Take me to the top!

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Well, I am now back in Agogo having finished my final leg of travelling during my Christmas break from school. For the last part of our travelling we headed to the Volta region in Ghana. This area of Ghana is on the other side of what is now Lake Volta - the largest man made lake in all of Africa (the world?). Some highlights included staying at a hotel on the lake and going swimming and canoeing, visiting the Akosombo dam (reason for the artificial lake) that provides electricity to all of Ghana and neighbouring countries, going to the Cedi bead factory that makes traditional African beads, and visiting the Wli falls on the border of Ghana and Togo.

My favourite part of the Volta region would be going to the Wli Falls. While East Africa has the Victoria Falls, West Africa has the Wli Falls which are the tallest in all of West Africa. The falls sit in a mountainous range on the border of Ghana and Togo. We travelled to Hohoe that morning and then caught a tro tro to the village at the base of the mountain. Let's just say that tro tro ride was not one of the more enjoyable rides. As there are limited number of vehicles that travel between Hohoe and Wli we had a crazy number of people in one tro tro. At one point the Ghanaians in the car started to yell at the driver and mate for letting more people on. And these are individuals who do not bat an eye at squeezing 5 onto 3 seats and each individual will have a small child on their lap! Needless to say, I arrived at the mountain after that ride sweating like I had already climbed the thing.

We paid for our admission to the falls and collected our guide, Francis, who would take us first to the lower and then the upper falls. To get to the lower falls it was an easy 30-40min walk through the rain forest along the valley between ranges of mountains. When we arrived, the sight of the falls was breath taking. Imagine water tumbling over rocks in a tropical rainforest with a pool at the bottom you could swim in. However, at this point we were still on a mission wanting to climb to see the upper falls. Francis our guide, looked at us in confusion when we said that we wanted to now see the upper falls. He said that he was told to only take us to the lower falls and then proceeded to tell us it would be too long to go to the top, it was over two hours to get to the top and we didn’t have enough water. We discussed among ourselves and decided, yes, we wanted to do it - regardless of the challenge. (Later on we realized since it was the day of the inauguration of the new president (yes they finally elected one after 3 elections) and he wanted to watch it on tv.)

Finally Francis relented realizing that we weren’t going to give up and at the base of the mountain handed us some walking sticks for the trip. I will admit - it was definitely a challenging climb - and this is coming from someone who has climbed quite a few mountains in the Canadian Rockies. I was glad I had decided to put on my runners instead of flip flops that I carried in my pack. We ascended a very steep mountain side that would have been very dangerous had it been the rainy season. We reached the top in an hour impressing Francis who admitted that “you Canadian girls are very fit”. I guess my runs in Agogo which includes one hellish hill have been keeping me in shape! At the top we frolicked in a very cold and windy pool of water at the base of the waterfall - an amazing experience. Finally, Francis told us it was time to return and we made our way back down the mountain - soaking wet - and sliding down the steep inclines with shoes that weren’t quite made for trekking. Once again, we reached the base in record time eliciting comments of admiration from Francis. (I think at this point he was just hoping to get a big tip). Exhausted and thirsty we made our way back to the office at the falls where we proceeded to buy copious amounts of water, coconut, chocolate, peanuts and bananas. Our thirst and hunger being satisfied, we congratulated ourselves on a hike well done - glad for pushing Francis to take us to the top. It was definitely one of my favourite experiences/challenges I have had in Ghana so far.

Finally we were ready to return to Hohoe where we were staying the night. We lucked out for our ride back to Hohoe as we caught a lift with an American group who was in their first week of doing 3 weeks of volunteer work in Ghana. It was almost funny listening to them talk to each other as it was a “language” I haven’t heard in months now. And when I mean a different language (not talking about English) - it is almost difficult to describe what I mean. They were talking about their souvenirs and how much they cost and how much their cameras cost that they bought before they came and how they were going to teach the children a song about Barack Obama at the orphanage they were going to the next day, and the fact they had a private driver to take them everywhere they needed to go. I don’t want to sound like I am putting them down for any of this since if I was going somewhere for such a short time to do volunteer work it would probably be in a similar way. I guess I was just thinking more about all the little bits of Ghanaian culture that they would miss travelling the way they were - in such an insular group: the tro tro rides that shove 5 people where there should be 3 with live chickens and goats underneath your seat, the street food they probably would never touch (that took me almost a month to finally sample and then love), the markets where they would barter with the vendors over the price of tomatoes, the excitement of exploring on your own, etc.

I guess more than anything this little encounter made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to stay in Ghana long enough to really experience these nuances of the culture. I’m not saying that I won’t be ready to leave in February since the novelty of everything has worn off at this point. (I am definitely getting sick of the lack of volume control that Ghanaians have when they talk (always on high), the 4:30am wake up calls every morning when the Church ladies begin to sing pray and clap, the lack of dairy, the constant garbage everywhere, being called “obruni” by everyone still, and so on.

At this point, I have pretty much one more month in Agogo before I spend one last week in Accra before I leave Ghana. I start back at school tomorrow with a busy agenda on my plate - letter writing to Canada, finishing the school newspaper, and working on the school library building project. I know this last bit is going to go by so quickly and I will be sad to leave the friends I have made along the way.

I was reading through my guide book yesterday wanting to see if there was anything left that I had the urge to see in Ghana, and I realized that through all my travelling I had pretty much seen all the major sites and areas of interest that I wanted to (courtesy of the long school break over Christmas). So this last month will involve relaxing and visiting any place that I would want to see again. (I think one last trip to Kumasi and the lake will be in order.) I look forward to finishing out my time here as I start this final stretch. Take care in the New Year and I will update again soon!

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Comments

[Melinda]

Have to Laugh!
Laura! I am so excited that you got to go to Hohoe (my own town!) and visited Wli. We went several times to cool off, and one such time, Francis was also our guide. Did you see all the bats at the falls, or were they not out yet? The Upper Falls was absolutely amazing, and I commend you on your climbing...it definitely got me sweating (if I wasn't already)! Enjoy your last couple of weeks in Ghana! Melinda