I am sorry that my blogs have been lackluster over the past
few weeks but my work at the hospital has been mostly the same and a few
unfortunate circumstances have meant that we haven't traveled in a while. But I
can assure you that this blog post will make up for it and then some.
The
story begins on Saturday morning. We woke up around 6 in the morning planning to
head a few hours north into the Eastern region of Ghana. The Eastern region is
located in the center of Ghana, just above Greater Accra. We had read in the
guidebook that there were a few interesting places to see, including a palm
tree with six heads and a cool waterfall. We headed to the station and got onto
a trotro heading to Aburi around 9 o’clock. We realized soon after we left that
we wanted to go farther north than Aburi, but figured that catching a second
trotro once we were there would not be difficult... We were incorrect. Aburi is
a small town located on the top of a hill, just outside of Accra. As our trotro
struggled to pull us up the mountain roads, we got some pretty awesome views of
the land below us. As we arrived in Aburi we were informed by a taxi driver (a
very biased source of information) that to get 30 minutes north to Mamfe we
could only take a taxi. We were forced to pile 6 people into a single taxi, not
including the driver (4 in the back and 2 in the front seat) which was rather
uncomfortable.
When we
arrived in Mamfe we expected that a short trotro ride would take us to the
6-headed palm tree located shortly outside of the small town. Unfortunately we
were again wrong and finally got another taxi, again overflowing with Obroni's,
to this palm tree. Mind you several people just wanted to skip the palm tree
because it was beginning to seem like too much effort, and I admit that I
myself had doubts. Our driver pulled off on the side of the road next to a
cornfield and pointed out the path. We weren't even sure he had understood
where exactly we wanted to go but we went anyway. As we came upon the palm tree
most of us were unimpressed. From the side it simply looks like a rather large
palm tree with several branches. But as we got closer I was really impressed.
The tree is truly massive and it starts out as one giant trunk but then
branches into six normal sized trunks (I will post pictures today). We took
turns climbing up in the tree and then managed to fit all 6 of us into this
tree. The pictures will tell the story better than I can. We headed back to the
taxi and asked him to take us to the next town so we could catch a trotro. This
meant another half hour on bumpy roads with 6 people in a taxi. I think to the
Ghanaians it looked like one of those clown cars, where 20 clowns climb out and
everyone is wondering how they all fit inside.
The
next town was Adawso and we managed to get a trotro there that took us to
Koforidua, another 45 minutes north. Koforidua is the capital of the Eastern
region, so we stayed for a while to check it out. They have a massive market
with anything you can imagine, including some of the ugliest fish I have ever
seen. We managed to get ourselves lost for about an hour before everyone found
each other again. We decided, finally, to head to Boti falls and caught a
trotro heading north.
We were
dropped off at Boti falls in the middle of a rainforest. I was excited as we
walked up to the entrance but then saw that it cost a whopping 10 cedi to get in, and there was no discount
for volunteers. To put this in perspective it’s about 6 dollars, which doesn't
seem like much, but nothing in Ghana costs that much. I can buy a whole outfit
of clothes or a day’s worth of meals and not pay 10 cedi. They also told us we
wouldn't be able to swim without a guide and the place seemed touristy, so we
decided to walk to another set of falls nearby, Akaa falls (different than the
Akaa project village). We never made it.
As we
were walking along the road though the forest, one of my housemates noticed a
path going into the woods. They decided to find out what it led to and I
reluctantly followed. We weaved our way through the forest for a short while
before the path opened onto a clearing. The path got narrower at this point;
just barely wide enough to notice it was there. We were wading through hip high
grass and prickers, and I found myself praying that none of us were going to
get bitten by a snake. The path then opened onto a valley and it was one of the
most beautiful things I have ever seen. We were on one cliff and we could see
across to the other side, about 500 yards away. It looked as though we had
stumbled upon some hidden place where no other human being had been before (except
for whoever had made the path). It started to rain slowly so we decided to go
back and take cover back under the trees. The rain in Ghana can get really
serious, very fast and we didn't want to get ourselves into any serious danger.
We waited about 20 minutes and the rain subsided a bit so we continued on. The
path turned along the side of the hill, so we were walking about 300 or 400
feet above the valley on a skinny mud path. We came upon several rocky cliffs
and caves, and I wished I knew how to climb. The whole experience made me feel
like Bear Grylls. We finally came to a clearing that had a corn field down in
the valley. We decided to turn back because it was getting late and Ghana has
sun down around 6:30. We did not want to get caught out here at night.
As we
began walking back the rain started to pick up again and the path got muddier.
Everybody started slipping and falling on this path and every once in a while
the path would give way beneath a foot. We finally made it back to the treeline
and it started to pour. In Africa, when it pours it comes down in buckets. It
absolutely does not mess around. Even in the forest we all got drenched, soaked
through to the bone. We made it back to the road without event but as we
started walking back towards civilization, there was not a car in sight. After a
couple mile walk in the rain we made it to a small village with about 5 simple
mud houses and the people sitting out on the porch invited us in. We sat under
some random Ghanaian's roof for a half hour trying to dry ourselves and
watching the rain continue to come down at a record rate. They were the nicest
people, allowing my housemate Rosa to change in one of the houses and bringing
benches for us to sit on. They even went out into the rain to hail us a trotro.
When one finally stopped for us we rushed out and piled inside. I was the last
one in and I think I am lucky to have made it. The trotro was packed with about
20 people (no exaggeration) and as I sat down the mate (guy who opens the door
and collects money) handed me this little 4 or 5 year old girl to hang onto. He
was squatting in front of me and I was holding this little girl between my
legs. At first I was only holding her up when the trotro came to sudden stops
but as we went along I could feel I was doing more and more work. I finally
realized that this little girl had fallen asleep in my arms. I leaned back a
little bit and did my best to support her as the trotro bumped and swerved
along a terrible Ghana road. We finally came to a stop and the mate took her,
while her mother departed from the trotro. I think they got a good laugh out of
the fact that the little girl had fallen asleep on an Obroni. I was sad to see
her go. Out of all the crazy adventurous stuff that happened that day, I think
this was the most incredible. We continued along back to Koforidua and were
dropped off around 6 o'clock, still soaking wet and not sure what we were doing
next.
We
decided to just take a trotro back to Accra that night as most everyone had
enough adventure to last them for weeks. First we walked around to find a place
to change into some dry clothes. We went to All Nations University College and
the security guard was so helpful, showing us to the bathrooms to change.
Unfortunately my change of clothes in my backpack was wet as well so I did my
best to dry off and wash the dirt off my legs in the sink. My shoes were soaked
and so I took them off and walked barefoot to the trotro station down the
street. We got on a trotro back to Accra and my housemate Mica and I watched as
my other housemates fell asleep on one another. I don't know how anyone can
fall asleep on a trotro on Ghana roads in the middle of the night. But I guess
everyone had overdosed a little bit on adventure.
We
never made it to a waterfall. We all had cuts, scrapes, bruises and bugbites.
Everyone was totally exausted, dirty and wet. But it was entirely worth it. I
will post pictures as soon as I can, and I hope they do this story justice.
This one is unforgettable. I can't wait for what we do next.
Twi for the Day: Ok = Yo
