By Venessa Anthony
Nadun Tennakoon and a group of hikers recently conquered Aberdeen Falls, and became the first Sri Lankans to actually scale down the waterfall.
Aberdeen Falls, named after Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland and the capital of Aberdeenshire, is located in the area of Ginikattana in the Nuwara Eliya District, with a height of 98 metres. The waterfall is the 18th-highest waterfall in Sri Lanka, and legend has it that there is a tunnel between Aberdeen Falls and the neighbouring Lakshapana Falls. The waterfall is fed by the Kehelgamu Oya, a major tributary of the Kelani River, and right behind the falls is a large rock complex.
What makes this feat by Nadun and his friends so impressive is that the falls are considered to be quite dangerous, since bathing and swimming into the middle of the Aberdeen Falls pool has caused many deaths in the past. The group of adventure-seekers joined hands with Marvel Adventure Group, guided by “Rock Ishan”, who is well known in the hiking community for pulling off some intense hikes and treks.
Nadun and his group took the Negombo-Hatton bus at the crack of dawn, aiming to reach Ginigathena by 9 a.m. Once they got to the camping site done by Marvel Adventure Group, they were escorted by the guides in off-road vehicles to the waterfall. “The vehicle can go right to the top of the waterfall, and there’s a small shop at the top where we purchased anything extra we needed,” he told us. Once they were prepared, they secured their ropes to trees and rocks and started their descent to the ground.
On the day they climbed down, Nadun told us, the water level was higher than usual, which led to fears of the rope they were using to scale down breaking, or slipping to their death. “We knew logically, the rope was strong, and there was no chance of it breaking, but since the water pressure was also strong that day, it was hitting our head with force so it made thinking straight difficult,” he explained, talking about the perils of climbing down.
Despite this, he highlighted the importance of having a strong mind, as any worry could sow doubt, and chances of something bad happening would be higher. “The water temperature was insanely cold – it was like it had been in a freezer – so the cold was also messing with our minds, even though we did some exercises up top to warm up,” he said. He warned that when scaling down a waterfall, it is highly recommended you calm your mind, because if fear enters, you will either freeze up, or faint – all of which had happened to many people attempting this on other waterfalls, leading to fatal injuries and deaths.
Nadun also mentioned that there were two guides who stayed on the top, keeping an eye on the ropes, one in the middle to watch the path, and one right down, in the water, who communicated with a whistle if they made a wrong move.
“This was reassuring when we were going down; we knew they had our backs so it eased our minds quite a lot,” he added. Because their guides were highly qualified professionals, Nadun expressed his gratitude towards them, noting that not a single person in the group even had a scratch on them by the time they had reached the water.
After a successful trek down, Nadun told us that they have plans to scale down all the waterfalls in Sri Lanka, starting with Bambarakanda, followed by Lakshapana, and more.
“Our team is very powerful and capable, and we want to help our tourism grow,” he stated, pointing out that scaling waterfalls is something many foreigners are interested in, but Sri Lanka does not have the proper facilities. Once they acquire permission to scale down the other waterfalls, they’ll see whether it’s safe or not, and upload it on Nadun’s travel-centric YouTube channel, where any tourist can watch and learn, and then scale the falls on their own, with experienced guides.
“There are no travel bloggers that focus on scaling waterfalls, so this is a niche we’ve tapped into with the hope of informing tourists of what they can do, and the facilities we have in Sri Lanka for them to embark on such journeys,” he added.
Nadun noted that they want to see Sri Lanka flourish, and put it on the map for more than just our beaches. Promoting this kind of adventure tourism will also create job opportunities for locals, which will further help our economy grow.
