Exploring the Volta Region

Wanting to see more of this beautiful country, Maya and I requested this past Friday and Monday off to be able to travel 4 hours away to Hohoe which is found in the Volta Region (along east side of Ghana about 1/3 - 1/2 way up the country). Hohoe itself does not really have much to offer in terms of tourist attractions, but luckily for us we picked the right weekend and a festival was being held there. Traditionally two villages - Peky and Hohoe - were merged together. Sometime in the past they separated, but every year one of the two villages hosts a festival to celebrate their origins together. During the festival, accommodations are sporadically found when people from Peky just walk up to a house in Hohoe, say they are from Peky, and are invited in with open arms. It’s incredible how inviting Ghanaians are.

We departed from Accra by tro-tro at about 10am on Friday morning with Niv and Jason, two of the volunteers from the October group. Ann-Kristin met us there on Friday night. We stayed at the Grand Hotel in town which proved to be quite nice contrary to the impression I received from the Bradt Guide that we consulted. Stephen, the local Credit Union Manager had booked us a room when he visited CUA House after comparing prices. We had some lunch, met with Stephen, and then retreated to our room since it had begun to poor rain. A bunch of rounds of Texas Hold Em and Euchre later, we were ready for dinner and were afterwards joined by Ann-Kristin. Because of weather, we went back to our rooms, played some cards, and just chatted until bed.

Mount Afadjato
The following day after breakfast, we took off for Mt. Afadjato which is supposedly the highest point in Ghana at 885m above sea level (we were later told at another site that it is the highest measured point). We began the hike and I quickly realized that breathing was going to be an issue between the humid weather and the quick steep ascend that the guide was leading. Niv & I decided that we did not want to hold the our three, much more fit, friends back and so ushered them to continue on and we would go at our own pace. When it started to rain, we turned back slightly grateful. I need to get in shape! We walked back in the pouring rain to the visitor’s centre and I went to the bathhouse and wrung out my clothing during a lull in the rain. The other three returned about an hour later absolutely drenched and muddy after trudging back down.

Village Celebrations
We had planned to proceed from there to Wli Waterfalls, the largest waterfalls in Ghana, but due to the weather, we decided to simply return to Hohoe and to push our visit to the Falls back. En route to our hotel, we saw a large gathering in town where chiefs were all dressed up and adorned in gold and beautiful cloth and there was much chanting and singing. After grabbing lunch at a small chop bar (the Ghanaian equivalent of a fast food joint), we went to join in the festivities. It was incredible to see the singing, dancing, and overall joyous festivities. From the square, people began to clear out into the streets leading to two separate celebrations: one for Hohoe and one for Peky. Not sure what was going on, we followed one of the processions and inquired as to if it was appropriate for us to partake in the festivities and were warmly invited into Peky’s celebrations. In amidst the houses in part of the village, there was a group of men playing instruments and watching as solos took place to the music in the middle. These solos included dancing and acting out scenes with machetes and knives which they sometime used on their own skins. It was terrifying and intriguing to watch. They did not cut themselves but used quite firm cutting motions. I am still unsure as to how they managed to do it. We were seated behind the women who are married to the Chiefs of the village. Across the ‘street’ were the Chiefs. All of the Chiefs and their families were adorned in flashy jewellery and expensive cloth. One of the women sitting in the front row was an American and we were quite curious as to how she obtained her status. Turns out she just happened to be friends of one of the Chiefs and visiting.

Wli Waterfall and Likpe Todome Caves
Sunday morning we departed for the Waterfall. We took a taxi to Wli and then it was a 45 minute walk through the jungle with 9 footbridges. It was a beautiful walk that we shared with a couple from Denmark and their two young children, their driver, the guide, and our taxi driver. We learned this weekend that it is quite customary for the taxi driver to accompany you on your travel at no cost to them or you. Once at the waterfall, there was a changing room where we changed into shorts and tank tops. We headed to the pool and the base of the falls and had a nice, refreshing swim. It was incredible. The pool was surprisingly not deep. We even swam through the falls and touched the wall behind it! Just an exhilarating experience.

