A Complete Wli Falls Adventure

Over the past few weeks, many of my friends at ISH (the dorm I live in) have been traveling to the Wli Falls in the Volta Region. Each time a group has come back, they rave about what a beautiful place the falls are, and how it is their new favorite place in Ghana. A group of us decided it was time we made the trek, and we head out for our trip Thurs. afternoon.
On Thursday, Alli, Emily, Jack, Max and I caught an STC bus to HoHoe at 3 pm. The drive to the Volta region is about 4 hours, but on the bus it took about 7. (Due to all the stops etc.) We arrived in HoHoe late, about 10:30. Jack had been sitting by a man on the bus who ended up being a huge help in the process of us finding a hotel to stay at. His name was Emanuel, and he walked us himself to different hotels to find one with vacancy. He did this out of genuine kindness, and didn’t expect anything in return. We have been really lucky while traveling, and have encountered many many people like Emanuel, who take time out to help us, just to help us. The more often it happens, we realize it is not necessarily luck, but in reality the Ghanaian people are some of the most friendly, hospitable, and helpful people any of us have ever met. Anyways, Emanuel took us to a hotel called the Matveg, and all 5 of us were able to stay in a room there.We hadn’t been able to get dinner, and all of the restaurants were closed, so that night we had a feast of Jack’s left over bread loaf, some peanuts, and water. The lights wouldn’t turn on, but we got a kick out of huddling around a flashlight playing cards that night until we went to bed.

The next morning we took a tro tro to the Waterfall Lodge, the place we would be staying that night, to drop our things off before we started our bat cave hike. The Waterfall Lodge was beautiful. The place was filled with bungalos and chalets surrounded by lush vegeatation and the most fabulous view of green covered mountains. I cannot do this place justice with words alone, and actually pictures do not even cover the entirety of its beauty. It was run by a German couple, and it was kept up so nicely. The 5 of us got our own Chalet, all with our own beds, and the plan was that our friend Loren would meet us later that night.

We made it to the reception area where we would start the batcave hike in town. Our tourguide was a man named Boss, who had been a tourguide for 27 years. He was a sweet, enthusiastic man who was stoked to be taking us on this hike. Together, we said a prayer before heading out, and were on our way. The hike up to the caves was more intense than we thought it would be. That, or I am just really out of shape, which is possible as well. Haha But, once we got to the caves, it was so cool. We had to rock climb to get into the caves, and parts were almost vertical climbing. I was fine on the way up, as in when I didn’t have to look down. But coming down from the caves, trying to find footings and seeing how high up I was, I freaked out. I definitely was up there for a while, and my legs were shaking so bad that it was making it very hard to get a stable stance. But, I made it, and I’m so glad I was able to do it. The caves were really neat to see, they were safe places for the people of the village to flee if their village was in danger of an attack. Some of the caves, we had to crawl down into through tiny spaces, and then it would open to a larger tavern. Bats resided in these taverns, and that was kinda spooky. Alli is terrified of bats, but she went anyways, and we were all really proud of her for doing it. She may of been clinging to my waist the whole time, or the wall, but she still did it. Hahaha

Once we got back from the bat caves, we were exhausted and all took showers and ate dinner. The food at the hotel was great, the Germans were excellent cooks! We hung out, played cards, and got ready for a action packed day that waited for us.
We woke up and were on our way to Mt. Afogjato, the largest mountain in Ghana. Our tro tro driver told us he had never hiked it, so we asked him if he wanted to join us, and he did. In sandles! Our guide, Marcel, was great. He allowed us to all go at our own pace, which was different for everyone. Jack and Emily hauled up the mountain, while Alli and I set goals to get about 20 steps higher each time. The climb was vertical the whole way, we covered a lot of mountain in a short amount of time. Max and Loren brought up the end, and we all met at the top. It was such an incredible view, literally breathtaking. The flies up at the top were overwhelming, so we weren’t able to stay up there longer than the time it took to take a few snaps. ( What they call pictures). The way down was much easier, and it was nice to take more time to look around and take in the ideal surrounding.

After our hike, we climbed back in the tro tro and headed back towards the hotel and planned to go see the waterfalls. I told Freemon (our driver) that I knew how to drive stick shift, and asked if I could drive the tro home. I was expecting him to laugh, which is what usually happens. But, he stopped the tro, and got out. He let me drive all the way back to the hotel, it was so much fun. Seriously probably made my whole entire trip! Haha Anyways, There are two different choices with the falls, the upper falls and the lower falls. The upper falls is an intense hike that takes you to the upper waterfalls, while the lower falls is about a half hour walk to the lower waterfalls where you can swim. The boys decided to do the upper falls, but we were exhausted and decided to stick with just the lower falls. The walk there was gorgeous, all rainforest. We were able to simply stroll, and enjoy eachothers company, which was so nice after the intense hike that morning. The falls were incredible. We were in complete awe. They were huge, and we felt so small in comparison. We all went in and swam, and took numerous pictures in front of them. It was easily the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We stayed at the falls for a long while, either swimming or just sitting, staring at the vastness of them.

We met up with the boys, and went back to the hotel. The next morning, we got up and ventured to the monkey sanctuary. I had been looking forward to the monkey sanctuary since arriving in Ghana, so I was pumped. We took motorbikes there, and once we got there, our tourguide took us on a walk through the jungle. He was calling to the monkeys the whole time, and they eventually came to us. Swinging from branch to branch, they seemed weightless. It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat. The tourguide gave us bananas to feed them, and when you would hold them up by a tree, they would swing down and peel it in your hands, eat it, and then jump away. There were so many of them, it was fascinating! Definitely a highlight of the trip for me.

We ended up catching a tro tro back to Accra, which took about 4 hours, so not too bad. This weekend was easily the best trip I have been on yet in Ghana, and definitely the most beautiful and exotic place I have ever been to in my entire life. My friends I traveled with were wonderful, the most easy going people ever. Everyone was down to do everything, and we all get along great. The weekend was filled with adventurous physical challenges, and it was a nice change from relaxing on the beach! Next week we are going to Kumasi for the World Cup Qualifier game between Ghana and Benin. I’ve heard it is insane.......I’ll keep you posted!
Much Love,
Natalie