But in any case, the
monkey sanctuary was really awesome. The tour guide brought a bag of bananas
and was calling the monkeys out as we were walking through the forest, and it
took a while but they eventually showed up. So she had us hold the bananas in one
hand really tightly, and they just come right up and jump on you and eat right
out of your hand. I was so excited. Except it was kind of scary when two of
them started fighting over the banana I was holding when they were on top of my
shoulders. I got a scratch on my arm from one of them out of that little tiff.
(I immediately thought of that one Hey Arnold episode where Helga gets
scratched by a circus monkey or something and starts thinking that she got a
rare monkey disease where you turn into a monkey…if anyone knows what I'm
talking about…I know Stephie knows.)
And then after that
we went to another nearby village where they weave authentic Kente cloth. We
learned about the history of it, like how it was one of the first methods of
weaving clothing in Africa and how the patterns all mean something. And they
gave us a tour of the village and showed us how it's made and then both Tali
and I bought a strip of fabric for ourselves. They sell Kente cloth at art
markets all around Ghana, but I thought it would be cool to buy it at that
village since I met and talked to the guy who made it. His name was Mowli,
which I guess is a different name for Emmanuel. Here's a picture of him wearing the kente strip I bought from him:
I thought that
village was really cool though. Pretty much everyone who lives there knows how
to weave, because they all start learning around age 7, both men and women. And
there are steps to the learning process too, like you have to learn how to make
the threads into yarn before you can even start learning how to weave, etc. So
that's basically how the village makes their living, by just weaving and
selling the fabric to the markets in Accra and Kumasi. It was really amazing to
watch them make it too, because they can do it so quickly! It was very cool.
So after that we
took another hour-long shared taxi ride into Hohoe, where we caught another
taxi to Wli, which was the village where the hotel was. It's so beautiful in
that village. We were surrounded by mountains and no matter where you looked it
was just a fantastic view. The village was really rural and remote, and we
couldn't even get cell service where we were. Which wasn't bad, except for the
fact that Tali and I were waiting for two of our other friends, Zoe and Rachel,
to show up at the hotel that night and we realized after we got to the area
without cell service that we had forgotten to tell them the name of the hotel.
Whoops. But there were only two hotels in the area within a five minute walk
from each other so they found it just fine.
So then on Saturday,
Zoe and Rachel went off and did the hike up to the Wli waterfalls, and Tali and
I stayed and hung out around the village for the day. On Sunday we did the hike
and the other two went to see the monkey sanctuary on the way back to Accra.
I can honestly say
without exaggerating that this hike was the most physically challenging thing I
have ever done in my entire life. But it was really rewarding. So there are two
parts to the hike, the lower falls and the upper falls. It takes about 45 minutes
to walk to the lower falls, and it's all just a flat walk. That part was fine.
Then we started the hike to the upper falls. And it was insane.
First of all, we had
this character of a tour guide named Wisdom Mighty. He was super chatty and had
pretty much boundless energy. He did the hike in flip flops and was just
trotting along, chatting on his cell phone and making excuses to his friends
about why he wasn't at church that morning. He did all this while climbing an
effing mountain without even breaking a sweat. Meanwhile Tali and I are
trailing about fifty feet behind him, huffing and puffing and "sweating
like pregnant fish" as he playfully described it, and begging for water
breaks about every ten minutes. It was a hell of a hike. And by that, I mean it
was hell. Except there were pretty views the whole way up! So I guess that took
my mind off of it for very short periods of time, when I wasn't concentrating
on trying not to faint/vomit. And there was one point where Wisdom stopped us,
took off his shoes, and disappeared for like five minutes into some tangled
bushes up this steep incline and came back with some fruit called Angaa or
something like that. It was extremely sweet, and tasted kind of odd. I don't
know how to describe it. Maybe like some sort of weird fruity jelly candy. Or
maybe like lychee fruit, but even sweeter than that.
Also, here's a picture of me ready to pass out, while Wisdom is chatting away on his phone in the background:
So by the time we
got up to the falls, we had been hiking for a little over two hours. (Imagine
doing one of those stair climber machines for that long on uneven steps with a
walking stick. That's how I felt.) Zoe and Rachel told us that the top would be
worth it, and for the entire hike up, I didn't believe them because it was so
exhausting. But it really was worth it. I don't know if it was how beautiful
the falls were or just the sense of accomplishment, but being up there was just
wonderful. Plus we got to sit down and enjoy the mist and eat the crackers and
cookies we brought along while Wisdom taught us some Pidgin phrases like
"Eyy Chale day break" which means good morning. And he taught us the
hand signal that means "one love".
And then we had a little sing along, to the tune of All in One by Bob
Marley. (I think we were a little loopy from exhaustion by that point.) But it
was fun. Until we had to hike back down. It took less time than the hike up,
but it was just as difficult because it took a lot more concentration not to
lose my balance. My legs felt like jelly and I almost fell several times, and I
was so exhausted and almost to the point of having a two-year-old style temper
tantrum because I just wanted a shower and a bed more than anything I've ever
wanted in my life. But we got back to the bottom in about an hour and a half or
so and headed back to Accra that afternoon. I was fine again once I had rinsed
off a little bit at the hotel, had my wound re-dressed, changed into dry
clothes, and was safely on a trotro waiting to head back home with a cold
sachel water in one hand and ice cream in the other, being entertained by the
guy trying to sell these little booklets that seemed to contain all kinds of
random information ranging from chinese zodiac signs to premature ejaculation.
Don't ask me what that was about, because I have no idea.
But overall I had a
really great weekend. It's funny how you can sometimes look back on things like
that hike afterwards, and be glad you did it and only concentrating on the
really great part and the sense of accomplishment, rather than the fact that getting
to the falls was so insanely difficult. Or seeing this festering, infected burn
wound as a memory of a really fun day instead of regretting taking that
motorcycle. I have no regrets about the weekend whatsoever. Every painful or
otherwise difficult moment brought me something else to look back on with great
memories. And now I'll probably have some really nasty scar on my leg that will
have a bit more of a story behind it. Which, I admit, will be kind of cool
because right now the only scars I have are from minor surgery and from when I
fell off my scooter in fourth grade. (#firstworldproblems)
I also enjoyed this
weekend because I really enjoy being in more remote, less crowded areas. And
walking down quieter streets, hearing "Hello, you are welcome!" by
the nice people who live there. And the hotel owners took really good care of
me with my burn and everything, and everyone around was just very welcoming and
friendly. And the little kids were adorable too. One little girl who looked
like she was maybe two or three years old just walked up to me, and grabbed
onto my pointer finger and just waddled down the street next to me and wouldn't
let go for a long time.
It was a really nice
place to stay. I loved it there.
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