Krobo, Peki and Wli

Yes I’m back and I’m ok! Internet is unpredictable here, and I’ve been without it for about a week. So to continue with my adventures...

Bead market at Odumase Krobo

Odumase Krobo (Krobo for short) is where I spent much of last week. Global Mamas has an office there where their beads are made and jewelry is strung, as Krobo is famous for it’s glass beads. Some of my housemates and I went to Krobo to help Global Mamas complete their Annual Report employee interviewing.

Our interviews were completed by mid-afternoon, so we all decided to head over to their outdoor market. We took a taxi from a very nice young man named Felix, (pronounced FELL-ix) and he dropped us off in the middle of MAYHEM. Cars and tro-tros coming within centimeters of you, if not bumping you with their bumper. A sea of people. The market was lively, although a bit dangerous. Besides the cars moving through humans like cattle, I almost walked right in to a rusty metal roof of one of the booths. I’m not used to roofs being at my 5’ 3 ¾” level! Glad I got my tetanus shot before my trip. Gotta keep on your toes here in Ghana!

Once you get off the main road through the market, it’s a lot more peaceful. The market was filled with sellers of food, clothing, shoes, pans, and just about anything you can think of, but we were there to shop the beads. Hand-painted beads, strings of beads that remind you of those Necko candies, handmade glass beads, brass beads, stone beads.  We got there late so only got to shop for about an hour, which was probably a blessing in disguise. But we got some good shopping in and lively interaction with the sellers, so it was a satisfying trip. When the bead sellers started packing up, we decided we needed a beer, and voila! Felix

Dana, Laurie, Anna & Sascha after the market

coincidentally drove right by so we hopped into his cab. We told him we needed a beer, and he took us to a very nice hotel located right across the street from Global Mamas.  We moved a table outside to the courtyard, where there was no one else, and enjoyed sharing the spoils of the day.

The next day, Thursday, was a holiday, as it was Ghana’s Independence Day. For the daytime celebration, children dress in their school uniforms and march around in formation with fake rifles. For about a week before Independence Day, children practice in public areas; it’s quite a sight!

Children practicing in formation for Ghana's Independence Day March 6

My home, Cape Coast, is directly above this caption, on the coast.

Friday morning we completed the remainder of the interviewing, and then the weekend had begun for me, Sascha and Anna! We hopped into a tro-tro and headed off to our weekend excursion in the Volta Region. Lake Volta is the largest manmade lake in the world, and it’s dam produces most, if not all, of Ghana’s electricity. As you can see on the map, it’s huge! Our destination was an eco-hotel called Roots Yard in a tiny town called Peki (see bubble on map) (www.rootsyard.org). Roots Yard was our home base for a couple of days while we travelled to nearby attractions, Wli Waterfalls and the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary.

Feeding a Mona Monkey

Saturday morning we headed over to the Monkey Sanctuary first. We took a tro-tro to Hohoe (no, the two words don’t rhyme, it’s “ho-hoy”) located just north of Peki, and from there we hopped on motorcycles where our guides took us on the final leg of our journey to the sanctuary. The conversation I had with my guide is very typical for female North American tourists here: Are you married? How many people in your family? I want to marry an American woman! Mind you, he might say this even if he is already married, because polygamy is practiced here.

The monkeys were gentle little Mona Monkeys living in a bamboo grove. They were strong little guys, so you had to hold your banana firmly so they would interact with you more. They would peel back the banana skin, remove the banana meat, all the while rarely losing eye contact with you, and be on their way. To my surprise, one decided to jump from the bamboo stalk to my arm almost as soon as I held out a banana! He/she was surprising light in weight.  Since about 1933 the monkeys have been protected here and are revered by the locals. Prior to that, they were hunted to near-extinction, as new religion settled in and forbade animal worship. I’m glad they have a safe home now.

