The Given Ladies Visit the Volta Region

We woke early Thursday and packed our breakfast in order to be ready to go by 7 am (beat the traffic) but we sat in the parking lot waiting for our driver until past 8. We made our way through Accra and out to the countryside by mid-morning and arrived at our hotel in Ho just in time for lunch. Very pretty drive with lots of hills, vegetation, occasional view of the lakes and lots of villages. We passed through several police check stops where Ghana police checked the car stickers, looked at us and asked where we were headed before waving us on. George says they check a lot close to the borders and we were fairly close to Togo so I guess that`s why. We even got stopped for speeding, and got to witness the lovely police corruption that is ever present here first hand!

We stopped for lunch in our hotel in Ho and then headed to the Kalapka game reserve in search of wild animals. Our armed guard led us through plains and forested areas in search of monkeys. Failing to see any, we hoped we would see some antelope. We did, but not in the wild like we would have thought, but captive back at the compound!The Kalapka reserve was reminiscent of the Golden Monkey trek we did in Rwanda – a lot of effort and no reward. We told ourselves we needed the walk and the scenery was great.
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuFOrM3V9RZvBhNExIeEOAojgPjoIsS2vwvYxhGJtE1TD_pAgNuW9JH4b6XpgQ_SNQykc3qKpUN8WLjlPvBDmaxvV25E52j-WvrSN90gJGECop7U-s6NowY0VyS6A8vuXn7Cwpj9-RyA/s1600-h/Kalapka2.JPG">


Saturday was another story. We started with a Kente cloth weaving village called Tafi Abuipe where this kind of weaving was supposedly invented (I heard the same story at the other Kente village I visited last time I was here). This fact is disputed as other regions also claim they started this style of weaving. Nevertheless, we had an excellent tour of the village and the kente weavers. All of the families in the village do the weaving from about age 7 onward. Mostly they weave outside under grass roofed canapés but if the weather is bad, they have two large barns they can use. May of the patterns are unique to the families apparently and while they weave in many colors, they have some traditional combinations as well. Ama was a big crowd pleaser. The kids were fascinated and followed us around. Ama was most interested in the goats and chickens which were everywhere. It was a great opportunity to see a village up close and to see their art in progress.







After the kente weavers, we made our way to a large town called Ho Hoe where we were hoping to gas up and have lunch. No petrol available – yikes. Luckily our trusty driver George found a local petrol seller outside the town who had some and we bought just enough. George said he didn`t want to buy too much as often this no-name variety is dirty and can cause lots of engine problems. Have a look at the pump – you`ll see why he was concerned! After that we decided to watch carefully for any stations who may have petrol available.

We had a very good lunch at a the Taste Lodge in Ho Hoe and then made our way to the Wli Falls. Wli falls are said to be the tallest in West Africa. A guide met us and offered to pack Ama while he led us along the well used path to the falls. We crossed a small river 9 times on our way – about a 45 minute walk. The bridges were in various states of repair – one was just a board but the water was shallow there and not far down should you fall off. We saw villagers doing their laundry and taking it back in big pans on their heads. Makes me very thankful for my machine! The falls were spectacular. There was only one other group there when we were there and we met a few others after. There is a refreshing pool at the bottom which Ama loved. We had a hard time getting her out. On the cliff hundreds of feet up, a colony of fruit bats reside – hundreds of these huge bats which our guide says are a local delicacy. We asked him how you order that so we could be sure we never got it but we cannot pronounce it so we decided we would just be vegetarian or order chicken or beef.





After our trip to the falls, we made our way back to Ho but since it was getting late and we were worried about the petrol situation, our driver decided to go the shortest route. It was also the roughest route. In fact it was so rough we rarely passed another vehicle. We did find another local petrol seller so this time George gambled and filled up. He told them that if the gas was dirty he would return for his money back. Good thing we filled up because we did not see more gas available until our return to the city on Sunday, and it was only available at some stations in Accra. Meanwhile the daylight faded fast and we found ourselves careening down roads with no lights, no lines, nothing to mark the edge of the roads. The roads had pot holes everywhere. This was deepest darkest Africa (To quote Uncle Rod). Even the many villages we went through were mostly dark. We were so happy to reach our comfortable Chances Hotel in Ho. Ama slept through the journey in the dark – I was on full alert!(Dear Pam-let's vow to drive only during the day!!!)


Sunday morning we took Ama to the hotel to swim before we headed back to Accra. She loves the water and is getting pretty brave with those waterwings! We loaded up again after our swim and made our way to Shai Hills Resource Reserve. The big attraction there was baboons which Ama really enjoyed. Then we drove through the reserve in search of wild antelope and maybe some more baboons. We declined the bat caves. Alas, the antelope eluded us so we saw a lot of empty reserve (tall grass and intermittent trees). It was very scenic and sweltering hot. At our final police check stop, the policeman was a bit disappointed our French was so terrible because he wanted to practice his. How very un-Canadian of us! We got back to our oasis in Accra early afternoon and enjoyed a shower and lunch out. Felt good to be home.