wonder in the wilderness (OWU FALLS)

by Michael Babalola (Nigeria)

A leap into the unknown Nigeria

For the very first I heard about the tallest water falls in west Africa called Owu falls from a friend i couldn't believe it, not because i don't want to believe but i'm surprised is right there in the state i was born and never heard of it until a friend told me about it. Oowu Falls (commonly written as Owu), located in Owa Onire, Kwara State Nigeria and is commonly referred to as a ‘wonder in the wilderness’ and we can understand why because no one could ever believe such water falls could be in the wilderness. As an adventurer i told my other friends about the wonder falls in the wilderness and they agreed to go explore this wander place with me. we picked a day and everyone was excited to go see this wander falls. Rumor has it that you have to hike for 20km to access the falls. You go through a village and the jungle before you’re rewarded for your hard work. Now there was no way we were going to hike for 20km to see Oowu falls and after extensive research we found out it wasn’t necessary. People hike 20km as it is assumed that the road to the waterfalls isn’t motorable. Most of it is actually motorable till the 4km mark. in my mind i so much believe that we will find a way to reach this amazing falls with our car without getting to hike for 20Km. we drove passed a village called Owu, as we were going we saw farmers coming which we asked one of them to be sure that we are on the right part. after few minutes we saw 8kids naked by a river side some are swimming why some are watching us. there was when the adventure started because for me have never seen kids looking like we were in 18th century. After driving for about 4km in the wilderness, we got to the point where our car can no longer go further because the roads seems to end and there are big rocks on the way. we pulled over and put on our back packs with energy drinks, water and our hiking shoes. after a couple of steps we were starting to feel tired. The hike covers different terrains, mostly uphill so we had to keep adjusting our speed. However the views made up for it. After 45 minutes of hiking we started feeling insecure and tired because we couldn't see any sign of water falls and there were no indication and no one to asked. so we started having this feelings that we were on a wrong part. all my friends were tired and two of them said they were not going again. i started looking for evidence to show them that we are on the right part even though i wasn't sure myself. i just know we needed to keep going. i started looking around for something to convince them that we are on the right part, shortly i saw an empty bottle of energy drinks which i showed them and they relax and we started hiking again. after hiking for about 15KM, we heard a sound far away, we all started running and shouting. the feeling was unforgettable. As you get closer to the waterfall, you can feel the force of the water. We were all drenched within minutes of getting there. It was a glorious sight. There this waterfall was, in the middle of nowhere just falling from the highest point I’ve ever seen since I started chasing waterfalls in Nigeria. We were really excited and most of us went under the waterfall. Some of us were more adventurous and tried to go directly under the source. It was amazing and we spent a while just frolicking underneath it, enjoying the scene and basking in the awesomeness of the falls. On the left side of the waterfall, there’s a small sitting area. However, due to the force of the wind/water it’s always wet. You’ll be soaked anyway so wet seats shouldn’t make a difference. It was a pleasant visit and unforgettable experience for Us.