The Treasure At The Bottom of The Waterfall

by Elgiva Stephen (Nigeria)

I didn't expect to find Nigeria

I was tired, burnt out, unhappy and unsatisfied with my life but I didn’t know what to do to change things. I was tired of my job, tired of the same routine over and over again and I needed an escape. An escape from my everyday life. An escape into something new but there was a big problem. I was a coward. I knew I needed a drastic change but I was too afraid to put myself out there. I kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong. What if I lost my purse? How do I get back home? What if I got lost? What if what if what if. “Come backpacking with us, we are going to see the Olumirin waterfalls in Osun state.” Wait what? I haven’t even camped with the backpackers in Abuja and you are asking me to go on a 712km journey to a state I know no one just to set up a tent and chase waterfalls? You must be kidding. You see, Raj my Indian friend loves to travel. He is the most adventurous person I have ever met and I love to travel the world through his stories since I was so afraid to go out on my own. He loves to explore and pretty much knows a lot about Nigeria than I do. So he was pretty fed up that I didn’t want to do anything but wallow in my self-pity. “Ok” I said, “Let’s go backpacking”. To be honest, when the morning arrived for us to board the bus and leave Abuja for Osun state, I was terrified. We got to Osun state and took off to go explore the waterfall. The first thing I heard was this sound that seemed like someone was speaking or humming in a deep tone. It got louder as we got closer and then I realized the sound was coming from a gangan called a talking drum being played by an old man. It was slung across his shoulder as he was beating the drum and welcoming us to the Olumirin waterfalls and then I saw the trees. I had never seen trees with trunks so massive it would take 6 people holding hands to go round it. They were huge. They were beautiful, they felt like home. After paying the tour fee, we moved with our tour guide who told us the waterfall had 7 levels and that there was a beautiful village at the top of the 7th level whose people gave gifts to visitors who made it up there. My anxiety had gone and I was brimming with excitement. I wanted to see the waterfall, I wanted to meet the villagers and I wanted those gifts. What our dear tour guide didn’t tell me, was that the climb was not an easy one. From the 1st level I could see the waterfall but that was not the level we wanted to be at and so we moved, climbing slowly, holding on to tree roots and stones as we made our way past the first level that had stairs, to the second level that did not. At this point my chest was hurting and burning and I didn’t think I could go any further. I told myself that I was not cut out for this life. I rested a bit and then continued the climb to the 3rd level. We could see the water galloping over rocks like powerful race horses and I tell you, it looked like horses. It was getting late so unfortunately, we had to cut our climb short and decided to stop at the 3rd level instead. Oh the way I moved to the waterfall like she had called my name, the way she hugged and caressed my body like she knew I had been in pain all along. I wept for joy, I wept because I felt relief. I cried because I had just discovered a part of me that was hidden away in the safety of my heart and had finally been set free. I couldn't wait to tell my own stories. An adventurer was born.