Ghana Team Journal

Quote of the day: “I believe freedom’s got to come from within, yes it does, and without a gun. Freedom is the ability to feel love for everyone.” Mason Jennings, “United States Global Empire”

Journal by: George

Today started on a somber note. Laurie, Tracee, Kay, and I had to say our goodbyes to the rest of our team, Mary, Jeff, Will, Margaret, Sarah, Grace, and Steve. I don’t think that any of us really understood how close we have grown to each other in the short two weeks that we have been in Ghana until it was time to say goodbye. After reflecting on the good times we have had so far and wishing them a safe trip back home, the four of us reluctantly climbed into a taxi heading first towards Mount Afadjato and Tagbo Falls in the Volta Region.

The ride took about two and a half hour as we traveled through small towns and farming land surrounded by huge bluffs. We got out of the taxi to meet our guide, George, who stayed with us for the next few hours. We walked down a narrow path toward the beginning of the trails, and George pointed out a grapefruit tree, an orange tree, a papaya tree, a guava tree, and a forget-me-not tree that had beautiful yellow and white flowers. We first climbed up Mount Afadjato. I am still trying to decide what was more breathtaking: the view from the top of the mountain, or the hike to get there. The four of us were wearing our hiking shoes and struggling to keep our balance as we scaled the slippery slope, but our guide was wearing flip flops and needed to stop every 30 or 40 feet to wait for us to catch up. After we had all lost our footing a few times, I decided to go to the back of the group to play “catcher” while the other George felt bad seeing Laurie fall so much that he grabbed her hand and practically dragged her up the mountain. We all admitted to sweating more on this hike than we have since coming to Ghana. After about an hour and fifteen minutes of climbing, our supposed “45-minute walk” was finally complete! A light breeze cooled us down as we took too many pictures and gazed down at the rest of the world. Things look different from nearly 3,000 feet above sea level. Our adventure continued as we descended the mountain. Clinging on to trees, vines, and roots, we slowly made our way back down to the base of the mountain. After my failed Tarzan attempt (let’s just say gripping onto a seemingly sturdy vine to slow myself down was a good idea until I found myself airborne with a broken vine in my hands), Kay’s several slips, crabwalks, and slides, and Laurie’s bandaged elbow from scraping on a rock (despite holding the guide’s hand the entire trip down the mountain…), we made it to the bottom relatively safely. I guess Tracee was too agile to make the Afadjato highlight reel. Although we were all exhausted, sweaty, and thankful to be back on flat ground, we were all proud of our accomplishment and glad to have partaken in such a life-changing experience.

After catching our breath for a few minutes, we headed towards Tagbo Falls. This name is a bit deceiving, however, because our group did much more “falling” on our trek up Mount Afadjato than our journey to Tagbo Falls. Anyway, the flatter terrain was a welcomed change. The only difficult part of this walk was avoiding the ants. Several times George told us to run to either avoid the ants or shake them off of our shoes! George also stopped along the way to point out certain plants and landmarks. He first showed us the cocoa tree. He picked a ripe plant, smashed it against a tree, and let us try the sweet yet slimy seeds inside the fruit. Although most of the others did not enjoy the texture of the cocoa, I ate most of the fruit by myself. We had our doubts when George told us that this walk was also 45 minutes, but after a little more than a half hour, we began to hear the water splashing down the falls. Just around the bend, we were all a bit spellbound by the beauty of the falls. It didn’t look so big from the top of Afadjato! Although I tried my best, the falls were so big that I could not stand back far enough to capture the entire falls with just one photo. The cool, wet breeze was extremely refreshing as we walked back towards town. On the way back, I realized that I had spent most of the walk towards the falls with my eyes on the ground ahead of me instead of looking at the beauty of the rainforest around me. One of the ‘bridges’ on the trail to the waterfall was just two pieces of wood spanning a 4 foot gap between rocks. We slowed to cross this bridge safely, but as Kay was crossing, I noticed that Tracee was standing in a huge mound of ants that were enveloping her shoes, socks, and legs. Before I could mutter “Run, Tracee!,” she had already set her first foot down on the bridge. My words of caution startled her, so she instinctively stepped backward, directly into the pile of ants. I nudged her back and told her to run away from the ants, and the look on her face was one of sheer terror. I don’t think anybody who has been to the falls has crossed that bridge as quickly as she did! She kicked off her shoes, ripped off her socks, swatted her legs, and watched in horror as 70 or so ants crawled all over everything. Believe it or not, she didn’t even get bit! I guess we all had our moments of glory on this trip, after all. Besides a light spurt of rain, the rest of our trip back to the waiting taxi was uneventful.

After eating lunch quickly, we piled back into the taxi to drive to the monkey sanctuary. After paying our entrance fee, the guide handed us each a banana as we walked into the sanctuary. The Mona monkeys heard our guide’s lip smacking, saw our bananas, and rushed over to greet us. As Margaret and Sarah warned us, these monkeys will take the entire banana away if you do not hold it tightly. We saw two clans of monkeys where we began feeding them, and because these two clans do not get along well, the first clan to arrive on scene quickly vanished after the second group got there. Our guide said that these clans can be territorial and often fight when they get too close. We fed our bananas to the monkeys, and a lady on our tour even got jumped on when she was holding her banana up too high from the hungry monkey. It was quite a sight to see. We headed back towards the visitor center and stopped to buy some sodas. I guess we weren’t on the same page as the vendor, however. After we thought we made our purchase and walked back to the taxi, the lady came after us saying that she needed the bottles back. We were already late, so we chugged the drinks, handed back the bottles, and drove back to the guest house.

We arrived at the guest house about an hour later than expected. I am sure Esther, our mother duck, was worried sick about us. Sorry Esther! When we made it back to the dining room, we were disheartened to see that the table was only set for four. How lonely it will be with less than half of our team here! We soon cheered up a little after eating the always wonderful food prepared by the kitchen staff and recalling the day’s events.