We Visited Phiphidi Waterfall in Venda, Limpopo
Phiphidi Waterfall is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Venda, actually the only one that I know of in Limpopo. It is said to be one of the sacred places for the vhaVenda people, and it’s not difficult to see why. The tranquility in that space is absolutely beautiful!
A while back, we took a shotleft to Hoedspruit, Limpopo, to visit some few places, and we ended up passing Giyani and decided enroute that we wanted to check out Nandoni Dam. Being the adventurers people that we are, we decided to check out Phiphidi Waterfall as well, after all we were in Venda and it just made sense.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and we had everything ready and planned out, and drove to Phiphidi Waterfall right after Nandoni Dam.
We got to Phiphidi Waterfalls a little later than we would have liked, just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon, so we literally had about an hour to take in all that beauty and drive back to Giyani, which is where we were spending the night.
Entrance at the gate was R50, and we were told that a gentleman would come help us and show us around, then we were instructed to drive down to the parking, next to the waterfall. Unfortunately, the gentleman who was supposed to assist us, didn’t come, so we had to go back to the security gate for some assistance.
The Beautiful Phiphidi Waterfall
30 minutes later or so, a very friendly man came to assist us. We were excited, by then we could see the waterfall through the lush trees, and of course we could hear the sound of the water.
Then we made the descent down the stairs to where the waterfall was. The sound of the water was unlike anything I had heard before, beautiful, strong and just unforggetable. I had my reservations earlier on, as I don’t like unplanned trips, especially to places that I don’t know, but it became very clear very quickly that I would have regretted it had we not gone there.
And then there it was . . . the most beautiful waterfall I had ever seen. The beauty and the power of that water is something I won’t be able to put into words . . . put simply, it was breathtaking.
Of course we wanted to capture some of that beauty, and the gentleman was so kind, he offered to help us capture some of our images of me and my partner.
I Fell at Phiphidi Waterfall
Now, looking back, falling into the water at Phiphidi Waterfall is definitely one of the scariest things that ever happened to me.
It happened as we were exploring the place, walking on the rocks. I (Xihla) slipped on one of the rocks, and I realised very quickly that I was in trouble. The bottom half of my body was in the water, and the stream was pulling on me but I managed to hang onto a rock, how I managed to do that is beyond me, because the rock was wet as well. But I know God was with me at that moment!
Mind you, I can’t swim very well, and even if I could, the strength of the water and all the rocks in that water would have knocked my head out , I wouldn’t have had a chance.
Lucky for me, my partner and the gentleman who was with us saw what had happened, they acted swiftly and pulled me out of the water. It was an extremely scary moment, and looking back, the thought of what could have happened makes me tremble.
Final Thoughts on Phiphidi Waterfalls
Don’t let my close encounter with death scare you. Phiphidi Waterfalls is absolutely breathtaking, you just have to be extra careful and say a prayer when you go there.
It’s definitely a must-do, if you have the adventurous spirit in you, and make sure that you go during the day to fully take in that beauty and snap those breaktaking shots.
