As you may have guessed, I am a big fan of trips to the outdoors. There is something about being surrounded by all that green of a nature landscape that makes me feel clean, renewed, like I have stepped into something quietly sacred.
Recently, I made travel plans to visit one of the many waterfalls that Nigeria has to offer. But some things got in the way, and I was unable to do so. I was a little unhappy about that, but I am comforted by the memories I made back in 2019 with my trip to Idanre.
Idanre holds a particular place in my heart, for many reasons.
One of them is that it is my ancestral home town.
I think about this fact, as I always have even when I was a child, and I am filled with a certain awe of the truth about this. I feel very lucky to come from this special place hidden in the mountains.
For context (for those who aren’t Nigerian), what I mean by being from Idanre is that it is the local government area – one of the smallest units of jurisdiction in Nigeria - that I am from. It means it is the hometown of my ancestors, and mine too. Even if I did not get the chance to grow up there.
So, the times I visited, I got to feel like going was not necessarily a touristy adventure, but a part of going back home.
And it makes it feel extra special in that way. Still, I was equally blown away by the beauty of Idanre hills, all of the sights – touristy and otherwise – and all of the history of this beautiful place, all of it was particularly mind-blowing.
It felt like stepping into the well-archived remains of a way of life that was centuries old. And in the case of Idanre hills, and the people who lived there, their history is important in revealing something about the ancient way of the Yoruba people, and how these remain relevant to us even now.
WHERE IS IDANRE/ IDANRE HILLS LOCATED?
Idanre is located in Ondo state, a 30 minute trip from the state capital of Akure.
It is located around the mountainous areas of the state. Ondo state is generally an area of mountains, but some of the biggest and most breath-taking ones are found in the ancient town of Idanre.
Coming into Idanre, you are greeted by the sight of tall, looming, solid-rock Mountains.
I remember on a trip to Idanre, I came into the town rather early in the morning, early enough to watch the sun rise gently from behind those mountains. It was lovely to see. Apart from the many sights you can get and experience from a trip up those mountains, I recommend you watch a sunrise if you can, it will have you feeling renewed and relaxed, and well, happy.
But, speaking of the sights, let’s get into what this piece is really about – the sights of Idanre hills.
THE SIGHTS OF IDANRE HILLS
The steps, footprints, nature, and resort
Do you know one of the most interesting things about Idanre hills? It is the number of steps to reach the mountain top.
There are exactly 682 steps to the top of Idanre hills, and that is quite a lot.
But you know what they say: it is not only the destination, the journey is part of the magic too. (Alright, I just came up with that right now Ha-ha)
Never worry about the number of steps though, there are many rest stops along the way up, and this is a picture I took at one of those rest stops, it gives a lovely bird’s eye view of Idanre’s town.
The new Idanre town that is.
If you didn’t know, the people of Idanre lived up in the mountains before coming down to resettle in the new town at the foot of the hills. They did this around the time Nigeria gained Independence.
And this old, now uninhabited place is where the steps lead to.
They lived up there for practical reasons; Idanre’s history was fraught with numerous wars, and there were several powerful kingdoms nearby that could pose a threat to their town and freedom – one of them being the ancient Benin kingdom, known for its well organized social structure, and very, very powerful military (they were able to fend off the British forces longer than most other ancient African cities).
When the people of Idanre lived up in the mountains, they developed all of the usual fixtures of a Yoruba civilization. One of which I found to be particularly interesting; the ancient Palace.
Stepping into the king’s palace felt eerie.
The palace is a low roofed building constructed in a way that creates a rectangular courtyard in the middle.
I could imagine all of the ways this sort of architecture would have been useful; it would have been an open way for the king and his court to receive petitions, requests, settle disputes and carry out other royal activities.
I was a little startled by the little statues that held the low roofs of the palace, I am not sure if they have a structural purpose or if they were decorative. They seemed to represent different kinds of people; hunters, mothers, pregnant women, and they were vaguely reminiscent of the Benin carvings I know.
Take a look.
After seeing the palace, we hiked around the hills for a while. Some of the things that I had seen in an earlier trip but was a bit too exhausted to go and look for were; the writing on the wall (it is on a very unassuming large rock). No one seems to know what it means. However, it definitely looks like something that can be read, maybe just in a language no one knows? Maybe.
There are a lot of other mystical sights to take a look a
The unending chain
The footprint that fits everyone’s foot
And the nature.
No matter where you choose to hike on these mountains, you can expect the third to be present.
And it is dazzling.
It rained lightly on the way down the mountains, but when it cleared up, it felt like when you’re in a car and you clean out the fog that condenses over the windows and everything looks clearer, new and fresh.
And after that light rain, everything did look like that; like the rain had refreshed all of the nature you might forget to take a look at while being excited by all of the other sights.
IDANRE HILLS RESORT
There is an actual resort at the foot of Idanre hills, somewhere to relax before starting out the trip, or in my case, a place to rest after the trip ends.
I did not spend a lot of time there, but I do remember hearing some music there, and the décor had this bamboo effect. That is definitely another touristy attraction.
After the trip ended, I spent a bit of time going over all of the memories I had made there, savoring them. Swiping through the pictures I had taken with my friends and family on that trip. I felt satisfied in a way, like some of my curiosity about the place had been satisfied.
And the longing for home that I mentioned earlier?
Well, I am not sure. Is that longing ever even satisfied in us? When we go back to a place we feel at home in, is that longing ever really quenched, or just quieted, to resurface at a later time? Sometimes even when we are in that place that we consider to be home.
I am still fascinated by the idea of home, as many people are. And I think that all of the beauty of those mountains has been imprinted deeply in my imagination.
A lot of my creative writing in the past year has been a love letter to the beauty of mountains, and all of the things they remind me of; home, shelter, adventure, longing, hope and beauty.
I hope that you can take a trip to this magical place sometime, and that you are a little startled by its beauty (just as I was, and still am)
Leave a comment below about what you loved about this place, if you’ve ever taken a trip to Idanre hills. And let me know what you look forward to seeing if you are planning a trip there anytime soon.
Take care! (And safe travels)