weekend trip to the volta region

our original plan was to leave accra saturday morning around 8am, visit the Wli waterfall and then travel to the hotel. we were going to then go to the monkey sanctuary on sunday and return to accra. but a boy on the trip got sick friday night and needed to go to the clinic to get meds so our departure was delayed about four hours. our guide, awuku, decided it was best for us just to travel for the hotel so that we could watch the ghana vs. usa game and to see both the waterfall and monkey sanctuary on sunday.

it took us around 3 hours to reach the Chances hotel in the volta region. i love driving through that area because it is so mountainous and beautiful, not to mention the times we drive past the volta rivers. the hotel was a little strange; the hallways were huge and the rooms were baren. it had a very hospital-like feel to it. the doors could only be opened and locked by a key, so for example, saturday night i wanted to go to bed early while my roommate wanted to go out and celebrate, i told her to lock the door. i fell asleep and about an hour later woke up because i thought someone was knocking on the door, it then dawned on me that i couldnt open the door without the key and was literally locked in that room. i was pretty freaked out because we're all pretty sure it was some sort of mental hospital.

to watch the ghana game, we were invited into a big room of the hotel with a projector showing the game on a large screen. there were a lot of really nicely dressed men already in there, and they welcomed us with open arms. they went out of their way to make sure we were perfectly comfortable. i found out later that they were all the ministers of ghana, like the minister of water conservation, the minister of sports, etc. we got to watch the ghana-usa game with key members of the government.

the next day we went to the Wli Waterfall. it was about a 45 minute hike to the waterfall. our guide showed us all of the plant life that grows on the side of the trail, like cocoa, coffee, and papiya. the waterfall was easily the most beautiful place i've ever been to. it's the tallest waterfall in western africa. it fell into a small lake and then meandered into a river. it was so peaceful to sit and stare up at the rushing water. some people went into the water, but there could be parasites in it so i opted not too. i got great photographs and videos of it all.

we then travelled to the tofi atome monkey sanctuary. this village coexists with the local monkey population. we got a man from the village to bring us to the monkeys and to tell us a little of the history behind the village and it's becoming a monkey sanctuary. he made a really loud, almost kissing sound and all the monkeys came bounding out of the trees. most were small and really cute. they made funny squeaking noises. we got to feed them bananas.

this weekend was full of amazing experiences. i saw the most beautiful waterfall and got to feed a monkey. i'm sad it's over but i miss my kids at glona and can't wait to see them tomorrow.


by the way, the Stephanie i referred to in a previous entry is an actually person. my mom thouught i was referring to myself but i wasn't. there is a black girl on the trip who was born and grew up in ghana and then moved to the US and is now on the trip with us. it's really helpful to have her because she speaks the local language and serves as a cultural bridge between us and the ghanaians.