Wli Waterfall, the highest in Western Africa

After seeing the monkeys, we then headed to Wli Waterfalls, the highest waterfall in Western Africa, and about 15 minutes from the Togo border. It was another tro-tro ride and then a taxi ride to the visitor’s information center. From the main office you take a 20 minute walk through a rain forest until you get to the falls. I had read somewhere that Wli was also home to bats; turns out it’s a rare fruit bat that lives right next to the waterfall, and they are protected here, as they used to be hunted. They are kind of difficult to make out because they blend right in to the rock, but then one will take off and fly and then you realize there are HUNDREDS of them hanging out!  We hung out for a few hours and we got home late that night, but our wonderful hosts had dinner ready for us shortly after we arrived at around 11 PM. We had texted them earlier that we thought we would be late, and they generously said No problem!

The next day we decided to walk to Lake Volta, which turned out to be too ambitious a goal and we ended up taking a taxi to the lake after about 3 hours of walking. But the walk was gorgeous, through a cocoa tree grove and giant trees that completely dwarfed us.

We also walked by several cemeteries. Which brings up the subject of funerals. Funerals are a big, big deal here; how you celebrate a person’s death has a direct impact on your family’s reputation. A funeral can go on into the night and through the next morning, as we witnessed the first night we spent at Roots Yard. They were having a funeral for a local military hero, and all night and into the early hours of the next morning hymnal music was blaring into the neighborhood. They were still celebrating Sunday morning, as illustrated by a car full of locals showing up to the lodge at 9:30 AM with beers in hand to toast with the owners, who also knew the recently deceased. It is touching that they celebrate a person to such magnitude, but apparently a family can go bankrupt with the cost, which brings up some concerns.  But then again, we do that in the U.S. with weddings!

Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world

Anyway, back to our hike/taxi ride to the lake. When we got there, we were so hot, and we all really wanted to go for a swim, but we all decided against it. There is a worm that lives in the shore of the lake that will burrow into human skin and you have to have it cut out. There is also a parasite in the water that may enter your body and you may not know about it for a very long time. So we chickened out. Although for just a few seconds, I did go knee-deep into the lake, as my legs were covered in sweat and red dirt, and I looked pretty pathetic. This cemented my promise to myself to see a tropical medicine doctor when I get back to the U.S., which I am kind of excited about, just to get checked for random parasites and worms that hitched a ride with me to New Mexico.

The best movie theater in Ghana!

After getting back from our hike and having a vegan dinner, we saw “12 Years a Slave.” And it was the best theater ever! We hung a sheet on a building near our dormitory, and stretched out on some loungers, and saw the movie outdoors. This picture was taken the next day; we viewed the movie at night. I really don’t have the words to describe the movie that would do it justice, but it was very well done and very powerful. Wow.

Kente Cloth

The following day we were planning on heading home, but first we walked about 15 minutes down the road to see Kente cloth weavers. Kente cloth (from kenten meaning basket weave) originated in the Ashanti region. It is hand-woven and is worn on formal occasions. To see them weave this cloth is quite amazing; they use their hands and toes to move around the many pieces of string. I didn’t take a picture because it felt too intrusive, but I purchased a piece of Kente cloth that is sort of a sampler of all the patterns they use.

We went back to Roots Yard to settle our bills, then headed out for the long trip back to Cape Coast (and Anna on to Krobo). On the way home, our traveling route got a little unpredictable because tro-tro drivers like to tell you they can take you halfway to your destination where you may catch another tro-tro to your final destination, but they don’t really know for sure if your transfer tro-tro is still running. Long story short, we spent the night in Accra and got home a day late. After talking with some of the seasoned volunteers here, I discovered that this is a very common thing, and part of the Ghanaian Maybe Time.

View from the back of a tro-tro

My lesson about traveling in Ghana is to start your traveling early! And try not to travel at night. But we did see a lot more of the region than we would have, and it was quite lovely. And while we were driving through the green mountains of southeastern Ghana, and while I worried about what time we would be getting home in this mysterious country, a quote from one of my family’s favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., popped in my head: “Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.” Thank you for writing those words that comforted me on my journey, Mr. Vonnegut!