Weekend in Wli (read: Veekend in Vli)

It's hard to believe that after eight weeks of travelling and not even two weeks of being in Accra, I'm already getting antsy. Luckily, on Friday afternoon in class, Joe and I made plans for the Volta Region - his first time to my "second home".

It probably didn't help that we took the slowest tro-tro to Hohoe possible. And it definitely didn't help that we had spent the previous evening at the bar (I was so on my game for karaoke - "Come on Eileen", "Like A Virgin" - I did it all!) and got a solid 3 hours of sleep, but the waterfall at Wli wasn't going to see itself...

Most of that day was spent tro-troing, which is an exhausting experience in itself. Stopping in Hohoe was like entering Tim Burton's nightmares, with cabs driving around madly in circles, swerving, honking horns, with red ribbons flying and men hanging out windows (Apparently, this is what passes for a funeral procession in Ghana, and not a demolition derby). But we arrived in the late afternoon at the Waterfall Lodge, a lovely wee hotel near the falls run by an older German couple. It was great to sit and relax under a giant cabana, sit on the long grass and play with their dog, Dolphy. I felt myself missing my dog, even when he came by our door in the early morning whimpering just like Dorothy does outside mine at home.

One delicious dinner, one star beer and 12 hours of sleep later (8:15 to 8:15) we set out with our guide and a young German couple to see Wli Falls, the highest and largest in Ghana and also reputed to be the highest in West Africa as well. The lower falls (yes, it's large enough to warrant two drops) were absolutely stunning: it was higher than I could estimate in size, at the centre of a giant cliff face that was home to thousands and thousands of nesting fruit bats. I would go as far to say that there were more bats there than at 37 Military Hospital in Accra! (a place legendary for the swarms of bats that live in the trees along the main road)

The four of us, eager to see the upper falls, yet on a tight enough budget to pay the guide to head back instead of lead us up the mountain to find it, began our ascent up the mountain trail.

Perhaps retaining the guide would have been the more prudent of choices. We ended up taking a sketchy path and climbing all the way to the top of the mountain, looking for the next pool of water and instead finding friendly Togolese poachers (with old rifles) and walking down a path that probably led to the border - only a few kilometres away. Like the intrepid explorer Mungo Park searching for the Niger, we also found the snaking river, but not the "mouth" of the falls (it got a little thick and we had no machetes to get through).

After hours of climbing and descending, our friends decided to make their way back to the base, while we tried another path that we found. Wouldn't you know it was the one leading to the base of the upper falls! We immediately ran straight in and enjoyed a brilliantly cool swim at the base of the magnificent, secluded falls. After so many hours of hiking, it was perfect for our aching limbs.

We still had to get down half of the mountain, which was ridiculously tiring. Thankfully, we found delicious wild bananas and somehow found the strength to make it to the lower falls (and go for another swim).

After that, there isn't much to say. After hearing shots fired we helped direct the park rangers towards the poachers, went back to the lodge, slept, woke up at 5:30AM and caught tro-tros all the way back to Accra by noon. And it's the start of another exciting week!