The Return Home

               For one of my last posts I would like to rate all my different experiences in Ghana. It should be interesting as well as extremely informative to future volunteers or tourists who want to know what were the most interesting experiences I had. Everything I did in Ghana was worthwhile and I wouldn’t take any of my experiences back for anything. But some parts were better than others so here are the ratings. 

Accra               B+

        I did not love living in a big city such as Accra because it is hectic and the very crowded. The worst parts are the traffic and the trash. However it does provide for plenty of places to explore and interesting things to do. Some of the places to definitely check out are Osu (although it is Obroni central), Tema station, Circle, Lascala, and Teshie-Nungua. Also try to check out Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum to learn about Ghana’s very influential first president. We did not get to go which I regret.  

        Labadi Beach Reggae night                    C-

            I went twice and did not really enjoy it. There is live music and often performances but it doesn’t start till 11 pm on Wednesday night which is inconvenient for most volunteers. Also it is flooded with Rasta’s enjoying some “herbs” and Obronis (often also there just to enjoy the herbs). 

      Accra Art Center                                      F

                I am not an art enthusiast but the merchandise here is very nice. Unfortunately all of the vendors are incredibly pushy and aggressive and the prices are outrageous. You can find the same quality things other places in Ghana although with a bit more effort. 

        Global Mommas                                      A

                An NGO started by some volunteers that teaches jobless Ghanaian women to make clothing and other crafts. The store then sells this high quality merchandise and a portion of the profits maintain the NGO. The prices are a bit higher but they have some very cool gifts that you won’t find anywhere else and it goes to a good cause. 

        Jamestown                                               B-

            Most guidebooks will tell you to visit the lighthouse and fort in Jamestown but it was pretty unimpressive. Go to Jamestown or Ushertown and walk around if you wish to experience extreme poverty and have a reality check but it is not a tourist destination. 

Volta Region              A+

      Volta region is amazingly beautiful with much fewer people and mountains all around. It is also the least visited region in Ghana, so you can escape all the tourists. The best parts are Wli (Agumatsa) Waterfalls, Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, and the Bead Market in Odumase-Krobo (trotro to Kpong). There are plenty of other places to visit that sounded incredible but I did not get the chance to do. Check out Likpe Caves/waterfall, and Amadwofe Mountain.

Eastern Region           A+

      Eastern region may have surpassed Volta region in its beauty. Go to the capital Koforidua, which is only a short 2 to 3 hour trotro from Accra (Great for a day trip!), and walk around the city a bit. Also a must is the Akaa village and Umbrella rock. The people are wonderful and the views can’t be beat. If you are willing to drive around a bit then check out the six-headed palm tree near Mamfe as well. There are 3 or 4 different waterfalls in this region as well including Akaa, Boti and   , which would be worth it as well although I only saw Akaa falls. 

Central Region                       A-

        The main attraction of the central region is Cape Coast. Definitely a necessity to go and visit the Slave castles in Cape Coast and Elmina. One of the main tourist attractions is Kakum National Park. It was an interesting experience but very busy and expensive so I don’t know whether it was worthwhile. More interesting was the Monkey Forest Resort located just down the street where you can see lots of African animals (although unfortunately not completely wild). Also a good time was Wassa Domama rock shrine although I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a full day and a burning desire for adventure. Lastly I didn’t make it to Hans Cottage but for about 5 cedi you can see crocodiles up close and personal which I think would be worthwhile. 

Food

      Fufu                                                               C (Akaa village Fufu though… A)

        Banku                                                          D

        Ground Nut Soup                                        B+

        Light Soup                                                   B

        Okra Stew                                                   B-

        Pepe                                                             D-

        Jollof Rice                                                   A

        Waakye                                                       A-

        Fried Plantain                                             A+

        Fried Ginger Plantain                                A++

        Redred                                                        B

        Grilled Street Corn                                     A

        Boiled Corn                                                B+

        Fried Yam                                                    A

        Bofrut                                                          A+++

        Alvaro                                                         A+

        FanIce/FanChoco/FanYogo                        A+

Return to Volta

I made a return trip to the Volta region this weekend with some of our newer volunteers Takeru, Emily, and Lucy. I have been planning on going back ever since I first saw how beautiful the region was and I was excited to show it off to some fresh eyes. I took it upon myself to organize the trip, making the travel plans and booking all the accommodations. It was rather stressful since nothing in Ghana ever goes according to plan but as long as you have a sense of humor and are willing to make adjustments, it always works out.

                We left Friday night for Kpong (pronounced Pong), a small city that is about 2 hours from Accra. We had to wait a while for the trotro to fill up so we ended up traveling at night yet again. It is not an experience I would recommend since the drivers go around 80 mph on a crummy one lane road. There is also a quite real danger of armed robbers stopping the trotro and relieving us of all of our belongings (so real in fact that it even worries Ghanaians). I always end up staring wide-eyed out the front of the trotro as we narrowly avoid accident after accident, using my imaginary brake to no avail. We ended up arriving safe and found the place I had booked us to stay. The next morning we went to the Bead Market in nearby Odumase-Krobo. It was 50 yd² of tables on tables of beads, bracelets, necklaces and jewelry. The beads are made locally the old fashioned way (not with machines) and so we all got tons of beads either for ourselves or as gifts. One highlight was the fishbone necklace that my housemate Mica picked up.

                Afterwards we continued on to Ho, the capital of the Volta region. We briefly saw Ho which is a rather large city but much more laid back than Accra. After walking around a bit we made our way up to Wli. It was just as beautiful as I remembered it; the sun was shining, big green mountains were all around and several waterfalls were visible high up in the hills. We started to make our way up to the falls. I was telling my housemates all about the falls when the guide decided to head back. He decided that since I had been there before there was no use for him, and he might as well go home. I decided that I could finish the tour myself so we continued to the falls. There had not been as much rain this time around so the falls were not as strong as the first time around. But this allowed for a bit more enjoyable experience, allowing us to actually see the falls and take some pictures without getting pelted with water.

