Weekend Travels

The last couple weekends have been really eventful, with travels spanning the entire width of the country.  We started out our trips by heading to Beyin, a small village near the eastern border of Ghana.  Beyin is known for its beautiful beaches and it definitely lived up to the hype, although getting there was a bit more adventure than I had anticipated.

We set off early on Friday, anticipating a 5-6 hour tro ride.  While it is a long time to sit on an uncomfortable tro, the warm, thick air and copious sweating make bathroom breaks unnecessary.  The ride turned out to be almost 9 hours.  I suppose in Ghana, it isn't really about the distance you intend to travel- the time depends on the quality of the roads.

As we got farther East, we were definitely on a less-beaten path.  A couple gasps escaped me as the car navigated around of dirt piles, through deep troughs, and on roads so thin they looked like dangerous walking bridges.  Despite the rough journey, we arrived safely in the small village and set off to find our lodging.

We stayed in an atmospheric little beach resort, close enough to the water to feel the occasional ocean spray. After dinner we went down to check out the sea, and I was really excited to see phosphorescence in the crashing waves.  Excited enough that I ran into the ocean shallows to stir up the water a bit, and got pelted with a huge wave!  The ocean is definitely more temperamental here than at home.  We headed back up to our room and went to bed, salty and happy.

On Saturday, we started our day early and headed to Nzulezo- a small village of population 600 close to Beyin.  Nzulezo is unique because it is built entirely on stilts, in the midst of Lake Amansuri.  We started walking towards the lake,  and were instructed to board a tiny canoe.  The boat barely cleared the water's surface, which added to the fun of the trip.  We were given a sawed-off water bottle to help bail, and we glided through the shallow black waters.  The ride lasted almost an hour, and took us through thick jungle and clumps of raffia palms, before ending up at the base of the stilt village.

Because I was expecting a small, tranquil structure, I was surprised to find a bustling village.  There was music blaring, kids running around, and many people going about their daily duties.  We walked down the main "street" and saw a glimpse of what life is like on stilts.  The power for the village is supplied by car batteries, which are transported to and from bigger towns for charging.  It seemed like a pretty long way to lug a car battery- but the people did not seem to mind, as they used them liberally enough to have loud music  playing throughout the day.

The houses are built on a network of raffia trunks, which need to be changed every year to avoid rotting.  The walls and floors were built from rows of tightly bound raffia stalks.  It seemed like a pretty incredible lifestyle.  Being built more than 500 years ago, it is a mystery why the people of Nzulezo chose to settle on the water.  However, the village is still thriving and the people are happy.  It was a really cool place to visit.

After we canoed back to Beyin, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the beach. When we awoke on Sunday, we walked into town to begin the trip back to Kof.  It was difficult to speak because English levels were low, and Twi is not spoken in the Western Region.  We were guided on to a car going west, and found an English speaker who informed us that we had to travel the opposite direction before we could head back East.  unfortunately, this added on a couple hours. We ended up back at home after nearly 11 hours.  It was a long trip, but worth it.

After travelling to Beyin, I was eager to head somewhere that required a little less time on the road.  We decided to head to the Volta region, which lies on the eastern border of the country.  It is said that less than 10 percent of travellers in Ghana visit this region, so we were eager to check out what it had to offer.

The 4 hour ride felt like a dream after our previous weekend, and we ended up starting our weekend at Tafi Atome, a community situated within a Mona monkey sanctuary.  To reach Tafi, we were told to hop on the back of a couple motor bikes.  Rather tentatively, we did just that and were on our way to see the sanctuary.  I felt a little nervous barreling down a dirt road on a bike with no safety precautions, but the driver went pretty slow.  Once we reached the guest house, he told us that there are sometimes monkeys living in the trees right behind the visitors centre.

As soon as we got to the back of the building, we were greeted with the sight of monkeys everywhere! They were leaping amongst the trees, wrestling with each other, and napping on low-lying branches.  Such an amazing sight.  After spending a couple minutes ogling the beautiful creatures, the guide informed us that they love to eat bananas.

This hint was enough motivation for us to walk into the village and pick up some fruit!  As we walked back to our room with the bananas, we quickly found out just how much the monkeys enjoy them.

It was almost as if they had a banana-finding sixth sense.  Before we even reached the trees, the biggest of the group ran towards me with impressive speed, jumping up on his hind legs.  With his eyes never straying from my bag of bananas, he chased me around, causing my heart to beat out of my chest.  The guide came over to help, informing me that the proper protocol was to give the biggest monkey (also called the commander) a full banana.  When the commander is happy, the little ones are also allowed to eat.  Given directions to hold the fruit firmly, I shakily offered it out to the smaller Monas.  To my surprise, they leaped onto my arms and back and snacked away happily.

the commander after bananas

It was such an amazing experience.  After our first batch was finished, we bought some more and continued to play with the monkeys for the rest of the day.  We met another group of volunteers staying at the sanctuary, and were excited to find out that they had the same weekend plans as us.

In the morning, we had a short tour through the jungle, and then joined up with the other volunteers to carry on to Wli.  Wli is home to the highest waterfalls in Western Africa, and we were excited to see them.

The falls are separated into two water drops, the lower and the upper falls.  We were keen to see the upper and, although warned that the hike was a little steep, set off to see them.  It was definitely a difficult trek, but so amazing!  We finally reached the top and swam under the falls.  The swim was a great reward after a long hike.

bats living in the waterfall caves

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the area, and enjoying the local children singing, drumming and dancing.  On Sunday morning, we teamed up with a couple guys we met in Wli and journeyed to Mt. Afadjato, the highest peak in Ghana.  As we started the nearly-vertical climb, I was surprised to feel the fatigue lingering in my legs from the previous day's hike.  It was definitely exhausting getting to the top, but it felt great to make it.  Our guide, of course, did it in flip flops and barely broke a sweat.  We were definitely proud of ourselves, though.  It was a great end to a great weekend!