Krobo, Kpong, and Botti Falls

On Friday night our exchange officer took us out to a karaoke bar frequented by Europeans (we weren't the only obrunis!!!). It was so much fun! Me and Myrthe sang summer of 69 (which was awful), and was recorded but thankfully not on my camera.

On Saturday morning we headed out early and took a drive through the jungle. It was a really nice ride, and we got off of the tro-tro in front of Krobo mountain community reserve. We were going to hike it, but the pouring rain decided for us that it was a bad idea. Instead, we made our
way into Kpong, a town known for its bead making.

We first went to the bead market, where we found ourselves in front of stalls of beautiful beads. A lot of the stalls sell very similar stuff, but some stalls sell antique beads, which can be hundreds of years old (if not more).

After the bead market, we went to Cedi Bead Factory, where they gave us a tour of how they make their beads. There are numerous methods they use. One method is to recycle glass bottles and make beads out of them. Another is to take broken antique beads and recycle them. The place was very neat, but in the middle of nowhere. We were driven down a crazy unpaved road for 5 minutes and kept looking at eachother thinking “this can’t be the right place!!” but it was and it was really nice.

The rain stopped, and we had arranged with other exchange students in another city that we would meet them, so we headed back to Krobo. It took us about half an hour just to walk down the muddy path to get to the base of the mountain, and just as we arrived the other students were coming off the mountain. They said it was a pretty hard hike, and we decided maybe we would come back and do it another day when it wasn’t so wet.

The next day we went to Boti Falls, which again, were in the middle of nowhere. The drives were so scenic and beautiful. It is just hills and mountains of rainforest everywhere you look.
At the falls you walk down 250 steps, and arrive at

a little pool of water at the bottom of the falls. We walked around, went swimming (see us on the rock?), and enjoyed a nice afternoon there. There were numerous signs warning us not to swim, but we realized that is because the Ghanians do not know how to swim at all! Also, when the falls become stronger farther in the rainy season I think it is probably pretty dangerous, but it wasn’t rough while we were there.

All in all it was a very beautiful and scenic weekend. This weekend (actually we will leave Wednesday) we are heading up north to the city of Tamale and Mole, the game reserve here. It is pretty far, but I am so excited! The motel in Mole apparently has a pool and overlooks 2 watering holes so you can watch animals while you swim! Can’t believe I am over the halfway mark of my trip.