I have seen photos of Gerandi Ella before and in fact I have heard it as a trek that was challenging but with a beautiful view. So, when I asked Chamara whether there are seats available and he said yes, I happily jumped in knowing them and wanting to cover the location.
So as usual we met at the Fort station around 11:30 p.m. There were many others going to different locations and Fort being a meeting point of many we met some other travelers and bade farewell before we went on our own ways.
As usual I had a good nap although the sleep of others was distracted by the bang bang music that was emanating from the buffle set of the vehicle. I heard we almost went on a different route before we reached Hunnasgiriya around 4:30 a.m. As we were little early, we all slept inside the vehicle till the shops opened for us to get something to eat and prepare ourselves for the journey.
After about a nap of one hour, we went out, had some hot tea as the temperature outside was bit cold. There we were net by Laksiri and his brother who came separately on their own bikes. We headed towards Kalugala after refreshing and got out of the vehicle and changed our clothes and prepared for the hike.
Udara had been there before so he acted as the guide for the trail. It was a long trek from the place we got down to the point of commencing the trek. It was a mini trek itself and from there it was a very steep trek uphill. With all the travel I have done still I was panting. With few stops on the way we finally reached a flat land where we had our first glance of the waterfall.
The area was covered by paddy fields and there were chena cultivations. Many we came there it was very sunny, and the villagers were out working. Laksiri and his brother had already started climbing up as they wanted to come down on the same day. We spent a considerable time admiring the view and getting ready for the steep climb uphill.
After a waiting Rukshan started the climb and some of us followed. It was also a very steep uphill climb through grasses. Luckily Chamara instructed us to wear long sleeves and come and this protected me from getting serious scratches. While we were searching for a path suddenly out of nowhere a buffalo charged at us. I guess it is because of the red colour and the noise that we were making. Had it not been for the rope that tied the animal, one of us would have had a serious injury as we were clueless of a place even to run with the grasses and the steep hill. It was indeed a narrow escape.
After the adrenaline rush, we started climbing up as we found the pathway. As it was dry, we didn’t have issues with leeches and the path was not that slippery. Let me tell a bit about Gerandi Ella.
Gerandi Ella is a cascade of waterfalls and it is in the Kalugala area which is in Udadumbara region. Geradni literally means the rat snake as the fall of water resembles such. The total height of the cascade is about 200-240 m. This could be seen along the Mahiyangana road. This consists of 5 main segments. It is nourished by a branch of Hasalaka oya that flows from the eastern edge of the Knuckles range which is known as Gerandigala.
I would consider this as a medium to difficult hike as it depends on the season and because of some vertical climbs that needed to be done. There are two such climbs that has ropes fixed (Thank you for that) and you need to be bit careful and is bit strenuous. This is where you need team effort. Everyone helped each other passing bags and helping each other to climb.
We had a bath on the top of the 2nd segment on our way up and spend some time to refresh ourselves. It was from there we had the send climb with the rope which was bit strenuous. Once we completed that the way up was another vertical climb. We reached the top around 4 p.m. which was strange as in most of other hikes it is late by the time, we reach our destination. It was very sunny and all of us went near the stream and had a nap which was much needed after the strenuous climb up.
There were three teams that camped up during the day and one team came and went down on the same day. This included Luksiri and his brother as well and they have taken a totally different route. I met Sherman whom I have only chat on FB. There were some others who were firends in Facebook but could not recognize so there were no encounter at all until I came home and saw the updates. I already had a bath and our team moved away from the stream and went towards the top and set up our camp there. It was getting colder and after we had some food of bread, biscuits we went towards the stream to drink some tea and for the others to get a bath.
I would say this was a kind of “Luxury” camping as we had all resources we needed, water, wood and most importantly the time. We were just lying down enjoying the cold and relaxing ourselves listening to the soft sentimental music of the JBL.
From the top we could see Kehelpaddoruwa boarder. Dumbanagala, Yahangala, Deanston and the range of VRR are in the vicinity. From the top we would see the Udadumbara town, Mahiyanagana and the kalugala region. Sorabora wewa, Ulhitiya wewa and wellangolla patna could be seen from a distance.
We lit the fire towards the evening and had a good campfire and then prepared noodles for dinner. It was poya and hence was a moonlit night. It was amazing to see the moon emerging through the clouds and was an ideal time for night photography and light painting. It was fascinating to see the lights of the houses below as tiny dots on a black blanket. The night was cold and the fire gave some form of warmth. Except for the occasional howls that we heard at a distance, the night was quiet.
As I don’t eat noodles, I had some I had some bread and settled myself into the tent to have a nap. It was indeed a cold night. Our tent only had 3 and the ground was not even. Not enough warmth inside so I basically had to wrap my towel around my legs to keep me warm. Had to have a pee break in the middle of the night and few other also were awake because of the same reason I guess. I would not call its a comfortable sleep as my back pained because of the rough terrain.
I woke up at around 5:45 a.m. Two of others were already awake trying to light up the fire. I was roaming around to take some snaps as the sky was really colourful with shades of orange, red and yellow. When we were losing hope of a sunrise, the sun suddenly appeared as a ball of fire out of nowhere. As I always say, every sunrise is different, and it made us all awe with open eyes and mouths. There was a drone flying around and we also managed to get some group photos.
We had tea in the morning with biscuits and chocolate (With Raana we usually have excess snacks most of the time). And we were idling for a long time until we decided to go down near the stream to cook meatballs and have a bath. After the breakfast we started climbing down. It was almost noon.
The sky was sunny, and we had to come down along the same steep pathway we came up. Downhill was scarier and we had to make use of our butts to slowly come down and it took more time than we thought. When we reached the third segment I jumped into the water as I could not resist the temptation to enjoy that water on my body. So, I had a quick dip till the others came and it was a refreshing bath till we came all the way down to the vehicle.
It was almost a never ending walk even on the main road and Rana and me who were at the back almost put a Turbo and hurried our steps to reach the vehicle. At the vehicle we had bread with Jam, Cheese and some even had ice packets.
We all wanted a bath, so we stopped near the stream down and had a short bath and headed towards Digana where we had a decent meal and finally, I said goodbye to the gang from Lewella where I came back to the quarters.
Travelling is my hobby a kind of stress buster that keeps me going and stress free. It helps me to take a break and gets connected with Nature. It is also an opportunity to meet new people, explore new places. This was also such a hike that came with the same bundle of benefits.
As Ibn Battuta said, “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” I hope my story entertained you and inspired you to do something new. Let me thank Raana for inviting me and all my team members who supported throughout to complete the journey without any injury.
It has been a while since I last wrote. Until I meet you in another blog.
Cheers.
