FOUR THINGS NO ONE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT OLUMIRIN WATER FALLS; ERIN IJESA

Last weekend, I traveled right down to Olumirin Water Falls, Erin-Ijesa with four of my friends. we had been aiming to have a girls trip since January however everybody had one or two things they were engaged with, finally, the girls agreed to go hiking. My arrangement was to explore, stretch myself, build lingering memories with the girls, cool my head and mark Ijesa from my growing list of places to go to in African country.

Visiting waterfalls could also be my new thing and that I had heard/read a great deal concerning Olumirin waterfalls that I simply had to travel check it out for myself. I’m not precisely the fittest or most adventurous person out there, therefore, having the ability to stretch myself that a lot of throughout the hike made me re-think a number of things concerning life.

This view gives me goosebumps💚💚💚

Hiking was extremely an experience- A psychoactive one too and it'd be chargeable of me to not share my very own experience as a result of nothing I had ever read about the falls prepared me for what I accomplished.

ABOUT THE WATERFALL

According to one in every one of the custodians of the water, it absolutely was discovered by a woman known as Akinla, founding father of Erin-Ijesha town and a granddaughter of Oduduwa, the ancestor of the Yoruba race, within the year 1140 AD throughout the migration of Ife people to Erin- Ijesa. Legend has it that when it absolutely was 1st discovered, the falls had the looks of a mysterious figure.

TRANSPORTATION

It was a days trip as we spent less than two hours on the road. My friends and that I boarded a commercial bus going to Ijesa at the Ilesha Garage in Ife. Ilesha maybe a neighboring town to Erin Ijesa, the town where the waterfall is found in.

The driver charged us #5000 to and fro the journey (just before you say it absolutely was low cost, my girls did loads of negotiation). it absolutely was a reasonably sleek ride, we left Ife by past nine am, and got there around eleven am( it was a days trip as we spent less than two hours on the road.)

The journey to Ijesa was pretty simple seeing as Ijesa is kind of close to of} Ile Ife (Osun state) – our take-off point. we initially planned to get a straight cab however later determined to rough it out and go full public transport mode so that we might absorb a lot of of the sights, immerse ourselves and have that full travel experience.

The driver was nice enough to drop us very close to the entrance ( knowing they don’t ply that axis since most of their passenger don't seem to be headed there) and we found our way simply. it was a rural setting and I admired it as a result of it was one thing quite totally different from the urban setting I'm accustomed.

EXPERIENCE

At the entrance, you’ll see a park, some of the people taking part in table tennis, merchandising shower caps, slippers, snacks and also the price ticket stand. Tickets cost N500 for adults. we declined the offer of a tour guide( I wish we did not😡).

We got in and started the longest walk I’ve ever done in my life  I honestly never expected the hike to be that deep! We met a lovely couple who were all lovey-dovey and quite a number of schoolboys and girls who were on an excursion.

    

Do you like my hairstyle? I ditched my extensions😛

Time spent amongst trees is never time wasted

Walking to the first and second levels of the Erin Ijesha waterfall was already enough struggle for me even with the fact that there were stairs to guide us and make the walk a bit easier. I was not a bit prepared for the mountain climbing that followed. Who can relate?😌.

The waterfalls made up for the first two levels of climbing though. It was such a prodigious view, my God! I really do not know how to explain how awesome it is. My eyes beheld beauty. I saw, touched and tasted beauty. The breeze at the waterfall is cool and refreshing, the water flows among rocks and splashes down with great force to the evergreen vegetation around. The whole scenery is fascinating. I couldn’t help but fall in love with nature afresh.

Going further up, we had to climb the rocks (on all four sometimes to ensure you don’t slip) as there were no stairs to lead the way anymore, at a point I wished I was a monkey or gorillas, so I could just jump, lol. The views also reminded me of the movie ''Legend of Tarzan''. It was such an exhausting hike! At some point, my friends and I missed the way (the reason why you should go with a tour guide). My heart kept racing so bad all I could think of was home (weird right? I know). I valued the essence of fitness at that stage of my life. A sound mind in a sound body.

It was a big struggle to get to the third level, that was where I had the most fun, we did water race, stayed afloat and did a quite a number of the task inside the water. We had to be very careful with some of the rocks at the fall as they were very slippery (I doubt if it’s always like that because we met a man scrubbing them).

We all turned back at the fourth level. I was exhausted/panting at some point from the walk but I think that’s basically because I have not done this in a long while. We got back into the first level and washed our bodies off the mud we had acquired on our rough journey (mine was worse, I’m unapologetic about it, I was holding on to dear life). The walk back was faster and not so nice, I was scared and my legs were already screaming for help.

It was such a struggle climbing up yet my friends didn’t indulge me and made me test my limits. Would I be climbing up the Erin Ijesa waterfall again? NO! One experience is enough for me. 

I can still feel the ache in my body here typing this but this doesn’t mean that I won’t be climbing more hills and chasing other waterfalls in the nearest future. A girl is ready to explore.

Regardless of the fact that it was really strenuous for me (I was so tired that I walked like a snail, lol). It was still a very nice experience and I was happy that I made the trip down. Discovering new places with friends and ticking off places from my travel list will forever be in my good memory.

Having a picnic here is not a bad idea, just ensure you go there loaded😋😋.

WHAT NO ONE WILL TELL YOU

1. Please go with the grace of God and friends. I was scared of falling off.

2. Ensure you take refreshments along. Trust me you don’t want to be done hiking and have nothing to put in your stomach (that will be so tragic, that was what happened to me and the girls).

3. Find a comfortable pair of sneakers to wear and put slippers in your bag because walking in wet shoes isn’t exactly fun except you want to go into the water barefooted like I did.

4. Go with major expectations.

Corn is in season, bought it on our way back. Yummy!!

Bye...hope you had a nice time?

For those who have visited the waterfall, did you reach the seventh floor or you stopped halfway like me (I’m not even ashamed of myself), tell me about your experience. Kindly share your experience at the comment section. For those who haven’t visited yet, I hope this piece helps you as you look forward to visiting.

I am open to suggestions on places to visit. Help my adventurous life😉 so I can add it to my ''to- visit'' list.

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