Weekend in Volta Region

I just returned from the most amazing weekend trip ever. After staying on campus for two and a half weeks, I was starting to feel a little trapped. I wanted to get away form the city, from the traffic (that I can say is worst than driving east on the 405 at 6pm because the traffic here is also coupled with horrible air quality), from the litter and immerse myself in something different. I wanted to go on a hike or do something that would just get me into nature. My energy was low from being homesick and being sick and I was starting to get tired of the routine I've established. A couple others were feeling the same way, so, somewhat spur of the moment (after consulting our guide book of course), four of us decided to take a tro-tro to Lipke Todome, a small village in the Volta region. It was right along the Ghana-Togo border, and our guide book told us that it was home to an ecotourism site which included very long and somewhat challenging hike to a series of caves and a beautiful waterfall.

Sounds good.

We leave early Friday morning and after a few hours of travel, we arrive in the small village. We settle in a very nice guest house, which we each paid a little over 2 usd for (I feel wayyyy overcharged in the states now…). We also pay for a guide and set off on the hike to the caves. Although it was near sunset, the guide still decided to let us go, but told us we had to set a quick pace... The hike was breathtaking. I can't even describe how much I enjoyed the hiking, the climbing, and the reflection time as I was walking through the tropical forest. You can see the pictures on my Picasa page.

There were six caves total hidden in the greenery of the hills. Due to our late start, we were only able to visit three of the six. The first was a small cave where the ancient cheifs of the village used to meet. The second one was a little more difficult to reach, we had to scale the side of the rocky-mini-cliff (if that makes sense- before we could reach the cave.) The third was the best. It was a place where the villagers would hide during times of war. We had to climb down a ladder into the cave, and after we stepped in, we were greeted by a swarm (is that the right word?) of bats. Everything was so natural and untouched by man. I loved it!!!

Sidenote, funny story. So, imagine this. We are in a pitch black cave. The only light shines in from the 20 inch diameter hole that we climbed in. My friend Osama starts touching the dirt and exclaims to us that this is the best dirt he has ever touched in his entire life. "It's so soft and rich, you could plant anything in this," he claims. The other three us start touching it. Megan starts rubbing the dirt on her hands, all over her arms, talking about how she's exciting to have all these natural minerals on her skin. I have a bit between my fingers and yea, its soft, but so what. Then, our guide, Boss exclaims, “This is not dirt, my friends. This is the shit of the bat!”

You can imagine our reactions.

Afterwards, we trek back down the mountain with the sunset and make it back to the village in record time. By the time we arrive, however, it’s night. Young girls are cooking by candle light and little children are running and playing in the dark, shouting oburoni and running up to wave hello to us as we pass. I remember feeling so safe and comfortable during that moment.

Sorry this entry is such a jumble and random string of thoughts. Now that I have apologized, I hope it's okay that I continue to jumble and throw down my thoughts.

My favorite things about this place was that it was completely sustainable. The waterfalls by the village supplied drinking, bathing, and cooking water for the entire village, as well as to the other villages in the nearby vicinity. The houses were all built of supplies indigenous to the area. Goats and chickens roamed freely across the village. The village people ate and fetched water with calabash, a gourd they halved and hollowed out from a tree that grows all over the area. The women would hike to the bat caves to gather the bat poo to use as fertilizer for their tomatoes, onions, and other crop. The children made spinners out of leaves and sticks, built small forts with sticks that had fallen off the tree. Everything was just so.. sustainable.

Ah, I loved it.

After talking with Boss, our tour guide, we eventually discover that the World Bank is importing cement and supplies to build a concrete path along the hike. There were also giving money to the chief of the village to pay the workers 3 cedi (about 2.5 usd) a day to build this concrete path. The four of us on the trip were a bit skeptic about this. Boss was so excited about this though, saying that these people were coming in to help them so much. "Now," he said “all the kids and bigger people can hike this trail too.” This seemed skeptical. I don't know too much about the World Bank and it's relations with Ghana, but something about this exchange of aid didn't seem.. right.

We ended up running into the village chief’s son as we were leaving the village. We gave him our concerns about the World Bank coming in, and told them to beware of their aid and service, for there might be smallprint in the contract that they might not be aware of. This place was so nice, I think Osama, Megan, Kevin and I all agreed that this was our favorite place in Ghana so far. We didn’t want to see it become commercialized and the natural beauty of this place to be taken away by foreigners. The chief’s son began asking us for our opinions as to how to help them develope and expand the place so that the small village could make some money to sustain itself and to continue development. We gave him our suggestions, and he seemed so genuinely appreciative of all we had to say.

At the end of these amazing conversations and exchange of ideas, we gave them our names, phone numbers, emails and mailing addresses so that we could all keep in touch in the future to help this small village known as Lipke Todome.

Sigh. What an amazing weekend. So many other things happened, so many other wonderful conversations, but I would probably bore you if I spoke of all of them. Boss told us that we were his favorite group of all the groups he has taken out for the past 26 years. I felt so blessed and happy to have spent the weekend with such amazing people.

What I’ve learned: Be open, be honest, be genuine. I have heard from other many times, stop and look around to take in the beauty of the scenery and the places around you, the places you love and call home, that you might be taking for granted, and just take it all in. Many times, especially for me back at UCLA, I got so caught up in how much I had to do and so focused on what I needed to accomplish, I never really stopped to appreciate everything and everyone that had already accomplished so much already. This saying of taking in the scenery also applies to people. Stop and talk to others around you. Talk to the person that sits next to you in class that you have no idea about, the co-worker that you merely greet everyday. I have tried that here, and each time, I have been surprised by not only what I learn about them, but also by what I learn about myself. The times where I have been authentic and generous to others, even if just in my interactions and conversations with them, I’ve be surprise at how much I’ve received and at how happy I have been after these conversations. Some may say that this is the nature of Ghanaians, they are naturally so giving and so friendly. Perhaps, but what makes them any different from any other human being in this world. I think we should all try to be a little more human. It’s a nice feeling.

Now to upload the hundreds of pictures from the weekend. ☺