimes in life the best path for us may be the ones we create for ourselves by the help of God and the grace to discern.

We left at  5:40pm and arrived at Ibadan 7:30pm. It was such an amazing trip which left memories I would not trade for anything. It was worth the time, resource, and the pain I feel in my legs right now from climbing those mountaintops and crawling down at a pace which I believe was slower than that of a tortoise. 

Hope your holiday was half as fun as mine. Let me know in the comment box below if you have nicer places you think I can explore. Nigeria has wonderful tourist attractions. 

Lady I