So my fourth weekend in Ghana was Janis’s last weekend here, and because of this, we decided to spend some time with her friends in Kumasi. Because Kumasi takes several hours to get to from Mampong, I decided to leave work early (well 12, when I’m actually supposed to get off work) so that I could actually arrive somewhere in the light. I was low on money, so had to get some out in Koforidua, but none of the machines were working, so I made my journey to Kumasi with little more than spare change on me. It seemed like it took forever for my tro to fill up (well, in reality, a little more than an hour) and the ride from Kumasi took much longer than I was told (I have no idea how Janis was able to get from Kumasi to Koforidua in three hours). Needless to say that I didn’t reach Kumasi in the light, but I did get to arrive in a downpour (which is always fun!). Janis was supposed to meet me at Kajetia station, but because of the rain, she wasn’t there. Having absolutely no idea where I was supposed to go, I started asking around. At first no one had any idea about what I was talking about, which was a little frustrating. I eventually ended up talking to a man and his wife who finally figured out what I was talking about. Their response, however, wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. They told me that I couldn’t walk there because I was a white woman and white people get murdered there. So instead, they took me to the Kejetia police station and told me not to talk to anyone because no one here can be trusted and if I needed anything I should only talk to the police (although, in my experience, the police are also not to be trusted). So I sat in the police station for a while, until Janis called when she was close. Turns out the place where the tro dropped me was basically down the street from the medical hostel. Once I dropped my bags off at the hostel, we headed out for a bite to eat (pizza and garlic bread… a first for me in Ghana… it was delicious!!! Although crap by Canadian standards).
When we got to the village, a local woman approached us selling groundnuts to feed to the monkeys. I never thought that groundnuts would be something that monkeys go for, but I figured, if they don’t, then at least I’d have a snack for the trip. Fortunately though, it turns out that monkeys do like groundnuts! When we entered the forest our guide started making clicking noises, holding a banana in her outstretched hand. With 20-30 secs, we were greeted by a group of about 8 mona monkeys hanging out in the trees. The guide put some groundnuts in one hand a one of the braver monkeys came down the tree to take some. It was so cool! I had never seen a monkey that close up before! But what was even cooler was when she then instructed us to do the same. There’s something about having a monkey’s hand in yours, feeling their fingertips, watching them use their fingers and thumbs, that really shows how close to humans monkeys really are. Seeing and feeding those monkeys has had to be the highlight of my trip so far. After spending some time feeding the monkeys, we headed further down the trail, on a search for the second type of monkey found in this area, the black and whites. Initially, instead of finding them, we came across another mona She was noticeably older that the first group of mona monkeys, and was not as social. However, with some coaxing we were able to get her to come closer and had a chance to give her some nuts.
We eventually were able to spot some black and whites hanging out in some trees. They are bigger than the monas, but are not social and will take off if you get to close, so we were only able to see them from a distance. There are decent posers though, so I was able to get some decent pictures (and a video of one of them peeing… yes… I am 12). After seeing the black and white we continued on to the monkey cemetery. I wasn’t quite able to understand the story behind why it was there, but both monkeys and humans are buried in the cemetery.
We then headed out of the forest and back to Boabeng village. It is so close to the monkey sanctuary that in the evenings, during meal time the mona monkeys come to the village and sit on peoples roofs and will steal the cooking food if not carefully watched. There were a group of children playing in the main road in the village who were absolutely adorable. We would take pictures of them (they seemed to enjoy rather unusual poses) and they would squeal with delight when we would show them the pictures.
We also came across a little boy (about 3) who was peeing outside a house and then started to pee on a little girl (also about 3) who was standing a couple feet away from him. The little boy seemed to think that this was absolutely hilarious, the little girl, not so much. The three of us saw this from a distance and burst out laughing. And of course, I had to take a picture (you can actually see the urine spots on the girl’s skirt).