Left: Wli Waterfall
Right: Me standing in the pool at the base of the Falls after our swim

From there we took off to Likpe Todome where there is a network of 6 caves and a nearby waterfall. Little did we know that it was going to be at the top of a ‘mountain’ higher than Afadjato. After arguing over the price with the visitor centre guy (we read at both previously visited site that it was 3.50 Ghana cedis and he tried to charge us 4.50 with a big. goofy grin on his face that gave him away), and then over the taxi ride price for the day, which had already been agreed upon, we departed for the caves in somewhat of a bitter mood. That is also something that is common in Ghana. The Ghanaians see our white skin and assume that we have no idea how much things are and try to gauge you. This is extremely frustrating when you find yourself in a situation where you don’t have many other options. But may I note that I, with a very calm speech and by biting my tongue, managed to get them back to the real price. Niv told me she was impressed. Back to the caves, at the speed which they were going, I was feeling pretty tired but nothing unmanageable, but poor Niv was having a tough time. Not wanting her to get sick and knowing from the previous day how she must feel, I urged the others to continue on and Niv and I agreed that we would continue at a slower pace. Frank, the second guide, remained with us and carried her backpack. About half way up, she couldn’t do it anymore, so we decided to start back down and to go see the waterfall nearby. I was somewhat disappointed, but after talking to the others and realizing that the caves were essentially rock climbing without a harness, I was relieved that we got to see the waterfall instead. Also a beautiful sight , it was more secluded reached by a small footpath through a stream and the thick, luscious foliage of the jungle. It was neat to still be able to hear about the caves and see pictures without having to be in the “one wrong move and you’re dead” situation. We went home that night, Ann-Kristin (A.K.) went to grab the tro-tro back to Accra, and the rest of us ate dinner and went to bed pretty early so that we could get up early the next morning for the last adventure of our trip.

Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary
Although I was the one adamant on getting up at 5am to ensure we did not miss the cute, furry little creatures that we were going to visit at the Monkey Sanctuary, that dreadful hour in the morning came way to early. Niv opted out of attending having convinced herself that she would definitely be seeing monkeys at some other point in her remaining two months in Ghana or during her following camping escapades through South Africa. So the Maya, Jason, and I headed out to grab a tro-tro. Since you have to wait for the tro-tros to fill up before they will leave, we were not on the road until 6:30am. We still arrived at the junction (turn off) for Tafi Atome before 7am and sat on the back of a flatbed truck down the 5km road to the village. Our guide took us to get bananas and made a kissing noise in the direction of the bush and we were off. Two minutes into our walk into the jungle, we could hear the Chief of the Monkeys - Commando - answering the kissing noises made by our guide. When we turned deeper in it was a short time until he showed himself. From his size, it is no wonder that he is the chief of the monkeys. Mona monkeys are pretty small and he was about twice the size of most of them. They were swinging in the trees like crazy coming closer in the hopes of getting some of the bananas we brought. We each had the chance to feed them. It was absolutely incredible. I have a new goal to go see monkeys as much as I can while I am here!

Left: Me feeding Monkeys
Right: Monkey up in a tree hoping for a banana

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. We had a rather uneventful trip home aside from having to get out at a Customs Checkpoint and explain why none of us had our passports on us. It was no big deal and they let us go pretty quickly but it became pretty clear that the only reason we were stopped was because they saw us on the tro-tro.

Trip to The Hideout

First Trip With Friends
This past weekend, Maya and I were supposed to attend a work event Saturday in Accra. There was a Health Walk being held about 20 minutes from us in Celebration of International Credit Union Day in the Greater Accra Region. We found out somewhat last minute that we would have to attend, and then very last minute that we no longer had to since no one from our department would be attending. (It's slightly disorganized...)

So Friday, we found ourselves heading home on the Tro-tro somewhat discouraged because we had promised a friend we would attend an engagement party with him on Sunday therefore ruining our possibilities of taking the LONG WEEKEND to travel. Luckily, we talked to our friend and he understood. We told him we would LOVE to attend any other events with him but since we had three free days, we would really like to take advantage of that fact and travel.

