A tour to Idanre Hills —Wonders of Nature.

To celebrate the October 1st Independence day in Nigeria on Saturday, there was a public holiday on Monday which was a good opportunity for us to visit a particular place I have been wanting to see what it looks like. There was a lot of ancient stuff we found so fascinating, especially being told the stories behind them. It was a wonderful experience to hike too as it was my first time hiking.

We set off very early in the morning so we can get there on time and return home when it's still day and not dark at night. We've not been there before, but we asked for direction and it was straightforward to get.

These are my friends. I knew the guy from another blogging platform while the other lady is my close friend. Since he came around, we decided to go on this trip as a group so it would be more fun together.

We were welcomed by the signpost “Welcome to Idanre Hills resort centre. Home of Nature's wonder”. It was exciting seeing that because I know the journey is about to get started.

We went straight to the office to pay our entrance fee and the tour guide's fee. After much negotiation, we paid and a tour guide was called upon to lead us to the Hills.

The tour guide (the man on a red t-shirt) prepared our minds about the hills. According to him, there were 682 steps and if we do not complete the steps, we won't be able to see different things because that was where the fun is.

Some people lived on the Hills for 900 years and the hills have been in existence since 1933.

At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to climb it but it became interesting while climbing and I saw it as a form of exercise and to burn calories too.

The tour guide talked about a shoe that is meant for people to wear so they would be able to climb the hills conveniently, but if the shoe doesn't size or fit means the person is double-minded. That means he is kind of a doubting individual.

These are some of the resting places we came across after climbing some steps until we got to the end of the 682 steps.

Happy that I got to climb the steps and my friend took a shot of me here. If I do not climb at all, there is no way I would get to see different things being talked about and I would miss the fun part of it.

The guide told us there are two rivers on the hills; the first is called Thunder river. This river is for those who are going to war and he talked about some warriors who were going to war, they washed their faces and drank this water and they forgot to say “I am satisfied” and when they went to the war, they didn't return home alive.

He said whoever drinks this water or uses it for anything and forgot to say “I am satisfied”, the person, though, will go to war and wins, but will never make it back home.

While going, my friend was tired and our tour guide told her to use the thunder river to wash her face but she must not forget to say the word “I am satisfied” but she was scared. So, we continued the journey.

The second river is called the “Arun river”. This water is split into two; one for bathing while the other for drinking.

This particular river is for those who want to be successful. He told us we can fetch some into some bottles and add pebbles to them. Once we get home, we should pray over it and keep drinking and using it to bathe. Whoever does this would be cured of any illness and become rich. This water is miracle water for everyone who drinks or bath with it.

For the ones we fetched, we would be adding clean water to top it up since there are pebbles in it which wouldn't make the water taste bad after a long time. They suggested we bathe in the river but we couldn't because it would be taking much of our time.

This was when we were at the top of the hills which the tour guide said was 3000 ft tall. We viewed the whole neighbouring town there as we took some pictures together. I couldn't look down or move further as I was afraid I might fall. Whoever falls from the top is gone forever. So, we were being careful too.

This is an ancient big and heavy stone which the guide talked about. He said this stone was used to determine a bachelor who is fit to get married. If a bachelor carries it up to his chest level, it means he is fit and ready to settle down and control his home.

We saw the market square where there was a prison yard, the court house and where the king dances. He said whenever the king is dancing, no one dares dance else, and the person will die before the next day. When an offender is taken to the court, and he or she is guilty, he or would be thrown into the prison that is opposite the market square, and if it's a big offence he or she committed, the penalty is death immediately while people would witness it.

We saw two paths; one was for the king to pass through and no one is allowed to pass through it while the other path is for the commoners.

These are valleys or pits where some people are thrown into and forgotten till they die.
We saw rocks in the shape of toads, puppies, elephants, snails and others.

We moved to see the ancient palace where there are carved slaves and dried cow's heads that represents each king that has reigned and lived on the throne.

The tour guide talked about a celebration that is held every June 12. This is the time everyone will come together to the palace and live for 21 days as a way to remember how they used to live in the past. They prepare stew and goat meat and would eat all through the 21 days before going back to their destination.

Hiking was the last activity before we turned back home.

While going back, we met some other people who came to the hills too but weren't able to climb the whole steps, especially a woman who was feeling tired. The people met us on the way and saw the bottle of water we fetched from the Arun river and they wanted to. Our tour guide gave some to them while we continued descending.

After the tour, we were so hungry and we stopped at the bar and enjoyed some sauce and drink. After some minutes, we set on our journey back home.

It was a great and interesting journey for us as we learnt something new on the tour to Idanre Hills.

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I hope you enjoyed those pictures and the stories being told.

_{All Images are taken with my phone.}

Thanks for your time