On the weekend of my eighth week I set off for another trip away from Legon, this time in the Volta Region, which is northeast of Accra. This region of Ghana is filled with thick rainforest covering layers of mountains; it was stunningly beautiful! The first adventure we had was climbing the tallest mountain in West Africa, Mount Afadjato! It was a 2,905 foot hike to the top, which was very steep and challenging.
After several rests, being very sweaty and out of breath and almost vomiting, we made it to the summit of the mountain, where the view was breathtaking! We could see villages of the Volta down below, rolling mountains and even the border of Togo. We also were given a gift from nature by having a small, cool rain come down on us once we were at the top.
After our descent from Mount Afadjato, we headed to Wli Waterfall, the highest waterfall in Ghana! We had a beautiful walk through the rainforest to find it, passing several small waterfalls and long millipedes along the way. Once we reached Wli, I was shocked by how high and beautiful it was! We swam underneath, letting the spray come down on us as we splashed and played. All around the waterfall was tons of bats and lush, green plants.
After some time at Wli, we drove up the second highest mountain to a village where we stayed the night. This village was the home of one of our staff members at ISH, so we had a great tour guide. We stayed in a beautiful guest house with an amazing view, and ate local Banku and stew for dinner. The next morning we even got to officially meet the Chief, which is quite an honor! In the afternoon on Sunday before we left to go home, we stopped at Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, home to 400 Mona monkeys, an endangered species. The monkeys were so tiny and adorable! They ate bananas right out of our hands and had no hesitation to sit on our shoulders. The Volta Region was another successful trip full of adventures!
