Too Blessed to be Stressed

This weekend was by far the best weekend I’ve experienced here in Ghana so far! This weekend we planned to go to the Volta region where the largest waterfall in West Africa is located. Friday morning, we got up at about 5:30am to catch a trotro and begin our journey. We luckily caught a bus to Tema station downtown, where we caught another trotro to Ho Hoe. The trotro we boarded was a dream. Air conditioning, brand new plush seats, it was unreal. Driving through the countryside was great, it really solidified the fact that I’m finally in Africa and studying abroad. Close to Ho Hoe, we got off the trotro to go to a monkey sanctuary and have lunch. We found out that the sanctuary was actually about 3km away, so the best way to get there was on motorbikes. Absolutely no hesitation to this idea, we all got our own driver and started cruising down a dirt path. It was so cool! We passed by local schools where the children were waving and other buildings surrounding the villages. We got to the sanctuary and had lunch at a local chop bar, which was rice with tomato stew. After that we bought some bananas and went to the monkey sanctuary where we got to feed them to the little monkeys (which looked like little wizard gremlins) and some even climbed down and would sit on your shoulders! After this, we decided to continue on our way to Ho Hoe and then the base of Wli falls so we could stay overnight somewhere. We miraculously got an empty trotro on the side of the road to take us the rest of the way and then another trotro and the always crucial fan chocos to take us the rest of the way. When we got to the base of Wli, we found a homestay/lodge to stay in and took a nap before dinner. For dinner, we went to a bar/restaurant that didn’t have lights, but rather black lights and ordered some rice and chicken. There, we experienced the classic Ghanaian time scale and waited about an hour and a half for our food. But the view of the mountains was really cool, and even though we couldn’t really see our food, it was still an awesome experience. After dinner, we tried to go to bed early because we knew we had to wake up early to start hiking.

Roommates at the lodge!!

Saturday morning, we woke up at about 6:30am to get ready to go and then met our guide, Wisdom Mighty or just Mighty for short, and began our journey. As we began our hike, Mighty stopped at a palm bush and cut us each a walking stick to use while on the trail. We had decided to take the longest 6 hour hike that would take us to both the upper and lower falls. Clarification: hiking in Ghana usually means scaling mountains and vertical/ 90 degree trails, switch backs are not present, ever. Despite this challenge, the hike was amazing and began with super cool views of the village below and the surrounding mountains. After about 3 hours, which included a particularly steep portion of the trail where we basically slid down the mountain, we reached the upper falls. It was again, unreal. The mist and the wind were super powerful, but that didn’t stop us from swimming under the falls for awhile. We then ate some lunch before starting hiking again to the lower falls. This portion of the trail included more downhill sections, but was still challenging and I had to concentrate so I wouldn't misstep. The palm branch walking sticks came in quite handy at this point. After another couple hours, we reached the lower falls and went swimming again and enjoyed the surrounding view and sun. We then hiked out to the village and gathered our stuff together to catch a trotro back to Accra. The trotro ride home was slightly longer because of some traffic. When we arrived back to the dorms we got food, I got my favorite Sarah’s chicken wings and kelewele. After scarfing down dinner, I passed out on my bed, exhausted from the past two days.

Sunday/today was my friend Christin’s 21^st birthday, so we spent time celebrating! Some of my friends and I went to the mall early in the morning and got stuff to decorate her room. We then went down to Osu to get the cake we order for it and went to Frankie’s for dinner. I enjoyed some prime American food, my favorite: bacon cheeseburger and fries. The cake was delicious and it was the perfect end to the weekend. Overall, I’m so glad everything went smoothly. Surprisingly, we really didn't have that much of the trip planned. We got on the trotro, not really knowing where we were going to stay that night or any real details, but everything worked out. It makes me want to take advantage of any opportunity to travel, if it comes up. Tomorrow, brings more school, my internship, and more Ghanaian life. So, until next time, I hope everyone is having a great time back home!

Love,

Audrey