„Where exactly are we going today?” asked Martin at the breakfast table.
Burst of laughter followed and somebody from the table answered: „to those waterfalls”
On Saturday we visited the Ajora waterfalls. The trip took us one and a half hours north from Soddo through the town of Areka, where we stocked up on water and bananas. From there the road led us through villages, which seemed to rely mainly on ginger for income. The villagers are supposedly quite well off since ginger is not the cheapest commodity in this country (25 euro cents per kilo;P). Kids from these villages attend schools in Soddo. Local roads obviously have never seen a penny of that vast wealth because to keep from bumping my head against the ceiling I had to grab hold of the seat in front of me. At the same time I had to wave for the local children, who were cheerfully running after us since they got a glimpse of white skin from the bus window.
The falls haven’t yet made it to „Lonely Planet” and haven’t yet turned into a big tourist attraction. This is only good for a price-sensitive visitor who can still handle the price and the local nature which doesn’t have to put up with hordes of white tourists marching through there from year to year. The area is a wildlife reserve. After negotiations with the rangers about the fees were held the whole bunch of us started marching downhill since the waterfalls fall some 200 meters into a canyon valley and to get the best experience you need to descend to the bottom. The slopes consisted of a few rock faces two to five meters in height and had to be tackled rock climbing or with the help of a ladder, and of some less steep serpentine paths covered with loose rock and gravel. The bottom of the valley was humid enough to harbor broad-leaved flora and the situation there can most adequately be described as impenetrable jungle that has a torrential canyon river flowing through it.
Our guide was a local kid who helped us to navigate up river. The paths and river crossings are familiar to them since they go down there for water and to collect brush for firewood and besides few tourist every now and then they are the only visitors in the valley. Generally the local people just don’t have the habit of clambering in such places. It was like in a storm at the foot of the waterfall because the falling water created air movement and sprinkles which made it impossible to return with a dry piece of clothing. Especially after climbing over mud covered rocks to get as close to the fall as possible. Mandatory pictures taken to prove that we were actually standing almost under the fall, completely soaked, we started the hike back up. The ascent was rather easy compared to the descent which was at some points quite challenging. Still the hike under the midday sun can not be considered a walk in the park. When we reached the top and paid the previously negotiated fees to the rangers and the guides we started back towards Soddo. Picturesque and physically educating Saturday spent, we sat around and discussed that we should also visit the second waterfall and the hot-water springs and the hippos and everything else that according to the guide lay ahead downstream.
FREE WILL VALTER
