THE NAWA FALLS

They are located 3 km from Soubré and a good 100 km from San Pedro, including 2 km of unpaved tracks, downstream of which three water holes form a sacred place. Not to be missed if you have the time and the opportunity, and to visit preferably in the company of a guide who will tell you the history of the region and its inhabitants, the Sassandra river falls or Nawa falls. The water point is reached after a short walk through cocoa plantations, tall grasses, forest and wet rocks. Remember to bring suitable footwear. The "lèkès", rubber shoes with spikes that in France we commonly call "jellyfish shoes" are a good alternative, if necessary you can get some on the spot. Surrounded by lush vegetation and rocks, this impressive site is made up of waterfalls 5 to 6 meters high whose roar can be heard for several kilometers around. Downstream from these bubbling rapids is a spring considered sacred by the local people. According to the Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Côte d'Ivoire, this water point was discovered by a certain May (or Mayo), chief of the Magwé tribe, and became one of the main holy places of the Magwés. Called Nawa or Kougey ("path to the afterlife"), this spring would be the mirror where the double of every dying Magwé would be reflected. For the people of Soubré, this site is a privileged place of pilgrimage and meditation. The initiates, guarantors of the tradition, perform rituals there and communicate with the benevolent genius Nawa, figure of the "protective mother" who brings success, abundance and fertility to the natives. The sacred character of the place is attested by the presence of pieces of white cloth tied here and there to the branches of trees, and bottles of alcohol - most certainly offerings", a disturbing reminder of the typical practices of Japanese Shinto, according to which deities are potentially incarnated in every element of fauna and flora, and of the universality of ancestral animist religions that elevated nature to the rank of divinity. It must be said that one feels very small in front of this spectacle whose grandiose beauty, mixing the blinding white of the foam with the intense green of the vegetation under an azure blue sky, effectively borders on the sacred, even for a person who is not particularly religious. Not to be missed under any circumstances if you come to this remote region to visit the Taï forest.