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Published: March 24th 2008
Hello again everyone! I hope this post finds you all well. Things in Ghana have been waning a bit. This past week I think I hi the bottom of the study abroad S-curve that everyone teaches you about before you leave on your academic adventure. In the beginning of the trip everything was exciting and it was sensory overload all the time. However, this past week I started to get frustrated with everything in this country. When I was eating oatmeal for the umpteenth time for breakfast, I began to get angry that there wasn't enough dietary variety here. When I was sitting in my Poverty and Rural Development lecture, I began to get frustrated about not being able to understand the professor and resented the fact that despite our very long reading list, the professor has not once yet mentioned where we can find the readings. My internship has frustrated me because it has pointed out my poor English teaching skills, and finally I realized that I'm dirty all the time. Really, everything here is covered in dust, dirt, grime, germs, and anything else icky you can possibly imagine. I wanted to pull my hair out by Thursday when I
tried to clean everything in sight. I started for the first time during this trip to feel homesick. I began to miss my family and friends, not to mention the convenience of living in the States. My housemate Lizzy saw that I was starting to spiral down and so suggested that we take a weekend trip and get out of the city.
So on Friday we got up early and headed up to the Volta Region (a more jungleish region where there is more wildlife and space). It took us about an hour of wandering around the central tro tro station in Accra to find one going to the former capital of Ghana, Ho. But finally we packed ourselves into the nicest tro tro that we've seen since being here (it was air conditioned!!) and set out on our adventure. After about an hour of staring out the window at brown and dusty landscape, the scenery turned into a vastly different green! We crossed the Volta river into what seemed like and oasis of heaven. That afternoon we checked into the Freedom Hotel, which was so much better than we possibly imagined. For $24 a night we got a room
with a king size bed, a fan right above, hot water, cable television, and the hotel had a great restaurant and pool. So that first afternoon we relaxed by the pool, vegged out in front of the t.v. and took turns taking hot showers. Really there is nothing like steaming your body after a month and a half of cold drippy showers that pretty much just relocate the dirt that you've accumulated on your body during the day.
The next morning we woke up early and ate our complimentary breakfast of eggs, toast, and coffee. After fueling up and asking the receptionists what we should do for the day, we decided to try our hand at climbing that local mountain, Mt. Adaklu. From a distance it didn't look so bad and Lizzy and I considered ourselves pretty fit, so we got pumped up to do some heavy duty hiking. After taking a taxi to the Adaklu transportation station we asked some locals who seemed to be waiting around, what the best way to get to Mt. Adaklu was. A few seconds later a taxi pulled up and four of us piled in the back and two people shared the front
seat. We were assured that this was the best way to get to the mountain and so Lizzy and I decided to go along with it. The boy who was scrunched up next to me asked us if we were going to climb the mountain and when we said yes, he declared himself our guide. With no room to even consider the possibility of saying no, Lizzy and I smiled and said, "Umm, okay?" We barreled down the pothole filled dirt road that led us out of the city and up to the mountain. Lizzy and I tried to ignore the anxiety we felt when the cab driver answered his cell phone and began to swerve this way and that, narrowly dodging the potholes that were the size of meteor craters. Finally we slowed down and came to a makeshift police check point which consisted of one policeman and a long branch blocking the road that the policeman would lift up to let cars by. The policeman asked the driver to get out of the cab and then stared through the windows of the sorry looking taxi to count how many people were inside. Not being able to turn to
see what was going on, we heard the policeman and the driver arguing in Ewe (another local language). A few minutes later the driver came back to the cab and started rummaging around for coins and forsaken cedis...it seemed that we were to pay a bribe to the policeman because there were too many of us in the taxi. After each passenger contributed a cedi, we continued on our way to the base of the mountain.
Finally we reached a small village that seemed to be celebrating Easter a day early. The boy who declared himself our guide introduced himself as Maxwell and said that he had grown up in this village. He took us to the tourist center where Lizzy and I met an out-of-it looking Canadian kid named Kevin who said he was working on an eco-tourism project for the village. He informed us that the village carried on Easter celebrations for three days and that they were selling t-shirts to raise money for the community. After paying our 3 cedis each to climbe the mountain, Lizzy, Maxwell and I set off up the road. We stopped to buy the nifty t-shirts that the village was selling as
a thank you to the community for letting us climb their mountain. We passed several groups singing, dancing, and drumming, and heard lots of praises going on.
