Day 14 - Volta Region Trip

Today, we are headed to the Volta region to see Wli Waterfalls, the tallest waterfalls in West Africa.  It is a 4 hour drive from Accra.  First, we stopped at Akosombo Dam which was completed in 1962 and provides more than 60% of Ghana's electricity.  The dam also created the largest man-made lake in the world, Lake Volta.  Today, it is second to the man-made lake created by the Three Gorges Dam in China.  We got a brief tour of the dam and our guide explained all the details about the history behind the dam construction.

Lake Volta in the background

Akosombo Dam on the Volta River.  Turbines and the river in the background.

The Volta Region is very green and mountainous as you head north.  Our final stop was the little mountain top village of Amendzofie where our hotel was.  The ride up was breath taking and a bit scary at the same time but the views were unbelievable.  

Our hotel/guest house at dusk and in the morning

Once we got settled in at the guest house, it started raining which provided such a pristine and natural setting.  We were far from major cities and there was such a quietness to being up in the mountains.  However, the rain brought an unexpected visitor, or hundreds of them to be clear.  Mang Mao insects/bugs come out of the group as soon as it rains and they die within a few hours.  Dozens of them got into each of our rooms thru the cracks in the windows.  They were everywhere.  They are harmless insects that are just a menage at best and people in many tropical environments are accustomed to this.  Geckos are also common in tropical environments.  They are found inside buildings are are part of the natural/human environment.  Although the maintenance people at the guest house cleaned up all the dead bugs, the sight of a few more was just too much to bear for several of our students.  We had three days left.  We had traveled a good distance in Ghana and dealt with bugs in almost every place we stayed in so far.  Some of the students had a hard time sleeping knowing that there were geckos on their wall hunting a few remaining bugs.  It was an uncomfortable setting.  We were towards the tail end of our trip and we were all tired, so we decided that the following morning we would return to Accra to the comforts of a bit more of a modern life.