Independence Day at Charlotte Falls...

I decided to spend Independence Day with friends at Charlotte Falls. Actually, our first stop was halfway up the road to the Chimp Reserve for a quick hike up the ‘Butterfly trail’. It was a lovely walk but there were not a whole lot of butterflies! It was so peaceful though.

We then continued to Charlotte village. My friend decided we should take the second turnoff- supposedly less steep than the first turnoff. Well, it was still pretty steep and it was all loose rock. After getting stuck, we switched drivers. After a few minutes, when it seemed the land rover might just tip over, those of us in the back got out. The problem was that there was a deep crevice in the road, filled with some loose rocks. While trying to get the back tires out of the crevice, the vehicle kept sliding, lifting the back left tire about a foot off of the ground as the right tire went deeper into the crevice. It looked pretty scary but the driver continued to maneuver her way down hill- slipping and sliding over the rocks. Finally, the land rover made it to the bottom. When we reached the bottom on foot, we heard that part of the problem was that the handbrake was left on. No wonder they slid all the way down! It’s yet another story to tell.

We were quickly joined by Akim, our guide and headed to the falls. On our way we passed the chief’s house where they were having a big Independence celebration. Everyone was wearing green, white and blue, music was blaring, and people were enjoying food and drinks. Perfect.

The falls were great, even though there wasn’t a whole lot of water flowing. That’s what happens towards the end of dry season. There was still plenty of water in the pool though and we enjoyed a quick swim after our picnic. We were later joined by people from the local TV network who wanted to film us and talk about development. We were maybe too honest in saying we didn’t want the place to develop further – we liked the fact that we were in the middle of nature! Charlotte falls really is a beautiful place.