Volta Region - Another entertaining adventure that derailed (slightly)

Despite the harrowing adventure at Nzulezo last weekend, I decided to try another University of Ghana trip this weekend. My new friend Veronika suggested the Volta Region trip organized by the UG Business School. Billy even joined us as he was in Accra for the weekend.
In true Ghanian fashion, we left late. The busses were supposed to pick us up at 1am but they didn’t arrive until after 2am. We finally left campus after 3:30am. We asked our guide why we were so late and he responded that people had forgotten things and had to return to their hostels to fetch their things before we could leave. How different than field trips in Canada where the bus leaves on time whether or not you have all of your things! Sarah and I were quite frustrated with how difficult it seemed to get the correct number of people on each bus. How hard can it be?

Veronika and I posing with goats near Tafi Atome
I LOVE goats!

Unlike the trip last weekend, we were able to get some sleep on the bus which was a large coach bus with comfortable reclining seats and A/C. Our first stop was the Tofi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. We arrived quite early in the morning and our guide was very informative however he struggled to get the attention of all 200 people who went on the trip. From what I could understand, the monkeys lived in the forest long before people migrated there and at first they had a relatively symbiotic relationship. At some point, there was a conflict with the deity that lives in the forest and that is connected to the monkeys. From what I understood, the local community began to destroy the monkeys both by killing them and destroying the forest habitat where they live. The monkey population plummeted and thanks to a special Canadian who came to study the monkeys in the 1980s, the local community was able to save their dwindling monkey population. According to our guide, the local community was very receptive to the advice given by the Canadian and they established the monkey sanctuary to protect the monkeys. The monkey population is close to 300 which is an impressive increase in population in 30 years. The monkeys are Mona Monkeys and they are quite tame. Our group was quite loud so they monkeys didn’t come very close to us however we were told that if you are a small group, the monkeys will come and sit on your shoulder! Hopefully we’ll be able to go back and test this out!

Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary: One of the Mona Monkeys 

Our next stop after a wonderful breakfast was Mount Afadjato, the highest peak in Ghana. Good thing I wore proper running shoes because it was truly a mission to make it to the top! Ensuring that the path to the peak was accessible for people was clearly not a top priority. My pictures don’t adequately convey just how steep it actually was. Girls were wearing flats or flip flops and everyone was wearing jeans - I have no idea how they managed to make it up! I have never been so sweaty in my life. Imagine being asked to do 200 squats in a hot sauna, the climb was sort of like that. It took us well over an hour to make it to the top. I stumbled a few times on the way up and many people had to take frequent breaks because it was so physically demanding. Once at the summit, however, it was totally worth the effort. It was so beautiful to see the villages from up above and the surrounding mountains. Unfortunately after we had taken some success pictures, the rain started to pour and we had to put our cameras away. I’m so disappointed I didn’t get more photos to share. Getting back down the mountain was more difficult than the climb up. The path became a river of water and of course everything was much more slippery. Once your legs are tired and your muscles start to shake, climbing becomes very tricky. Luckily a nice young guy named NaNa helped me down the mountain, ensuring I didn’t break myself. Despite this, I did slip and hit my back on some rocks which wasn’t nice. Maintaining your balance was difficult and in some places the best way to get down was to slide down on your bum. You can imagine the state of our clothes when we got down. Luckily most people had an extra change of clothes so it was nice to get dry. 

The path was so steep climbing
Mount Afadjato, what a serious workout!

On top of Mount Afadjato - finally made it!

Our next stop at Wli Falls had to be cancelled because of the weather. There is a 45 minute walk to the base of the falls and with all the rain, it wasn’t feasible. We did get to see the town where the falls are located and snap a few pictures before the gave us a lunch of rancid chicken and rice. You know the food is no good when the locals and foreigners alike refuse to eat it! Our guides were not happy at all with the caterers.
At this point, we thought we were heading to the Club house where we were supposed to have a BBQ and a swim however once we reached the bridge at Akosombo, we realized we were heading back to Accra. The roads on the way back were interesting. All of the rain we were having resulted in some flooding of the roads and so the busses had to proceed very carefully. Passing some of the villages, you could really appreciate how much flooding can impact the people that live there. Due to poor drainage or the village being located in low ground, water was everywhere. Even some of the drains could not accommodate the quantity of water.

Our dinner stop was quite brief and the food was OK. They pulled out some speakers and many students got out and danced. Ghanians are truly far better dancers than most Canadians and it was fun to watch them dance. The music was good as well. There seems to be a few key songs that they like to play over and over again. At this point in the day, the once spotless busses were covered in garbage and smelled awful after people had been sweating all day and got soaked on the mountain. By the time we got back to campus, 22 hours after we were supposed to have left, we were beyond exhausted. Luckily our clothes survived the trip and I was able to get to bed within two hours of arriving home.
All in all, this trip was far more fun than last weekend. Despite the rain and being unable to see everything we were supposed to see, we were comfortable for the trip and we made our own fun by making jokes the whole way and trying to understand the movies and music that were being played.
Wonder what will happen next weekend.