The plan was to head to the hills on Saturday, but as it has every Saturday, it was pouring, only this time it started early and didn’t seem to be letting up…Which made the trip today even better as a waterfall was on the schedule. Sunday it was then for the trip which began with an hour and a half tro-tro ride up the through the hills and about 30 km past Aburi to a town called Adukrom where the journey began. The guide book mentioned that the Asenema falls were 5km north of the town and of course when I asked directions from a taxi driver, he told me it was far away. How far away I ask…200km. Taxi drivers are great, one with no customers will never fail to honk at me on the road, stick his hand out the window and ask where I’m going. And they exaggerate distances so that you think it’d be faster to walk to the moon and take a taxi instead. I thanked him for his terrific estimate and began the walk. Walking is awesome only because I get to do more interacting in places where people, let alone white people, pass by on foot. It turned out to be a beautiful hour walk down the hill where the waterfall was situated off a signed footpath. When I first approached, it looked as though smoke was billowing out of the trees, only it was the violent spray coming from the base of the falls. The landing area for the water was indented rock that flowed down the river, but since the water was flowing straight onto rock, instead of a pool of water, it created a huge spray of water and wind that soaked me when I got within 20 yards of it. I was the only one there which made it easier to roam around and take the camera with the video option up near the falling water. The closer I got, the more I felt like I was going to be blown over by the tremendous amount of wind that swirled within the hollowed out rock. It was one of the coolest experiences with nature that I’ve ever had and I think the fact that it poured yesterday made it an even stronger flow of water. Although I only got within 10 feet of the water I was soaked all the way through which was a refreshing way to reward the long hot walk down.
On the walk up, I became a bit bolder with the use of the camera and took some pictures of some small communities of people living in mud and bamboo houses yet who were enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon. Every time I walk by a bunch of kids they come to side of the road waving, right, but this time I whipped out the camera and immediately as that happens, they all freeze. I threw them another wave and got them to wave back for the picture, which shows how happy these people are.
Exhausted after the climb back up the hill to the station I hopped in a tro-tro to head back to Accra. As one of the last in the car I headed towards the rear to await the drive home only this trip was not restricted to humans. Oh definitely not. Right before we leave, as is customary, the trotro driver (called the “mate” – prounounced more like miet) opens the back and sticks the goods people are transporting into the small space the car offers. Only this time, as the mate was helping a lady insert her luggage into the cabin, I felt something furry brush up against my leg. Before I could even think of what it could be, I heard it…the baaaaing of a goat! Awesome. Along with my 20 Ghanaian friends, we headed home with TWO of the Adukrom town goats. Oh man this was a trip. I got a short video of it, as the two people to my right started yelling at the mate and bailed. The funniest part was the mate thought he could get away with literally stuffing the goats in untied, but at the behest of the two aforementioned passengers, they hogtied these poor goats and then stuffed them under the seat. I thought was hilarious and quite an experience…at first. Imagine, for the next hour and a half there were two squirming baaaaing goats, and the worst part about it was the woman who owned the goats was sitting in the very front! Maybe she thought the white man would enjoy this experience. What a crazy day with three weeks to go.
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