Wli

---

Wli (pronounced Vlee, like glee) is in the highlands on the border with Togo, 137mi/212km north of Accra.

Getting There
The 2pm bus left Accra’s Tudu bus station half an hour late and we passed our airport hotel an hour and a half after that, so I was relieved when the traffic subsided and we hit the open road. This was short-lived, though, as there were more potholes than asphalt on the road to Hohoe, presumably caused by heavy rains, that the two rotating bus drivers somehow navigated without breaking an axle, which made for one of the worst long journeys I’ve ever been on. We finally made it to Hohoe at 9:30 p.m. and then found a taxi to take us the rest of the way to Wli.

Accommodations
We spent 3 nights in Wli at the Waterfall Lodge, which is run by a German couple. We felt a little guilty about not staying at a Ghanaian-owned place, but our experience proved correct - our private hut was clean and comfortable by Western standards. But WiFi is impossible since the cell service is barely strong enough to use WhatsApp.

It was after 10 when we finally arrived in Wli. Of course, a would-be guide named David was waiting at our turn and seized upon the opportunity to give directions. He seemed nice enough so I agreed to add his WhatsApp number even though I knew he’d be waiting for us in the morning.

I'd never noticed that I often wave to people or point at things with my left hand. Young people in particular like to say hi to the few tourists around. While wandering through the village homes the next morning I waved to a man using my left and he got very serious and basically scolded me. Once I figured out that he was explaining that it was a very rude gesture I thanked him profusely, which failed to change his expression. For the rest of the trip, I at least caught myself when I started to wave with my sinister hand.

There are a lot of goats in the area.

Hiking
As expected, David was waiting near the entrance to Agumatsa waterfall, reputedly the highest in West Africa. A Brandt guidebook from the hotel said it was required to take a guide but it was an easy, 40-minute, flat walk that required no special direction except for moving quickly through biting ant-infested sections. The official entry fee is 60 cedi but it’s best to just play along with the guide who will expect a tip. We technically crossed the border into Togo but according to several other guides, no visa is required, even if staying overnight, which seemed suspect. The waterfall and bat-covered cliffs were pretty impressive but due to recent rains, the pool was hardly clear or calm enough for a comfortable swim. We wished we could watch the bats take flight at dusk, but we would have had to wait a few hours, so after helping David clean up some of the trash at the base of the falls, we followed him back to town.

Then there was the question of the tip, as David mentioned more than once that he made no money from the entrance fee. It’s sort of a no-win scenario because if you give too little, you look stingy and if you give too much, you look like a self-anointed savior and perhaps make it more of a hassle for future tourists. I’d asked the Germans earlier what would be fair, but they only answered that the average Ghanaian makes 14 cedi / a little over a dollar a day. We gave him 30 cedi for the 2-hour hike, which seemed plenty, but he still seemed disappointed.

My fear of heights limited our other hiking options. The Germans dissuaded us from attempting the upper falls trail or loop trail through Togo because of steep cliffs and ropes. This was corroborated by the Brandt guidebook that said this trail made the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon look like a cakewalk. I’m sure I could have persevered through it in the end, but it wouldn’t have been very fun.

Instead, the next day we mostly walked on roads to climb Afadjato, supposedly the highest mountain in Ghana. There are two trailheads - one in Gbledi-Gbogame and one in Liati Wote - and apparently the two communities have a feud over the two trails and their spoils. We chose the former because it was closer. There were no guides at the trailhead so we walked alone, with the exception of two local women, one of whom was carrying a child on her back and fruit on her head up the 40-degree trail. The 45-minute ascent was so steep that I kept muttering that I couldn’t see how I could come back down without falling on my ass many times. In the heat and humidity it was difficult to the point that I had to sit down and gather myself for a while after reaching the top. I was absolutely soaked in sweat and it took a while till I could even think of eating my lunch. Peggy had been a little smarter and stopped to take some breaks. From the top you can see that several neighboring peaks are clearly higher, but they don’t have maintained trails or a sign.

We decided to take the other path down even though there was the risk of getting charged again at Liate Wote. It was a little less steep and had ropes to avoid slipping on the smooth rocks or clay-like soil. While resting at a community pavilion at the bottom, a man approached us and sure enough, said we had to come to the office to pay again. But because we hadn’t also walked to Tagbo Falls, Peggy somehow got us out of it.

We took a taxi about half of the way back and returned to our hotel in the late afternoon, pretty exhausted.

Food
We ate at Wli Water Heights Hotel that night and the food was delicious. Like most food, Ghanian dishes consist of protein, rich sauces, and starch. But the banku (a sticky, bread-like starch) and the stew were so hot that they burned my fingers. The chef came out of the kitchen and seemed satisfied that I was at least trying to eat it with my hands and asked me if I’d prefer a spoon, which I did. Peggy got a whole tilapia with jollof rice, which we definitely want to try to make at home.

In the end, Wli was worth the extra effort to get to.

There are several more photos below.

---

Photos

View from Patio
There’s no mystery as to why the Germans built this hotel here. We watched the moon rise over the mountain at night.

Memorials
What a great idea. It’s like an obituary in the street. A lot of them include photos of them both young and old.

Lower Falls
These are the lower falls, which have the higher drop.

Banku
This dish is eaten with your hands, but both the Banku and the stew were very hot, so I opted for a spoon.

Tallest Peak?
The mountain behind me is clearly much taller, but it might be in Togo.

Market
I don’t have the heart anymore to ask people if I can take their photos, so instead I end up with crappy ones by sneaking them.

Whole Fish and Jollof Rice
At Wli Water Heights Hotel

Outdoor church
There were 7 churches in town and most of them were the nicest buildings. This explains a lot. But this bamboo church was in the bush and made of bamboo.

Bats!
Tens of thousands of them - they’re the tiny specks.

One of the 9 Bridges
It probably wasn’t planned this way.

Wli at Dusk
A stretch of paved road

School Kids
If you ever wondered what it’s like to be a celebrity, walk past one of these schools.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Ghana
I've always been curious about visiting this location. I enjoyed the blog.