Volta Region: Wli Waterfalls & Monkey Sanctuary

This past weekend I traveled to Volta Region which is East and North of Accra. I traveled with my friends Kelly, Katherine, and Jenna. We left Accra around five on Friday after Jenna and Kelly got out of classes. We really didn't do a whole lot of planning for the trip. I packed an hour before we left and we caught a taxi to Tema Trotro station. When we arrived we asked around for the Ho trotro, since that is where we were going. The driver told us the last one for the day had just left, but he pointed us in the direction of a different station just outside the main station. So we walked on through the many vendors in the market and on towards the main road where sure enough we found a dingy little sign for Ho and a trotro with four seats available. We hopped in with our bags and paid the 7 cedi fare. Trotros, as I have mentioned are more or less large vans packed to full capacity. And they will not leave the station until they fill all the seats. You could be waiting for hours in some cases before it is filled and ready to leave. Luckily we never ran into anything too bad. And as you can imagine, there are no time tables for when they are to leave. It's basically hit or miss.

But we hopped on and it wasn't too long before the last seat was filled. In the meantime we bought plantain chips and other snacks for the ride. There are always women and men selling items in the streets through windows. I have seen women run after trotros to get their customer's their food and make sure they get their money. It is actually quite convenient.

Once we got going we hit massive traffic and it took us at least an hour just to get out of Accra, let alone to get to Ho. The ride there was probably about four, four and a half hours in all. Coming home, however, it was an easy three hours. As we got further away from Accra the scenery got more green and lush and the air became fresh and crisp. I could smell the rain in the air and sure enough we were hit with some strong downpours and thunderstorms. I actually rather enjoyed the ride with the windows down and the fresh air coming in. I felt connected to Ghana. It was a simple happiness.

When we arrived in Ho we caught a taxi to the house we stayed at. It was a volunteer house owned by a friend of a friend of Katherine's. It was a simple house. The outside as well as many of the rooms inside were a vibrant pink. There was no real furniture, just mattresses and sleep sacks pile din a room that could be laid out in the spare rooms.

Saturday we woke up early and caught a taxi back to the trotro station we arrived in the night before. From there we caught a trotro to Hohoe, but we got off in Tafi Atome to visit the monkey sanctuary. The second we stepped out of the trotro we were all being pulled in different directions. I was so confused and it took me a few moments to figure out what was going on because we were all a little disoriented from the ride. I soon remembered that we were taking motor bikes to the sanctuary and it was the drivers trying to make sure they got their business. Each of us climbed on the back of a motor bike and were off. I think that may have been one of the highlights of the day. It was fun, speeding along each other with the wind in our faces and enjoying the passing scenery. Motor bikes are a definite plus in my book!

The monkey sanctuary itself was really awesome. Our guide was Emmanuel, a young kid about our age. We walked about five minutes into the surrounding rain forest and Emmanuel made a call to the monkeys. They are Mona monkeys, by the way, part of the Old World Monkey classification (I slightly nerded out before the trip and went back

to look up all my old slides from my Primates and Anthropology course). At first just the alpha male came out and Emmanuel threw him a banana. Yes! the myth is true! Monkeys do indeed like bananas. Soon more and more monkeys came out. It was really pretty amazing to watch them jump from the branches and get real close, timid at first, but still comfortable. When we gave them the bananas they actually peeled them open themselves. Emmanuel showed us how to hold the banana far enough away from the trees so that they were forced to jump on our arms and eat the banana from there. I had a monkey on my arm! Super cool. I felt its padded little feet grab at my hands and arm. Our distant cousins man!! I think I found a new love an appreciation for our friendly little cousins.

After we chilled with the Mona monkeys to our hearts content we caught a trotro the rest of the way to Hohoe where the waterfalls are. The hike in was beautiful. It is always refreshing to get back to nature and that was just what we did. I think the best part of the hike was the butterflies. I have never seen so many butterflies before. They literally flew out from beneath your feet as we walked along. They were many different sizes and colors. Some of them were super flirtatious, flying real close to you, landing for a second and then flying away again, beckoning you to follow. But of course the real beauty of the hike was the waterfall.

The Wli waterfall, pronounced like Vli, is such a powerful waterfall that it creates its own waves in the pool beneath it, and the mist created from it hitting below flows off in all directions creating a looming cloud of mist that is swept up in a current of air and moistens all who stand too close. After arriving back in Ho that night we were all exhausted. All I remember is laying down on my mattress thinking how I could do something else with the day, and next thing I know I wake up and its dark outside and the three volunteers staying in the house had returned. I passed out so hard. It was the sort of sleep where you wake up and you physically feel like you had sunk into your bed and it left you sore with sleep. It was good sleep.

Sunday morning we up and left and headed back home. To Legon. It is nice to call it home. It feels like home.

Much love from Ghana.

Katie