From the monkey sanctuary we then headed to Kintampo to see Fuller and Kintampo Falls (or that was the plan). At Boabeng we picked up another passenger (apparently our taxi driver figured that he could bring his friend along with us to see the sights on our 40 cedi). His name was Desmond, and we made him sing for us, which made up for the fact that the three of us were now crammed in the backseat. It took much longer than expected to get to Kintampo as it was raining pretty heavily (damn you rainy season), and arrived at Fuller Falls at around 17:15. We approached the gates to find out that the place closed at 17:00. However, with some hounding, they eventually did let us go down and see the waterfall.
After a quick photo opt, we piled back in the taxi to head back to Techiman. Along the way the driver informed that he was short of fuel, and wanted part of his fee now to pay for it so we gave him 10 of the 40 cedi. We stopped at a petrol station in the middle of nowhere at which point the rain had once again turned into a downpour. When the driver got his 10 cedis worth of fuel he got back into the car and tried to start the car. It did not start. He tried again. It did not start. After about 20 minutes of trying our driver took off in another car, saying he’ll be back in 20 minutes, leaving the three of us with our new friend Desmond. Well twenty minutes turned into 45 which then turned into an hour and a half. By this time we were not only sitting in the middle of nowhere during a crazy downpour of a thunderstorm, but the sun had set, so we were in the dark too (except when flashes of lightning lit up the night sky. We entertained ourselves by singing old songs from home that we knew (a little backstreet boy, a little spice girls, a little oasis). I think at first Desmond found this quite entertaining, but after an hour and a half, I think we had begun to drive him crazy! After an hour and a half the driver finally came back with someone to “fix” the car, and with some additional fiddling it finally started and we were off. Although the car did start, I do hesitate to use the word fix, as for the rest of the ride we were driving very slowly and the car would make small explosions every 5 seconds. It was funny, and yet a little unnerving at the same time. We asked Desmond to teach us how to pray in Ghanaian so we don’t die before we get back to Techiman.
After a good 1-1.5 hours, we finally arrived in Techiman and dropped Janis off at the tro station to head back to Kumasi. When then headed to our hotel, excited for the restaurant there that was awaiting us (Janie hadn’t eaten anything that day, and the egg sandwich I had was a long ways away). When we arrived we dropped our bags off at our room and made a b-line for the restaurant… to find that it was closed and the people had gone home. Our hotel was close any other places to eat and we were hungry and very thirsty, so we hounded the guy at reception until he opened up the hotel bar that was across the property. There was no food there, but at least we could get something to drink. So to end our day we settled on a liquid supper of Fanta, Coke, and red wine.
The next morning Janie and I woke up at a reasonable time in order to be out of the hotel by 08:00 (though we left our stuff there as check out wasn’t until 11:30 and we intended to be back by then) so that I could hopefully get back to Mampong before my 21:30 curfew that night. That day we were going to Buoyem to the bat caves only 8 km away from Techiman. Although it was really close to Techiman, it took us 30-45 minutes to get there because of the rough roads. When we arrived an elderly man and some local children greeted us. The man explained to us that he was the head guide, but because he had recently had a stroke, he no longer gives the tours and would call someone to take us. When he arrived, we all piled back into the taxi to take us closer to the bat caves. The road to the bat caves was very rough and it felt like we were driving off into the middle of nowhere (which we kinda were). The road was quite narrow, many times overgrown vegetation would be brushing that car on both sides as we drove, and local Ghanaians would be walking barefoot along the road, jumping into the bush at any car honk to give them room. After another good 45 minutes, we arrived at a small town and were told that we’d be walking the rest of the way from there.
Our taxi driver joined us on the tour (apparently sight seeing is also part of the a taxi driver’s job in this area). The hike wasn’t nearly as strenuous as the ones at Krobo Mountain and Boti falls, but it still involved a bit of rock climbing, as well as using some “ladders” (and by ladder they meant wild vines growing up rocks) to get were we wanted to go. The ladders were new to me, so it was a fun experience. On the hike we were taken to three different caves. The first cave was the Water Cave. At the opening you could enter just barely ducking down, but as you went further and further into the cave, the ceiling forced you down on your hand and knees. About 20-30 feet into the cave there was a small waterfall flowing from the rock above. When our guide shined the light up the hole I could see two bats just chilling by the water.
