The next day we decided to head to Lake
Oku, which was quite a distance from Belo and involved the most spectacular
bike drive up, down and across mountains. It was literally the most
breathtaking views and with the sun shining I was truly loving the journey!
Thanks to Samuel’s good driving I felt confident on the bike and could really
relax and enjoy myself. The 2 hour ride whizzed by, though we stopped many
times to take photos but the camera cannot do the scenery justice. I’m not sure
I’ve ever been anywhere so beautiful! After a brief stop for fuel and to repair
a tyre (the “roads” were pretty rough no tarmac here!!) we eventually arrived
at the lake and were paddling our feet in the cold water when we were joined by
another tourist – only this tourist was none other than McKinley’s brother
Sean! He’d arrived in Calabar then travelled by boat to Limbe but we managed to
keep missing each other only to end up bumping into one another in an
incredibly remote spot! The lake was beautiful and huge! Kind of wished I’d
brought my bikini to swim but the water was so cold given how high in the
mountains we were! The lake was lovely but it was the drive there that really
made the trip special.
After lunch at the lake and an
afternoon nap for me we headed back to Belo on the bikes, seeing the scenery go
by again and enjoying the wind in my hair on the bike! I was very glad we opted
to ride back because my poor little legs were still aching from the day before!
Sean joined us that evening and decided to come along with us the next day on
our waterfall hike!
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| My driver Samuel |
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| Lake Oku |
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| Repairing the bikes! |
Feeling refreshed after great food
prepared by the cook and a good sleep, the three of us headed out with Joshua early
in the morning to hike to the large waterfall! After a short taxi ride we
started the hike up the mountain – Joshua pointed out a mountain in the
distance where the waterfall was behind – it was so far away and so high that
to be honest I didn’t believe him (but I should have done!!). We had the most
amazing hike up, seeing remote houses, going through a tiny village, seeing
Belo from above and just generally feeling all alone in the world! It was just
gorgeous and all the effort and energy to climb was so worth it, in fact I
barely felt it except for one steep climb! As we went over the top of the last
mountain we could see the waterfall in the distance – and motivated we
continued going at a good pace. The waterfall was lovely and we walked (well I
pretty much slid on my bottom) down to enter the river near the falls – the
water was cold but so refreshing after that hike! We had a great time relaxing
in the water and having some lunch! Then came the hike down – thankfully much
easier expect for the very slippery clay soil! We all nearly slipped several
times, luckily no falls or injuries! It was such a wonderful day, amazing
scenery, good exercise and great company!
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| My first 'sun halo' |
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