Waterfall: Tourist or Ghanaian?

10/15/08

The night before our waterfall trek, the village band decided to practice until 10:30 or 11pm. We were “serenaded” to sleep with loud drums, singing, and a particularly boisterous trumpet.

We woke up late, at 4:15am. Sema had already arrived and was preparing our porridge. We showered with our buckets in the dark under the stars. Divine came to the compound at 5:10am and waited for us to be ready to walk to the roadside. We planned on catching a car to Bame by 6am, in order to get a tro-tro by 7 to drive us to Hohoe. At 5:30am, we sat at the roadside waiting for a car to drive by. *Hurry! Get up and get ready! We have to go WAIT!* Our nonsocial guide didn’t say much, and sat on the opposite side of the road. A tro-tro drove by and surprisingly was FULL so it kept going. At 7:15am, we finally caught a tro-tro going to Kpeve, so we hopped on. Once we got to Kpeve, we took another tro-tro to Hohoe, and then a taxi to the waterfall. The journey was miserable and everyone lies to us because we’re white. They think we have money so they try to cheat us.

Our guide at the waterfall walked incredibly fast, for any person—not just a Ghanaian. We essentially walked through the African jungle up a trail through lush green vegetation. Some sides of the mountains were clay cliffs, the other side covered in trees. We saw several gigantic millipedes, and a couple rivers of ants, probably 8 ants wide marching across the paths. The guide pointed out black berries that you can eat, and showed us mahogany leaves that you can chew to ease an upset stomach. We also saw a cocoa plant—a yellow fruit with giant white seeds that are pretty tasty. We walked over aged wooden bridges with the water rushing beneath us. Moss and other plants covered the rock walls at our sides and water dripped from all over. After 45 minutes we reached the base of the lower falls. You could feel the water in the air from a good distance away. We were wet standing 150 feet from the falls. It was loud and beautiful. Divine suddenly lit up and was yelling in excitement as he ran toward the base of the falls where we were standing. We found a vine looped from a tree that we decided to climb and hang from for some key photographic opportunities. It was high up so I needed Denise to lift me up to wear I could grab hold and pull myself up. She did drop me in the mud, but I forgave her. Wet and muddy, and smiling from ear to ear, we headed back down the trail through the jungle.

There were a few stands at the entrance of the trail that sold jewelry, bags, fabric, and my favorite—wooden carvings. Men sat carving new pieces and I perused the stand. I found a most perfect wall hanging—a tree with an elephant stretching its trunk up to the leaves.

On our way in, we saw a sign for the “Waterfall Lodge: The German Couple Will Welcome You.” We walked the 250m from the road down a path that was truly Africa: huts with thatched roofs and fire-pits. At the end of the dirt path, we came to an opening overlooking the mountain with a view of the falls. There was an open-air pavilion with a young Ghanaian setting up chairs. At the end of the pavilion was a large enclosure—the habitat for Cocoa, the couple’s African Grey. The pavilion had wooden lounge chairs lining the outskirts looking out toward the falls. The ground was soft and covered in lush grass. A volley-ball net hung to the left side, and wooden tables were scattered under the pavilion. Small round bungalows, painted a rust-red with thatched roofs, rested in the shaded area behind the couple’s house, and a campground was situated back there as well. Their menu was like a dream. We had a salad (a real salad) with a vinaigrette, and we split two dishes: chicken, pineapple, and rice (with curry powder) and beef with sautéed onions and tomatoes with French fries. I had a coke, and we had fruit salad and crepes for dessert. We were truly on vacation. After a leisurely and very filling 3 course meal, we sat and took in the view for a while. I went to use their bathroom, which was a clean, tiled bathroom with a flushing toilet, supplied toilet paper, a sink with running water, and a mirror! It was great.

Reluctantly we made our way back down the road away from the lodge and caught a taxi back to Hohoe. From there, after witnessing a small altercation between two tro-tro drivers over who had the right to take us as passengers, we boarded one and were taken to Kpeve. The tro-tro was actually pretty nice, we were only at 15 passengers, which left room for me to put my feet up on the ledge in front of me. This one had upholstery and a working radio, and the remnants of a cup-holder was visible on the back of the seat next to the driver. Once we got to Kpeve, taxi drivers tried to convince us there were no more tro-tros, and we could only get back to Saviefe via taxi (and a cost of 15 cedi). At this point, we literally had 4 cedis left and I was sick of taxi drivers trying to cheat us and manipulate us. With plenty of attitude I yelled, “That is ridiculous! Of course there are more tro-tros, its only 3 o’clock!” I don’t know why I thought that…Denise quietly corrected me, saying that it was 5:30pm. Oh well. Either way, we caught a tro-tro, but it would only take us as far as Bame.

It was getting dark, and there were no more cars or tro-tros or taxis. We started to walk. It’s a 9 mile trek from Bame to Saviefe along a dirt road through the African farmland and brush. It got dark quickly but Divine had a small flashlight. We were equipped with 2 ponchos, 3 cliff bars, and my water bottle containing only 8 oz. of water. Denise started to sing to keep our spirits up and I tried not to think about why the farmers always carry guns into the fields. (It’s for a weasel-like animal that happens to be nocturnal.) We couldn’t see anything past the glow of the flashlight except when the night sky occasionally lit up from some lightening.

2 ½ miles in, we came up to the village of Etodome, where one of the volunteers lives with Divine’s cousin, Titus. We figured if nothing else, it would be a nice break so we stopped to say hello. Titus emerged, shirtless, from a thatched covering, with his 7 young brothers and sisters. He offered to accompany us for the rest of the 6 ½ miles to Saviefe, which surprised us, but we were happy to add his company to our entourage. Titus put on a shirt, and his brothers and sisters (all under the age of 15) walked us, holding our hands to the edge of the village, and departed with hugs all around. The next 6 ½ miles consisted of brief conversations between Titus and me, and then Titus and Divine would chatter away in Ewe while Denise and I walked in silence. Mosquitoes were plentiful and annoying, biting at my neck and ankles and bare arms. My flip flops were worn and I felt every jagged stone I stepped on. Occasionally we would trip over rocks or ditches that we didn’t see in the dark. A government vehicle drove by, but wouldn’t stop. I guess they’re not too concerned with distressed people. I was quiet as I became increasingly aware of my right knee and left hip that were aching in pain. Toward the end of the walk the moon cast a dull light over the road, and after a while we began to recognize some landmarks from our usual walks. We heard drums in the distance, and felt some relief as Saviefe was only maybe another 30 minutes away. Denise started to sing again as we came upon the outskirts of our village.

We walked into the compound and hopefully called, “Family?” Sema and Beatrice emerged from the house, ran over and hugged us, squealing in excitement that we’d returned. It was late, and we were dirty, but dinner was waiting for us on the table, which by that point was great because we were hungry again. We said goodnight to Divine and Titus (who has family in Saviefe and was going to sleep with them). I used a damp white washcloth to run along my arms and legs to clean up. It was literally dark brown when I was finished. I was sweaty and achy, and ready for bed. I downed another 16 oz. of water (the contents of 1 water pouch) and crawled under the net and fell asleep.

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The next morning we got up a little after 6am, and began our bucket shower routine, scrubbing extra hard with our soapy water. After breakfast, we decided to skip Ho and just do work in the village. At 8am we took a two-hour nap, and spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading, enjoying village life once more.