Often ranked as Africa's second largest waterfall by volume, and a five kilometre tricycle ride from town. Getting to the bottom cost us a slippery trail, knee deep water, and a real negotiation. Getting back up cost more.

The road in, the day before Christmas.

Christmas Eve on the road in

We spent Christmas Eve on the road to Calandula, in the rain, which turned out to just be how December works in this part of Angola. It rained straight through Christmas morning too. We didn't mind much. We'd come for a waterfall, and rain is sort of the whole point of one.

Calandula town itself is small, and the falls are close, about five kilometres out, close enough that we didn't bother renting a car or hiring a driver for the day. We just asked at the hotel, and they arranged a tricycle to take us out the next morning.

The viewpoint building at the top, before we'd decided to go down.

The price goes up after you've already committed

There was a tour guide waiting at the entrance in a green hoodie. It's the unofficial uniform for guides working this trail. We negotiated, 10,000 kwanza to walk us down to the base. He came back with a second guide and a higher number, 15,000. We agreed. Fine.

It was very accessible and you didn't have to walk far to get to the falls. It was fantastic indeed. Really, wow.
Max

The view from the top alone would have been worth the trip. Rock terraces stepping down into a gorge, water dropping over all of it in a wide curtain instead of one clean line. We took the obligatory selfie from the viewpoint, and decided we wanted to see it from the bottom too.

At the bottom. The view from up top was still better.

Wet feet, then shaking legs

The track down is steep and slick, and near the bottom it disappears entirely under running water. We waded through it over our knees, holding onto whatever the guides pointed at. Eddy had a bad knee going into this, and it did not enjoy the descent.

The guides in green were easy to spot. Eddy's walking stick was not part of the original plan.

We got to the bottom, and it was good, genuinely, but the view from above had still been better. The water is close enough to touch from below, which is its own kind of impressive, but you lose the wide shot that actually makes the falls look like the falls.

At the top, our guides asked for 20,000 kwanza instead of the 15,000 we'd agreed. We paid it. They'd earned it, hauling two tired riders and one bad knee back up a wet cliff face counts for something. Once we'd caught our breath, the drone went up and finally got us the wide shot we'd wanted.

  • Agree the full price with your guide before you start walking down, including a number for the way back up. Ours changed twice.
  • Bring shoes you don't mind soaking, the trail crosses the river more than once.
  • If you only have time or legs for one view, take the free one from the rim. It's the shot that actually shows the scale of the falls.