Volta Region

This last weekend the Study Abroad crew heading out to the Volta Region and more specifically Ho, Hohoe, Wli Falls, and the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. Ho is located to the northwest of the Greater Accra region. Leaving in the morning on Saturday, we loaded up three coaches and traveled through a beautiful region which consists of a more mountainous landscape than the coast and there are palm tree forests along with cocoa and banana trees. It is great leaving Accra to really get the picture of how the actual majority of Ghanaians live out their lives. The city is quite modernized and Western in a sense but it is only in the outlying towns that one really gets the sense of the culture and the history that the peoples of this region have. After arriving at the hotel, most of us put on shoes for the first time in several weeks in order to hike to the Wli Falls. In pictures I have seen of the Falls and other large waterfalls it is always a serene picture of gently cascading water into a blue calm pool. The Wli Falls absolutely smashed these images in a fantastic manner of spray being hurled about 100 yards away from the waterfall and a wave pool style water at the base. The entire scene was incredibly beautiful with jungle surrounding the huge cliffs with hundreds of large brown bats. Many of us decided to get into the pool to try to reach the water fall. Not only was the bottom of the river quite rocky, once you enter the water it seems as if the water is being hurled at you like hail. You can't even face the waterfall to see how close you are and you must crouch in the water to avoid the spray. It was an amazing primeval experience of trying to battle nature in attempting to reach the actual falls and stand under them. After leaving the Falls somewhat battered, a completely random jungle party started with a few army guys, locals, and our group starting to mix traditional dance and "popular" dancing styles to some intense local and Nigerian hip-hop. One very popular artist here is called PSquared. That night we went back to the hotel and sat around outside eating dinner and enjoying the relaxing air. The next day was the trip to the Monkey Sanctuary and then home. The monkey sanctuary was an incredibly fun experience feeding Mona monkeys. The majority of the Mona's are about the size of a cat and have very funny faces. The tour guide gave us each a banana to feed the monkeys. These things are incredibly intelligent coming out of the trees and taking the banana in their hands and peeling the banana themselves and pulling of a chunk to sit there and eat. The monkey sanctuary was my first place I 've actually gotten a touristy t-shirt. It's fantastic with a monkey sitting with a banana saying Ghana and Tafi Atome Monkey sanctuary. One observation I made on the way back is that it's an interesting experience being white in this country. Besides some obvious reasons, when one passes police barriers and checkpoints many times vehicles get stopped for overloading or bribes or other things. But whenever our group bus goes through or if I am on a tro-tro, whenever the police see a white face it's like an automatic pass. I feel like I am a commodity sometimes. It's great! This upcoming weekend the play opens but also means that I am missing out on the Black Stars World/Africa Cup qualifier against Lesotho in Sekondi. Not exactly happy about the situation but these things happen. Also, with the show performing next weekend I will miss the trip to Kumasi, but I should be able to get there in a few weeks. I am quite nervous/ excited for the play since the entire experience has been so much different than I am used to. This semester has been flying by and will continue to do so. My dance class only meets for two more weeks and then we start our final exam. Crazy stuff!!! I was reading a book the other day on reverse culture shock and it's funny to realize how long I've been here and the things I have gotten used to and grown to love. Things at home are definitely missed in the forms of people and some foods. But such a vibrant culture and friendly people will certainly be missed and craved. I have an informal football match tonight with my hall and other so I gotta run. hope everyone has a good wednesday and a good rest of the week.