One of my personal plans while serving as a corp member here in Oyo State is to explore this state. This state is so big! Some towns in Oyo State are up to four hours plus drive from each other. I got to know about this group hike through a friend and i’m still grateful till date because it was so much fun. Let’s get right into this post.

Transportation

Because this was a group hike, we all contributed 3500 Naira ($10) each which included our transportation, feeding, small chops and snacks. Shout out to Joel and his committee that planned this hike because it was so organised. We hired an 18 Seater Hiace Bus and we also went with security personnels just in case of anything. Lol! We left quite late and arrived Ado Awaye Village by almost 3pm! Man! It was a long drive of 3 hours as the village is far from the Capital city, Ibadan.

Hiking

When we arrived, we were welcomed by the tour/hike guide. We were then given sticks for extra support when hiking. Did i forget to mention that amidst the fact we were rushing to get to the mountain as we were already late, the driver insisted on stopping at the king’s palace to pay obeisance to him. Oh man! We were all so annoyed. Lol!

       The mountain sign post

The entrance to the mountain has 350 stairs and some of the stairs were already broken and damaged by erosion. This was where the sticks we were given for support came in handy and i advise that when you are given yours, you hold it with gratitude because you will need it throughout the hike. Also note that during a hike, you should go at your own pace but don’t stay too far behind to the point you are now the only one. I advise hiking with friends as it is more fun. You guys can crack jokes, play music and support each other as you hike. It’s more fun that way trust me.

The Seven Wonders of Ado Awaye

As you hike, there are seven important landmarks according to our tour guide, you should look out for which are also known as seven wonders of Ado Awaye. They are:

   1. Oke Ishage: As you hike, this will be the first landmark you’ll come across. Oke Ishage translates to Ishage rock. The people of Ado Awaye community believes that this rock brings rain to the community. So, in times of rain scarcity, the chief priest comes up to this rock, ties a clean white cloth on it and appeases the rock to bring down rain. Unfortunately, i forgot to take a picture of the rock. Honestly, i don’t know how that happened. Lol! But i got the picture from Google. Here it is.

Picture Credit: Alex Nnamaka

    The view beside Ishage Rock

       2. Esè Àwon Àgbà: This translates to ‘Footprints of the elders’. I saw this at almost everywhere in the mountain. It is believed that when an elder of Ado Awaye community dies, the spirit comes up to this mountain to stroll and in the process, they leave foot prints. The foot prints were big. Lol! All these folktales ehhhh!

      3. Agbómofúnyàké: This translates to ‘Collects a child and gives it to Iyake’. This is supposed to be a small body of water close to Iyake Lake but as at the time we went for this hike, It was dry season. So we were told the water in this small well had dried up. We were even forbidden to touch it but allowed to take pictures.

    4. Iyake Lake: Finally we reached the main center of attraction; Iyake Lake. It is a suspended lake. A suspended lake is basically a lake found on top of a mountain. Apparently, the other suspended lake in the world is in Colorado, U.S.A. Iyake Lake is believed to have healing powers as the people of the community drink the water. The lake is believed to be bottomless as its depth has never been truly measured, any object or person that attempts to enter the lake is dragged to the bottom and never seen again. One of us even went to get water from the lake in a water bottle. I kept screaming in my mind ‘Are you insane?’

Well, she was getting water from the lake. Phew!

• The Elephant tree: It is called the elephant tree because on a closer look, it looks like an elephant. Lol! It is actually trunks and branches from an old fallen tree.

At this point, the tour guide said we couldn’t go further because the other two wonders were forbidden to see. Remember we arrived at 3pm? Time wasn’t also on our side. The two wonders  we didn’t see are called Ìyá Aláró Lake & Esè Kan Aiyé Esè Kan Òrun.

We rested for a while, ate a good plate of jollof rice and sizeable meat which we came with in coolers. We got to Ibadan by few minutes to 7pm.

If you are planning this hike with your friends, i advise you guys plan it well and also come with a cooler of food from the city because you will all be very tired and hungry after the hike and looking for where to buy food after hiking will get you frustrated. Also bring water. Water is very important. Hold it as you hike because you’ll surely need it. Do not carry heavy bags while hiking because you’ll get tired easily and it will slow you down. Please wear comfortable sneakers as the mountain is very rocky. Do not wear shoes, sandals or slippers. Just wear a good sneakers/canvas. Don’t forget to have fun.

More pictures from the hike shall we? Lol!

That’s all! I hope to have more fun as i serve as a National Youth Service Corp Member in Oyo State. Did you enjoy this post? Please let me know in the comment section.

Also if you are preparing to go to NYSC Orientation Camp soon, I created something for you. It is NYSC Camp Requirements Check list. It will help you stay super organized while packing for camp so you don’t forget anything at home. Check it out and grab yours HERE.

NYSC Camp Requirements; Important Things To Take To Camp + Checklist

Shalom!