ගැරඬි ඇල්ල (Gerandi falls) the extreme hike

This year appears to be different because it seems like I have found my long lost passion on waterfalls. After my first visit to Bambaragan oya and Ellagala, I decided to do another similar hike which was in my to-do list for many years. This time it was a cascade of waterfalls called Gerandi ella (not the one at Tawalamtenna). Two years back while browsing on FB I noted an album on these waterfalls posted by Dr Sudesh Chulani and since that day I did want to repeat the same feet he achieved. Just after the North East monsoons is the ideal time to do this hike since the waterfalls are in full flow. With the help of Sudesh we got in touch with a local called Janaka who directed us to Banda who ended up been our guide.

The map – click to enlarge

the path we took – click to enlarge

Gerandi ella cascades as seen from Mahiyangana rd (photo by Amila de silva)

misty morning at thalagune

Gerandi gala

four cascades – click to enlarge

Early morning we met each other at Chilaw and I was surprised to see Aravinda who just got off the flight from Singapore and he was ever ready for this adventure. We took off towards Ududumbara and from there we took the road via Thalagune to reach Kalugala. From Kalugala we took the road towards Kosdanda to meet Banda at his place. With Banda his brother Kiriputha and Mahathun joined us. These guys are full time toddy tappers and they do venture uphill in search of Kithul flowers. They decided to take this journey as a pilot project in search of Kithul flowers for honey production. Without wasting anytime we decided to march through the forest. This was going to be a long walk and a continuous ascends. The initial part was through a forest patch until we reached the Mana area. The path through the mana patch was almost covered and the bushes were taller than us. The heat struck me and made my eyes blackout but after a small rest at the end of the mana patch everything returned to normal. We all had a mini break at the end of the mini mana patch while enjoying the scenery. From here we headed towards the jungle patch in between a cleft where we had to climb up. The problem was that the jungle path was infested with “Maussa” plants (which on touch will itch for many days). At this point Kudda also joined us after taking another route. After the last climb we reached the ridge of the mountain.

our guide at work (banda)

our destination seen far away

kalugala paddy

virgin forest

a cascade at kalugala

Malaboda

blessed by morning rays

dry forest

කුඩලු

shapes of the forest

capturing

out of the forest

nelli plucking session

not fun at all

on the way scenery

our first target

mushroom life

custom made

having a break

මාඋස්සා

forest beauty

standing out

last ascend

almost on the top

From the ridge we headed towards the river and to do this we had to descend a bit. After reaching the river we had some bread and tea before heading downstream. We were told that once there were people living on this mountain and there were cardamom plantations too. The ruins of those buildings still could be found on this mountain. Along the river we went and then we reached the point where the journey got spiced up. There was a lovely plain near the top of the 1^st fall which produced some stunning scenery. We named it Gerandi ella mini worlds end, this place is 5 billion star resort for a camper and we wished we had more time for camping too.

forest of gerandi gala

getting down to the stream

finally reached gerandi ella stream

moss

tea time

Like Melted Gold

yes this is a mushroom

along the river

mini cascade

plunging down

the drop

paddy at munamalpelessa

paddy fields of kalugala

towards kalugala

the plain

forest over gerandigala

the drop

view from gerandi ella mini worlds end

dont look down

we climbed along that mana patch

what a place to camp

group pic (minus Banda)

a pano

binara

pink beauty

paradise

top of the first

The hardest and life threatening descend was next in our schedule. Getting down towards the 1^st fall required the friction of our buttocks and there were only short grass to hang on to. After a scary 4 legged descend we reached the bottom of the first where we had our lunch. We were told that the next part was going to be much more difficult than the first one and the challenge didn’t disappoint us at all. Our most reliable guides did struggle for 30 minutes to find the easiest point of descend on the East bank and finally Mahathun found the place where we needed to get down. It was a 30 foot drop through a cleft and they used a vine as an aid to get us down one by one. After that struggle we sat down for a moment to enjoy the glamour of 2^nd fall before we reached the top of the 3^rd. We crossed the stream to reach the west bank (one could descend along the east bank too) and after running through some bushes we reached the base of the 3^rd fall where two sections could be found. At this point the river divides and forms two tributaries. The west flank forms two more cascades and we decided to get down along the west bank. The journey wasn’t still over and the terrain became difficult because of the thorny bushes of Gandapana and etc. we couldn’t cut through them so we were trampling those bushes to the ground and forming a path until we reached the base of the 5^th fall.

dangerous descend

curved

getting down to the first

lateral view of the 1st

1st fall

front view

close up

mini fall between the 1st two

top of the 2nd

getting down to the 2nd

the most difficult part

a vine was our only aid

2nd fall

lovely

gorgeous

step wise

two levels of paddyfields

wow

balalgira was seen

above the 3rd fall

plunging down

right arm of the 3rd fall

right arm

both parts of the 3rd

drop of 4th fall

kalugala

kudda with a vine

4th fall

trampling bushes

5th fall

From the 5^th fall we found a path on the east bank and reached a paddy field of Munamalpelessa. We were so relieved but from here also we had to walk back along paddy fields and forest patches to reach Kalugala village. This was one hazardous, mesmerizing and toughest journey’s in my life. At the end of a 9 hour, 8 1/2Km hike we were exhausted and an icy cold peella plus some plain tea with juggery was the medicine for our tired souls. When we left Kalugala it was around 6.30Pm and we said good bye to our newly found friends who we promised to meet again on another adventure.

4th fall seen on the way back

finally reached civilization