Travelling adventures

So I finally got to travel without the umbrella of ISEP this week. Tuesday morning I ran into a couple of girls in my program who said they were going to Boti Falls and I should come. I didn't need to be told twice even though I had never heard of the falls before, I had been itching to travel and get out of Accra. Ten minutes later we were heading out, yay for spontaneity! I love being spontaneous, and it was definitely worth it!

We took a series of tro-tros to get there; it took between three and a half to four hours in all and about three cedi... not bad at all. At Boti Falls, we hired a guide who led us to umbrella rock, a rock that truly does look like an umbrella, and to the palm tree with three trunks(I got cool pictures of both). It was very beautiful and the path seemed quite treachorous at places. By the time we finished the hike, my legs weren't the only ones shaking from the exertion. We were all quite photo happy which I thihnk annoyed our guide Joseph a little because it slowed us down.

The falls themselves were by far the best part; I could not help but wonder at the glory of God witnessed in His creation. There were two falls probably fifty feet high cascading into a pool below, a constant roar. Words don't give it justice. We stayed at the falls awhile, soaking up the beauty and resting our weary legs.

From Boti, our plans were more tentative. We planned to stay at a place called Shai Hills Resort which is by a nature reserve, but it apprently was not as close to Akosombo where our tro-tro ended as we though. It would have cost fifteen cedi to get a taxi to a place that may or may not have had room, and by that opnt, we were all five of us tired and hungry. The driver offered to take us to a place closer by.

When travelling, one puts incredible trust in their agents of transportation. First of all, it gets dark in Ghana, really dark, and quite early. Because we are so close to the ecuator, it gets dark year round sometime between six and seven or so I've been told. Moreover, because Ghana is still a developing country, outside the cities there is very little electricity. We would pass family compounds and whole villages where only the shops seemed to have the one electric bulb. I remember the other day coming back from Volta how we were driving on a road where there were streetlights, but none of them were lit. Like I was saying, dark really is dark in Ghana, which brings me back to the taxi...

When travelling, we have to trust. At tro-tro stations we are led around like sheep by people offering to help us find a vehicle to the right location; indeed, we would be lost without this ever ready help. Still, one always wonders if they wouldn't just lead us somewhere remote and mug us. It is the same with taxi drivers, and last night we definitely left he the main road and were on a dirt road that was seemingly going nowhere. A certain doubt flashed in all our minds...

However, he really was legit and took us to a hotel where we could get wo rooms for seven cedi a person and where despite our arriving after the restaurant closed, they took pity on us and made the best fried rice and chicken I have yet eaten in Ghana. We all took showers using the one towel that somebody was smart enough to bring and went to bed, exhausted from a busy and full day! The hotel was nice, clean and without any uninvited guests like cockroaches or anything; they even brought us a complimentary breakfast in the morning. It also had the nicest roof terrace where we sat and soaked up a bit of the countryside in the morning.

From our hotel, moreover, we could walk easily to our second destination of a nearby bead market(which apparently turned out not to be the bead market we meant to go to, but as far as I am concerned it was a bead market so does it really matter?). We got there again with help. We asked two men we were passing how to get there and when we seemed unsure of their directions, one offered to tak us, leading us along this backtrail which basically cut through people's backyards and over a rickety bride taht spanned a ditch full of trash. Again a moment of trust but of course we arrived without mishap. Ghanaians are very welcoming and hospitable, especially the further one gets from the cities...

From the bead market it was only and hour and half tro-tro back to school and we were back in time for a late lunch. Overall a most enjoyable adventure.

Oh, a quick note of two things I forgot to mention; one cool and one bizarre. The first is simply lightning, for on the tro-tro to Akaosombo Tuesday night dry lightning was illuminating the sky. Not having grown up with proper lightning(although Spokane has some decent thunder storms) I thought this very cool. The second thing was in Kofiridua(sp?) where we caught the tro-tro to Akosombo there was a parade of sorts of all these cars, mostly trucks with platforms, loaded down with Ghanaians dressed up as and impersonating the American gangster image and blaring American rap music. We couldn't figure out waht the occassion was, a Muslim holdy day seemed unlikely, but it definitely was bizarre. One car had a banner saying Black Americans, another something about pirates... Who knows...

In other news, I hope to travel again this weekend although that remains in the works... Possibly more in my next blog entry.