VOLTA!

This past weekend, we went to the Volta Region, which is east of Accra, bordering Togo. It was such a beautiful trip, with plenty of time to marvel at the beauty of God's creation. As we arrived, gazing at the misty, rolling green mountains, Maggie gasped as she stared, saying, "Wow. It looks like God forgot to sweep up some cobwebs." She said it so beautifully. The dew-like cobwebs were strung from mountaintop to valley so gracefully.

On Friday, we climbed up (well, McKenzie and I only went halfway, then turned around) the tallest mountain in Ghana. It was intense. I mean, the entire hike was literally almost completely at a 90 degree angle, with wet, sticky, sliding mud beneath your feet. We were climbing on all fours. It didn't help that I kept falling backwards due to the pack on my back.

After the climb, a tour guide led Kenz and me to Wli Waterfalls. We walked (thankfully a much more leisurely walk) under melodious raindrops, beneath the canopies, as our guide occasionally stopped us pointing out mangoes, bananas, and cocoa seeds (which houses the seeds used to make chocolate), among other African plants.

Wli Falls was gorgeous. Kenz and I sat in silence, with our eyes fixed upon the constant rhythm of the crashing water. As we sat, the chilly mist quickly soaked us---quite the refresher after the intense hike.

We walked around Wli Falls, making our way to a dark cave nearby,where our tour guide told us ancient tales about Africans and the waterfall...the kind of tales that explain how something came to be, or how a place go its name.

That afternoon, after rinsing off and changing into our (more) African attire, we all went to a "durbar", meaning a local celebration or festival. We sat and watched as the African women danced and as the men beat their drums, lodged between their feet. Bright colors, beads, paint, and signs of celebration were everywhere.

That night we all went back to the guesthouse where we were staying, exhausted and hungry. After dinner, we found ways to entertain ourselves, playing cards and camp games. I learned how to play the "celebrity game" (also sometimes known as "salad bowl")---quite a fun game, I must admit. Here's how you can play: First, everyone who's playing must write down (an equal number of) celebrities names on tiny, folded pieces of paper. Each of us wrote down three names. You have two teams (to make this easier, every other person sitting in a circle will be on the same team). You need a timer (you might want to Google this for more specific directions, as I'm just giving you an overview). During the first round, one person on a given team has 60 seconds to describe the celebrity (without saying his/her name, sort of like taboo), and once his or her team- mates guess the celebrity, he/she can keep going through as many celebs names as possible, until the 60 seconds is up (again, like going through Taboo cards, until the timer has finished). During the second round, you describe the celebrities using only one word, and during the third and final round, you describe using only actions. It's really fun.

On Saturday, we went to the tallest waterfall in all of West Africa. After hiking across 11 bridges, as we maneuvered our way through another forest, we made it. Some people in our group swam in and under the waterfall—which looked pretty exhilarating. The water was so pure and cold. It was gorgeous, even prettier than Wli Falls.