Welcome to Ghana

Welcome to Ghana

Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Volta Region

Ghana has so much to offer. This past weekend we had the opportunity to venture to the Volta Region, one of Ghana’s ten regions. Most known for Mount Afadja (the highest mountain in all of Ghana), the Volta region is full of mountains, waterfalls, and greenery. We visited the largest waterfall in West Africa, Wli Waterfall, as well as a Monkey Sanctuary… but more on that later!

The drive to the waterfall consisted of the normal singing of Ghanaian songs, and at one point due to the rain we got temporarily stuck in the mud. We all felt bad for our bus and van drivers, Uncle Daniel and Uncle Soloman, because they had to get out on the mud road during the pouring rain to try and push the vehicles out of the gloppy mud. At this point it was pouring rain and there was a roaring thunder and lightening storm. On the bright side though, we got to see some beautiful lightening! You know those calendar photos where there is a gorgeous mountain in the background and somehow the photographer got lucky enough to shoot the photo at the EXACT right moment to get the most beautiful photo of lightening that you have ever seen? Photos such as this one:



That’s what it looked like. It was beautiful. Using the “lightening distance” method (i.e. counting the seconds between the lightening and thunder) we determined we were 1/5 of a mile away from several strikes of lightening… which was scary because we were planning to go hike up the largest waterfall in West Africa. The program coordinators reassured us that everything would be okay, and they were right! 

After the 45 minute hike to the bottom of the waterfall, despite it pouring rain, most everyone went swimming.





I decided to test my rain jacket (it works!) by wearing it around the waterfall. I’d say it was a successful decision because while everyone was freezing cold on the 4.5 hour bus ride to the hotel, I was a lovely temperature. The bus ride to the hotel was only supposed to be 2.5 hours, but due to Ghana’s lack of street names and limited Google Maps access, we made a wrong turn that took us in the wrong direction for almost an hour. When we finally got to the hotel is was very foggy, which is a type of weather I had yet to experience in Ghana. For the first time since coming here, I was cold (relatively) while I was outside. It was very refreshing. 

The next day we ventured to the capital of the Volta Region, a city called Ho. In Ho we got to feed the wild Mono monkeys who live in the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. Initially I did not have any interest in feeding the monkeys. I have never particularly liked monkeys and I wasn’t to fond of the idea of them surrounding me; however, it turned out to be magical. Upon arriving, the sanctuary staff told us that we would not be playing with the monkeys, but rather the monkeys would be playing with us. The Mona monkeys, commonly found throughout West Africa, live in families, with the elder of the group be called the “Grandpa.” He is often the biggest monkey and makes decisions for the group. There are many superstitions revolving around the monkeys, such as how if two monkeys jump on you at the same time you will give birth to twins, if there are three you will have triplets (and so on). Twins run in my family, but fortunately for me the monkeys say I won’t be having any. It is also said that humans can never see a dead monkey, and that monkeys will barry each other upon their deaths.

The monkeys are very smart. If a banana was already peeled when it was presented to a monkey, they would not eat it for fear of it being poisoned. If a banana fell in the dirt, they would use their noses to rub off the dirt and the proceed to eat. And if you just stood there holding out your banana, they would jump on you without any notice, steal your banana, and run away. 



Once the monkeys landed, they wrapped their tails around our necks for support. The lucky ones in our group got to watch the monkey eat the banana as it sat on them rather than have it just steal their banana. 


After playing with the monkeys and doing some shopping, it was time to venture back to Greater Accra. But unfortunately it was not that simple. After driving for an hour or two, the air conditioning in the bus started to malfunction, and the windows refused to open. So there you had it, 20 University of California and California State University students sitting in an oven during the hottest part of the day in West Africa. It was almost a blessing a few moments later when the bus broke down because it allowed everyone to get off of the bus. Although it was blistering hot outside, it was nothing like being crammed in a bus with no AC and closed windows. We were stranded on the side of the road in a small village somewhere in the Volta region for just over two hours. The villagers were very friendly and accommodating. They helped repair the clutch on the bus and walked us to various hidden shops where we were able to buy lunch. 



The weekend was very eventful to say the least. Auntie Rose (the UCEAP Program Coordinator) was kind enough to have hot pizza waiting for us after the long journey home. Wli Waterfall and the Mono Monkeys were just two things Ghana had to offer that I never dreamed I could experience. 

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