Cascade fiesta at Kandapola forest reserve on Valentine’s day

Map around Kandapola – click to enlarge

The full route – click to enlarge

cascades – click to enlarge

All this year I have been following streams and hunting cascades and there was one major pending to do adventure! As always I needed a motivation and Nalinda and the gang provided me with it. They did this trail 3 weeks back so I was tempted to follow their footsteps. For years I have noted many cascades above Bomburu falls and wondered how was I going to plan this trip but after getting few tips from my friends I decided to go ahead. Chamara & Ishan came to my place on a bike and we left from Chilaw as early as possible. After reaching Nuwara eliya at 7am we had breakfast and took off towards Sandatenna temple. After speaking with the head priest we left the vehicle there and started walking towards the Bomburu reservoir. At Bomburu reservoir we stopped by only for few snaps. The road divides just before reaching the reservoir where one road leads to the Scout camp and reservoir while the other heads towards the woods.

early rays

road towards bomburu reservoir

pedro scout camp

bomburu reservoir

the reservoir

snapping

the spill and the gate both together

tributory of uma oya

From here onwards we took the road through the woods. It was so calm and quiet that we were only interrupted by sounds of birds and frightened Samber. The walk through the mountain forest was a 5Km stretch and finally we reached an open area where there were ruins of buildings from colonial period. Some say that this was a hunting ground and others say it’s a plantation anyhow from this point onwards we decided to leave the eucalyptus and head towards Uma oya. The downwards journey was very tricky because the earth was so soft and the branches were too brittle.

forest path

morning rays

ferns

greenery

plenty of mushrooms

some obstacles

nice place to camp

road still exists

where there is no tree cover the undergrowth takes over

narrow foot path

signs of mountain forest

budding fern

where we diverted from the road

remnants of a farm or hunter house

checking the maps

view from the forest

Somehow we reached two cascades which were within close proximity. The 2^nd one was gorgeous and we spent some time on the bottom of it while having a snack. From the 2^nd we walked 50m’s downstream and came across a magnificent waterfall which looked like taller than Bomburu falls. we attempted to descend it but had to abandoned our effort due to the risk. We rolled back uphill and reorganized ourselves; we were not in a mood to give up on this gigantic waterfall so we proceeded along the mountain for 400m’s before reattempting to reach the base of the fall. With great difficulty we reached the river and it was totally worth it. While descending we saw the true height of this giant and as always the true height wasn’t perceived at its base. The waterfall must be one of the largest waterfalls in Sri Lanka and when it’s raining it should be seen like a white blanket squeezed between the greenery. At the base of the 3^rd fall we had our lunch and decided to head downstream but this time we picked the left bank to do so.

cascade no1

another view

top of the second

cascade no2 side view

upper part

lovely

through the bushes

full view

top of the cascade no3

attempting to get down

no way to get down

we stopped at this point

mushrooms

through the nelu bushes

magnificent cascade no3

so tall and huge

lower section

best view

the true size cannot be perceived from the bottom

3rd cascade

gorgeous

About 500m’s downstream we came across another cascade which we named as the 4^th. 200m’s from this cascade we came across the 5^th one. Most of the time we were traveling along the forest patch because walking along the river was time consuming and we were running out of time. The 6^th and 7^th cascades were about 100m’s away from the 5^th and they were particularly scenic.

cascade no4

another view

cascade no5

close up

cascade no6

top of 7th

a rest

cascade no7

From the 7^th we headed towards the eucalyptus patch and started descending to the base of the 8^th which was very difficult because of the slippery nature. The 8^th is simply a wonderful cascade falling in to a huge rock pool and when I say huge its humongous. It’s a lovely place to camp if you have time. Most of the people who climb up the waterfall never go pass this beauty. A small walk took us towards the drop of Bomburu ella which was our final descent.

cascade no8

lovely base pool

drop of bomburu falls

wow

from the top

Though we thought the journey was finished it wasn’t. The descent to the bottom was one hell of a one. We found no proper path and the bushes were making things difficult. We were so tired so we switched to auto pilot mode and reached the bottom where we lied flat on the grass gazing towards majestic Bomburu falls. After having a mini snack we started walking along the well paved path to Bomburu ella village which was another 2km walk. After reaching the village we had a nice hot tea and headed towards Magasthota (we had to hire two trishaws and and take a bus to reach our vehicle). At Sandatenna temple we had an icy cold bath and changed in to new clothes before leaving the temple. We also didn’t forget to thank the head priest who was very helpful to us. On our way we had dinner at Katugosthota and headed towards Chilaw. From Chilaw Ishan and Chamara headed back on the bike after giving me their photos. My camera decided to stay dead during this trip so Chamara and Ishan lent me their images so I could compile this write up for you guys. Hope you loved this read on our Valentine day expedition.

the hectic descent

bomburu falls

its base

lower cascades of bomburu fall

Please keep in mind that this is a virgin forest so do not litter bring everything you took. Leave only foot prints