The September group of Volunteer Abroad Volunteers as well as some of our housemates, Poppo (the Country Co-ordinator), and Jason, one of the October Volunteers were travelling to a resort called Green Turtle Lodge that is an EcoLodge. It sounded amazing running on solar power, having self-composting toilets, and being right on the beach! So we planned to leave early Saturday morning with Poppo and Jason to go and meet the rest of the group who had travelled there on Thursday.

Well in true Ghanaian fashion, early turned into 10:45am. (P.S. As I write this, the Best of Céline Dion is blaring on the stereo in Sharpnet, the internet café...no joke. They seem to love her here. Oh dear, the Titanic Theme has just begun :S) Anyways, sorry for the sidebar. By the time we took off and dropped off Jason's stuff at his Homestay placement in Swedru, we finally heard back from Green Turtle Lodge via text message (the cell phone reception there is not very good). Unfortunately, they had no rooms available. So we booked a room for four at The Hideout which we got the impression was nearby.

Top Left: Poppo, Maya & Jason in the tro-tro on the way to Swedru where we dropped off all Jason's stuff at his host family's en route to The Hideout
Top Right:Poppo napping on Maya on our way from Swedru to Takoradi
Bottom: Me & Poor Jason who got the worst tro-tro seat ever and had to endure having no real seatback for 4 hours:

The Hideout
We arrived at The Hideout at 6:30pm on Saturday night. We had to cross a footbridge to get there. It is located between a river and the ocean on a very secluded beach. No wonder it is called 'The Hideout' We ordered food right away since we were starving and they still needed to prepare our room. It arrived about an hour later (typical here) and then the power went out. So we ate by headlamp and flashlight until it started to pour. At that point, we followed George, the keeper at The Hideout to our bungalow. We dropped off our stuff, set up mosquito nets, Poppo passed out, and we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the beach. It was incredible to watch the sky light up over the beach from the lightening. Not the smartest move, but after travelling that far, we had to go in. The water was incredibly refreshing and so we spent some time dancing on the beach in the rain until we headed up for a pre-bedtime drink and then retired for the night.

Upper Left: Our bungalow
Upper Middle: Close up of view from our bungalow
Upper Right: Me on the footbridge leading to The Hideout
Lower Right: Our beach

The Best Tro-Tro Ride Ever & Green Turtle Lodge
Saturday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and backtracked into Agona - a little town where we had to catch a tro-tro to Green Turtle since there was no direct vehicle from The Hideout. From there, we were very pleased to board a tro-tro where we could all sit by one another in the backseat. It appeared to be ordinary - we were wrong! Once it was full, the driver and mate (the man who calls the stops) closed up the back doors. I thought it was odd that they then tied some twine together at the back but thought maybe they were tying something one. We took off and pulled out of the tro-tro station onto the main street in Agona which has potholes large enough to fit cows and small elephants in. As we moved through each, we quickly learned that the twine at the back was to hold the back doors on the tro-tro. With each bump, the whole frame of the tro-tro shifted and our seat plummeted backwards as it appeared to only be held down by one bar. We could not contain our laughter.

We stopped once along the way to pick up some people and supplies which included a MASSIVE boat motor which three guys had to lift onto the top of the tro-tro. I joked that at least when we hit a big, full pothole, and the back doors flew open and our seat ejected us, we would have a boat motor to help us move through and navigate the pothole. It is unbelievable how many people and objects they can get into and on these vehicles. And I am pretty sure that the only qualification for a tro-tro to be on the road is that is has a working horn.

Anyways, we arrived at Green Turtle Lodge in one piece just howling about the trip. The Lodge itself is incredible. It has a large solar panel on which the entire place is run. The beach is gorgeous and litter-free which is a rarity in Accra. There were little cabins that sleep up to 7, a bar, tables and chairs, and a volleyball net. Not to far away is the "secret beach", but we did not have enough time to visit it. It was nice to spend some time swimming and exploring the beach with our friends. At the end of the night, Poppo decided to stay behind to spend an extra night with the volunteers, and Jason, Maya & I took a somewhat private tro-tro back to The Hideout where we lied on the beach by the fire star gazing and chatting.

