Shimbola and the Niagara of Belgaum

18^th August 2012:

Imagine flying at a height of about 1000ft above the earth’s surface. Suddenly you see this huge well amidst thick forest. About 400mts in diameter, this well seems to be filled with turbulent waters whose source is unknown. Curious to explore this unfathomed well-like structure, you swoop down right into it, only to be caught in chaos of wind and water where the most challenging task is to keep your eyes open!Through the deafening roar of water, you struggle to keep yourself in the air. And then it starts raining heavily. For a split second, the force of the wind pulls you down and the next second it blows you up! You are suddenly filled with a fear for your life…! Very soon you are completely tired and you let the wind have its way… you land hard on some rocks at the bottom of the well-like structure!

Once there when you do manage to open your eyes, all you can see is water plunging down forcefully and rapidly from a height of nearly 200ft. You are filled with awe as you see droplets of water clinging to the rocks and flying upwards-defying gravity.

As your eyes and ears get accustomed to the forces in the well, you are close enough to touch a rainbow at just a foot distance from you... After this, you can only be pleased with yourself for daring to take the risk to get into this treacherous place!

You are at the bottom of a rocky valley… in thick forestswhere the turbulent water keeps on gushing, warning everyone to stay away from it…!

Welcome to one of nature’s hidden wonders - Shimbola!!

We were not lucky enough to be flying, thus we had to walk through dense forests and navigate some really slippery and steep ascends and descends to reach the Shimbola falls. There was a time when we were standing on the edge of a hill and the guide stopped suddenly. We could not see any way to go ahead. He then pointed out at the very steep slope and said, “We have to go down this way!” Well, where there is a will, there is a way.

And so we went, admiring the beauty of the hills. The varieties of Ivy that grew on the trees was a sight to behold. Raindrops glistened as they rolled down from the leaves. An occasional mist was swirling around the trees. Our guide was making way for us cutting the dense vegetation just enough to let us through. We were in some magical land on earth!

The real magic unfolded as we approached a clearing, which revealed a steep valley going down for quite a distance. At one end of this valley, water was plummeting down like huge buckets of water being emptied every second.

We cautiously climbed down the valley and stood as close as we dared to the aggressive waters of Shimbola barely able to keep our eyes open in front of their grandeur. Getting into the waterfall was out of question!

Someday if you are brave enough to visit this mysterious waterfall (I do not think that it has seen many human beings) do remember to stand with you back towards the falls and open your eyes to the sight in front of you… For once, you can stand and gape at real beauty and live every moment of it!! You will feel as being a part of some National Geographic sequence featuring rain forests made to look enthralling with exquisite camera angles!

It was half past two in the afternoon when we started back from the Shimbola to our next destination – the Niagara of Belgaum. Though we were travelling the whole night of 17^th and then trekking the whole day on the 18^th with only breakfast in our tummies, we were neither hungry nor tired! That is the soothing effect nature can have on you.

After walking for the next hour on surprisingly level and grassy path with a few shallow streams to cross in between, we reached the Niagara of Belgaum. After the mystical effect the Shimbola had on us, Niagara of Belgaum was relatively subdued. The only justification for the name given to these falls could have been its almost horseshoe shape and that it falls in a tiered manner, thus looking like a micro-mini Niagara! And the water being relatively safe, we could enjoy ourselves in the falls!

As evening approached, a thick fog started enveloping the dense forests. The way back was quite eventless till someone spotted a green wine snake perched on a plant. Two brave gypsies, Vikram and Arun strode to the front, Arun caught the snake with the expertise of a snake catcher and Vikram let the snake glide playfully on his arms…For those who are getting goose bumps reading this, let me tell you that wine snakes are generally harmless.

As we moved further through the thick swirling mist, someone came across a world shrouded in mystery…in the depths of a pond. The pond looked like another mass of water from a distance. On closer examination, we found that it contained algae- blue, green and orange going deep inside. The surface of the water was still… like that still water that runs deep! And we do not know what secrets it holds in its depths!

For those who know Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows… It looked like the corpse filled lake Harry crosses with Dumbledore to retrieve Slytherin’s locket!

We had lunch at 6p.m. that day.(I call it lunch because it was only the second meal of the day!)

...to be continued

The Shimbola Falls