Finally we got out of the village and started up the mountain trail. I started off carrying the back pack that Lizzy and I kept our water, sunscreen, food, and other precious items for the trip...that was a mistake! After the first five minutes of hiking up vertical sets of rock stairs we had to stop and rest. The sun seemed to be beating down on us more that usual and our clothes were already soaked through with sweat. Maxwell gave a little giggle at our red faces and heavy breathing. We were determined to get to the top and so we drudged on, stopping every few minutes of course to catch our breath. A few times it got to the point where I felt as though I'd run a billion rat-races and was about to upchuck my breakfast. I don't believe I've ever sweat that much in my entire life. About a quarter of the way up, Lizzy had had enough and decided that it would be foolish to go up any
further. Maxwell seemed disappointed at this notion saying that the halfway mark was only a short distance away and that the view was spectacular. Lizzy wonderfully offered to stay put with the back pack while Maxwell and I continued up to the halfway point. After making sure that she would be alright on her own for a little while, Maxwell and I continued up the mountain. Of course we had to stop for minute when I saw that we were going to half to hoist ourselves up a sheer rock face with ropes. After about 15 minutes of saying over and over the mantra, "mind over matter" to myself, we made it to the halfway point. Both of us took off our shirts and rung them out, making tiny rivers of sweat down the rock face, and then collapsed under a tiny cave boring into the side of the mountain.
Maxwell wasn't lying, the view was spectacular. The endorphins coursing through my body were absolutely amazing and I felt as though I'd conquered the world. After resting for about ten minutes, we headed back down to meet Lizzy. It took us about a half hour of rambling down slippery rocks
to get back to the village. When we stumbled into town, our legs barely being able to move, most of the community was at an auction. Maxwell said that people would contribute things to the church and they would sell them to raise money for the town. We took a few pictures and then limped into a small bar where we bought three Fanta's and downed them in about thirty seconds. After getting some of our strength back we sai thank you and farewell to Maxwell and caught a tro tro back to the Freedom Hotel. Lizzy and I threw on our swimsuits as fast as we could and ran to the pool. We spent the rest of the evening swimming around, watching cheesy movies and drinking Fanta...it was just the sort of getaway we needed.
The next morning we packed up our stuff and headed home. The entire ride home, through the open tro tro windows we could hear sermons and praises all over the place, Easter being one of the biggest holiday's in Ghana. I feel as though we atteneded one big church service during the two hour duration of the trip. When we got home, Lizzy and
I were informed by the rest of our housemates that we were going to have our own Easter feast. I again made chocolate chip cookies to contribute, and everyone else was in charge of their own dish. The entire dinner consisted of: mashed potatoes, pasta, salad, yams, chicken, brats, hamburgers, pork chops, and wine. And for dessert we had ice cream and cookies. It was absolutely amazing! It really felt as though our house had become a family and suddenly all of the frustration that I was feeling about Ghana melted away. It really makes a difference, knowing that you have the support of so many people.
And so I leave to go do laundry and catch up on reading. I've realized that I just have to take things day by day and appreciate the time that I have here before I have to go home to the hustle and bustle of American college life.
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Bella
non-member comment
African Mountains
Hi Kelsey, climbing mountains in hot Africa is quite the challenge, isn't it? I climbed in Mali, in Burkina Faso, in Ghana and Ethiopia with my brother who is a mountain guide and even from his point of view, simply because the trails are not so well done, and they go quickly up and are quite the challenge even for people with experience and the sweat is incredible... I really know what you mean, I've been through it all but remember the feeling once you got to do it! If you get to do some african dance, you might get the same feeling, I've never sweat so much in my life, I was dancing 3-4 times a week, 3 hours a day, with Gasco's group and as you know, ghanaian dance is quite intense when you really get involved! Thanks for the pictures, it feels good to get away and reconnect with Nature... You are lucky you have your group, I came alone 3 years ago, and so I've been living a different experience, almost strictly with ghanaians, it's been amazing, and I actually never miss home, but I did miss having a friend who could truly understand me and I did come accross a few foereigners who made my day a few times!!! Happy Easter, here in montreal, we are celebrating it under 4 feet of snow at least!!! Cheers, Bella