Wli Falls

March 30th, 2009 by Elias Parisca

After the goat incident, I did some work in the Ho office and took off to the main transportation station of Ho for some traveling. After consulting Simon and Courage and my travel guide, I decided to go to Hohoe, a village about 2 hours north of Ho (not all towns in Ghana start with the syllable “Ho”. In fact, those are the only two). I decided on Hohoe because I was told the Wli Falls were the highest and most awesome waterfalls in all of Ghana. Once in Hohoe I found a small little hotel – electricity and a normal toilet were my only requirements. This little hotel had shared bathroom facilities and the shower was broken. Like back home I had to use buckets of cold water to bathe, which I don’t mind at all – these bucket showers are the best remedy for the heat, so I take them twice a day.

Saturday morning I got up early to take the van to the Wli Falls. Upon arrival, I pay the equivalent of $7 and they pair me up with my guide, a nice local 23-year old by the name of Eric. My guidebook is very vague, so I had no idea what to expect from the hike to the waterfalls. Eric is wearing flat, plastic flip flops, and I’m wearing running shoes, so I think, “if he’s wearing flip flops, I don’t think we’ll be hiking much at all.” We start walking through the forest and Eric, a very fit football (soccer) player, walks pretty fast. Within 10 minutes of flat terrain we pass a group of 3 Danish girls, all wearing flip flops as well, so I ask Eric, “are we going uphill at all? Or is it all flat until the falls?” Eric laughs and said, “no, it will be flat for another 10-15 minutes and then we’ll start going up.” He meant it. Not only do we start going up this very steep hill, but he keeps his in-shape pace. As you may know, I can be very proud and incapable of conceding defeat, so I keep up with Eric. He often asked, “do you want to slow down?”, to which I could only reply gasping for air, “no, I’m good, keep going.” I remind you this guy is wearing flip flops with no traction, and not a drop of sweat. In my defense, I’m carrying my bag and he’s not carrying anything.

The hike uphill takes 2 hours of high-speed hiking. TWO HOURS, 600 meters high! My guidebook could have shared that little piece of information. I literally thought I was going to die several times as my legs began to shake and my heart was pumping out of my chest. When we arrived, however, the sense of accomplishment was awesome. The falls were beautiful, the water freezing cold, but refreshing and delicious. I took several pictures and a video, which I hope to post here once I figure out how.

So this weekend I conquered Ghana’s tallest waterfalls and refused to bow down to a local 23-year old, I’m proud.