                The next day we caught a trotro to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary so I could visit some old friends. There were a few more Obronis feeding the monkeys this time around but it was enjoyable none the less. So we all fed some monkeys and took a short ride on some motorbikes before heading home. Yet another great trip to the Volta region.Check out some of the incredible pictures as well. 

Beads at the Odumase-Krobo bead market

Mona Monkey at Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary

Taking a motorbike ride back to the main road

Just over that hill is Togo

The Wli waterfalls a little more tame this time around

The morning after a crazy amount of rain in Wli. I kept waking up to see if the water was coming in under the door.

They definitely remembered me from my first visit

Can't Miss Pictures of the Ho Trip

A Mona Monkey sitting on a latter in the Monkey Sanctuary.

My housemate Mica feeding a banana to a friendly monkey who jumped onto her arm.

Couple of Monkeys fighting over a banana that Chris is holding out.

My Housemate Rosa watching a monkey as it hangs from a bamboo limb to grab the banana.

A Mona Monkey sitting in the Bamboo tree. These monkeys are considered sacred and at one point were worshiped by the people that lived in this region.

My Housemate Mitchell Standing by the waterfall, which is almost all of the way in view. It was very hard to take pictures of it because the spray from the fall would get the cameras wet.

The river below the falls which was raging after an entire day of rain.

A cocoa tree in the Volta region. One of Ghana's main products is Cocoa, and it is grown in much of the northern regions.

The top of the waterfall, slightly obscured by the tree. I could not seem to fit the whole thing into one picture.

A giant millipede, they were quite common in the forests.

Trip to Ho

                 We got another new volunteer the other day; her name is Mica (pronounced myka not meka). She is actually from the states, New York in fact, so I am no longer the only American in the house. She goes to Connecticut College, which is a small liberal arts college in Connecticut (and from talking with her is basically Wooster). She is here with the human rights internship, which brings the odds 4 to 1 of legal to medical humanitarians in the house. Anyway my housemates and I, as well as two people from their work went up to Ho for the weekend. Ho is about 4 hours northeast of Accra, located in the Volta region. It is a city but not nearly as big as Accra, and so it has a much more rural feel that is more common to Ghana. This area of Ghana is known for its mountains, lakes and waterfalls and I have to say it was amazing; Small mountains all around and almost no sign of people for miles at a time. 

                  We went up on Saturday morning and went just north of Ho to the Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary. I will post pictures of the entire trip but I am not sure even they give the experience justice. The monkeys are free to roam but they travel in large groups and so you see  20 or 30 monkeys swarm when the guide calls them. Everybody is handed a banana and the monkey literally peels it in your hand and grabs a piece (or steals the whole banana if you’re not careful). The monkey’s act so much like humans that it is scary. Having a monkey sit on your shoulder and eat a banana out of your hand should be an item on everybody's bucket list.

                   As we were riding back to the main road on the back of a motorcycle (sorry mom) it started pouring down rain. We got drenched and it continued rained the whole rest of the day. I am telling you, I have never seen so much rain in my whole life. We were headed farther north on a trotro to see some waterfalls but we had to postpone till Sunday due to the rain. We found a surprisingly nice hotel in Wli, the town next to the falls. We got two rooms for 50 Cedi TOTAL(that’s like 30 bucks). We had been traveling all day and so walked into town (consisting of one street with maybe twenty shops and some houses) to find some food. We walked into a place that was absolutely blasting their music and some locals dancing. I have two left feet when it comes to dancing so I kept my butt in a chair but a couple of my roommates danced with the locals. Mica is actually a dancer so she got up and was shown some local moves. We met a little girl also who seemed quite fond of us. However she only spoke Ewe (local language of the Volta region) and so we could not understand a word she said. She was incredibly cute and didn't seem to shy to dance with the local Obroni's. Unfortunately when we went to say goodbye the next day she cried; I hope we make it back up to Wli to see her.

                The next morning we woke up and went to the waterfall.  It is a 45 minute hike to the bottom of the lower falls but it is well worth it and we saw some of the most interesting things on the walk. There are huge millipedes (about as long as your hand and as thick as your thumb) that come across the trail and freak a few of my housemates out.  The river also winds through the forest and it was overflowing from the previous days rain (the rapids looked incredible). When we got within 100 yards of the falls it began to rain. But as we got closer we realized that it wasn’t rain but the mist from the falls. The waterfall is so powerful that you can feel the wind coming off of it and you get soaked if your anywhere near it. We walked as close to the falls as we could get and tried to take a little swim, but this was rather difficult since the water threatened to wash us away at any minute. The falls are so powerful that when you get close it is almost impossible to see because the spray coming off blasts you in the face. It was an indescribable experience. I looked it up and the Wli falls are the highest in Ghana at 260 ft. I highly recommend the trip; I found it even more impressive and way more fun than Niagra falls. The drive out is a little rough because the roads have huge potholes and the trotro or bus drivers drive like the cops are after them. But if you can stomach a few bumps and swerves then it is well worth the 4-6 hour trip.

                Check out the next post which will be put up today with pictures of the Ho trip. I will post again next weekend with pictures of our trip to Cape Coast. I also want to give a shout out to my mom’s 3^rd/4^th grade class who were nice enough to skype me last week to learn a bit about Ghana. If they have any other questions I would love to hear them and some of the pictures I am posting should satisfy their previous requests.

Twi of the Day:                  Ani                         Eyes

                                         Aso                        Ears

                                         Ano                        Mouth

                                         Boapea                   Monkey