After a decent hike we then reached the second cave. In there were hundreds upon hundred of bats flying around in the darkness. These bats were rather small, and the same kind we saw hanging out by the water in the first cave. Our guide caught one and let both Janie and I hold it. Can’t say I’ve ever held a bat before.
The third cave we went to was the Shrine Cave. The cave housed bigger bats than was seen in either of the two previous caves. At certain times of the year the villagers used to come to shrine cave and catch bats to eat as part of Ghanaian tradition. However, since the caves have been developed as a site for ecotourism, the locals have stopped hunting the bats, as the money brought in through tourism does more to better their community than the bat meat itself does. Before entering the cave, our guide performed a ceremonial ritual using local schnapps, and prayed that our coming here will bring more visitors, so that their community can prosper. After entering the cave, we then had to crawl through a short tunnel about 10 feet long on our hands and knees which opened up upon a large opening within the cave. Although it was pitch black, as soon as you entered, you knew you were surrounded by thousands upon thousands of bats. The noise was almost deafening. It was a little unnerving feeling a burst of wind in the darkness as a bat would rush by your face, but a very cool experience at the same time. When our guide shined his flashlight, you could see the bats flying soaring through the air, along with thousands of glowing eyes staring back at you from the cave walls. The amazing experience of being surrounded by thousands of bats was interrupted slightly by the fact that our guide was not to good at lighting our path, which resulted in us stepping in our fair share of bat guano inches deep (yum!). To exit the cave we had to climb up a ladder (a guano covered ladder at that) and then had to climb up a rock using wild vines before we were back on the path to the village. When got back, we then headed back through the rough, muddy road to Techiman to check out of our hotel and headed back to Kumasi.
Although checkout was at 11:30, we didn’t arrive back at the hotel until 1:30, so we quickly grabbed our bags, dropped off our key, and made a b-line for it. On our way to the tro station (a 20 minute walk), a tro passed saying it was going to Kumasi, so we climbed on board. Although it was going to Kumasi, unfortunately for us, it was the type of tro that stopped at every little town and junction to drop and pick people up, which took quite a bit of time. Fortunately though, once it was finally full of people wanting to go to Kumasi it picked up some speed.
I arrived in Kumasi at 15:30, and hoped that I arrive in Kejetia station to find an nearly full tro and be off by 16:00, in hope of getting home before curfew. I however, was sadly mistaken. I arrived to find a 20 passenger tro with only 8 people inside. Twenty minutes after I arrived, a new, 12 passenger tro pulled up beside, destined for Koforidua, which would have taken long to fill, but the people at the station refused to switch tros. So instead, I ended up leaving Kumasi about an hour and a half later, shortly after 17:00. I phoned Frank to let him know that I would be attempting to come home tonight, and it sounded as though he may let the 9:30 curfew slide for once so I wouldn’t have to find an alternate place to stay that night (perhaps it was the whole white girl traveling alone in the dark thing that did it). I arrived in Koforidua around 21:00 and was taken to the tro sation to find it completely bare. Emma had once told me how some volunteers had once arrived in Koforidua late and had to take a 40 cedi taxi ride to get back home, and there was no way I was going to shell out another 40 cedi that weekend! My tro driver asked me where I was going, and when I said Mamfe he told me to stay on the tro and dropped me at a gas station on the main road in Koforidua. I was a little confused, but soon realized that there was a group of Ghanaians crowded around a tro, trying to get the driver to take them to Mamfe. After some arguing, and several attempts by the driver to drive off, he eventually decided to do it for 2 cedi a piece. Shortly after 22:30, I arrived back to Mampong, in one piece after a tro filled weekend of bats, monkeys and waterfalls.
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