Upper Left: Maya & I on the Beach at Green Turtle
Right: The bar & eating area at Green Turtle
Lower Left: The bungalows

Canoe Ride and Trip to a Fort
On Sunday, we booked an early morning canoe ride down the river in hopes of spotting crocodiles, monkeys, and birds. Birds we saw lots of, but we were too late to see any other wildlife. We did however learn that we could travel to a nearby fort built by the Dutch in 1640, so we arranged that tour with our guide for after breakfast. It was a very quick ascent to the fort which was incredible and offered amazing views of Butre, the town below. Once we finished, we had lunch, packed up and took off for Accra (and Jason for Swedru along the way).

Left: Our Canoe ride on the river
Right: The fort built by the Dutch in 1640

The adventure did not stop there though. After Maya and I waited an hour for the STC bus which we thought to be air conditioned, more comfortable, and more reliable, we found ourselves on a sweltering bus that broke down once on the way home and smelled funny and made a very worrisome noise every time we sped up afterwards. Great adventure though. We have booked Green Turtle with a couple of friends for New Year's Eve. I cannot wait!

I am the worst blogger ever...

Hello all!

I hope everything is fabulously fantastic with you and yours. I have not been a very good journaller or blogger as of late. The lack of internet at our house makes it difficult because I always seem to run out of time when I am at the Internet Cafés! Although right now I am sitting in a fairly posh one with air conditioning, about 40-50 computers, and decently fast internet.

First and foremost HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON!!! I know you hate the recognition, but face it: you're getting old and we should celebrate that fact!

YOUTH LEADERSHIP & BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE CONFERENCE: YOUTH TODAY, LEADERS TOMORROW & BEYOND!
What have I been up to for the past three weeks? Well I have not yet written about the National Conference that we had to organize and lead. September 21st-24th, 2007 CUA's Youth Savings & HIV/AIDS Department hosted a conference for Youth Savings Club (YSC) members at Bunso Cocoa College in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The site itself was beautiful with large trees, colourful plans, and lizards running around all over the place. The scary/gross things that I saw were the vultures sitting on virtually every roof my eyes turned to and trees and the MASSIVE snail that Maya happened to kick on our way to the bathhouse one night after the rain.

I have uploaded a short story about the conference on the side bar under "SHORT STORIES". The conference proved to be quite the experience and quite a contrast to the type of schedule/conference/leadership program I am used to running. I had absolutely no idea what was going to come next, what was going to get cut, etc.. The schedule that I had very neatly made up with events, times, persons responsibles, duties, etc. was not even remotely followed (Mark I thought of you and how distressed you would be at a conference here! It is SO different than at home!). Luckily there were highlights with the wonderful, young people who attended. From their beautiful prayer and singing in the morning to singing, jokes, and riddles during the lights out period one evening, it was an incredible experience. Since the conference, we have visited some of the schools and had incredibly warm receptions from the students who had attended the conference.

ILLNESS ABROAD
I feel as though I have not done all that much as of late since I was sick for about a week's time. One of the volunteers from Volunteer Abroad Canada came back to the house from her placement to stay because she was ill. Her flu lasted quite a while and whatever it was just loved our house because it is still making its way through those who stay in the house. It was very interesting to see how people react when you miss work due to illness. I looked like hell, but I just had the flu - something that I would sleep off at home. Here, Mama Cate visited twice a day to make sure that I was alright and to force me to eat something. She tried to convince me to eat tomato soup (not good for my upset tummy!) or fish (ick...) and was adamant that I should take medication or visit the clinic (hospital). Every time I would have to explain that I just needed to sleep it off. She asked Maya if we didn't trust the nurses or doctors here and she had to explain that we just don't go to the doctor everytime we are ill in Canada.

Just touched up this blog entry (from Oct 11)because I actually ran out of time last week when I tried to send it. So posting it now before that happens again! Will try to get an update on my past weekend's trip in a new posting! Maybe I will eventually get some more pictures up here too when we get internet back up at home!