Volta Region

[CLT: "New Reality" - Lecrae ft. Chinua Hawk]

This weekend was another trip with ISEP to the Volta Region in the Eastern Part of Ghana touching Togo. We set out on Saturday morning and got to drive through some interesting cities, but the best view was when we finally got near our destination. The mountains were so beautiful, not quite like the Smokey Mountains, but beautiful in their own way.

Our first stop that I was super stoked about was the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary! It was just a normal village with people going about their normal day-to-day lives. There were kids playing in the dirt with empty sardine cans and some men weaving Kente cloth. But the coolest thing was that the village had become a sanctuary for these monkeys. By opening the village up for people to come see the monkeys, they were able to pay for needed upgrades to their village and surrounding community. Our guide Immanuel led us on a little adventure to search for the monkeys, and he would call to them by making little sounds with his mouth. At one point he just called out and said, "Hey monkeys, come here, I know you're there." But it worked! We all got little pieces of banana and got to feed the monkeys. They would come up to you like they were shy, then grab the banana super fast and smash it in their mouth. They were so funny! Monkeys are one of my fave animals, so it was definitely one of my favorite adventures here. But the great day was about to get even better!

After the monkey sanctuary, we went towards those beautful mountains we saw on the trip there. We were going to hike to Wli Falls, the tallest waterfall in West Africa. We hiked through more jungle with gorgeous plants and trees. After we had walked for awhile, we noticed the air getting slightly cooler. Then we came around a bend in the path and could hear the falls, just a slight roar. When we came in full view of the falls, it was truly awesome and magnificent. The water was cool/cold, but it was shallow enough to walk to the waterfall and stand underneath it. To walk up under this mighty wall of water and touch the rock face behind it was an indescribable experience! You couldn't see anything while underneath it, but you could feel it pressing on you like a super powerful refreshing shower. Just one more declaration of the world for God's glory!

After all the excitement, we went back to the hotel and passed out for the night. We didn't know until too late that there was a church right next to the hotel, so we didn't get to go anywhere that morning. After breakfast we went to a weaving village where they make the beautiful Kente cloth that is associated with Ghana. They make it on looms that you control with your hands and your feet. I can't imagine sitting there like that all day long, but the product is beautiful. There weren't a lot of people there because it was a Sunday, but they did let us try weaving for ourselves. The guy helping us told me I was a pro at it. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I won't count that out as a future career!