Boti Falls

This past Sunday we all went to Boti Falls. It is a little lake and waterfall about an hour away from here. The Peace Corps bus picked us up at 8am and took us to the suboffice in Kuku so we could collect our lunch and some water, and then we left for Boti Falls. It’s in the mountains just outside Koforidua. We all gathered outside the entrance to the falls and ate our snack, something we always look forward to – hob nobs and an orange juice box. Our guide took us down 250 steps to the lake and falls. It was very pretty but I thought it was going to be bigger, but it was still a nice change from sitting all day. It isn’t the rainy season quite yet, but when it is the waterfall forms a long curtain down the side of the cliff. Right now there are two separate waterfalls coming down. Our guide told us that the two falls represent a male and a female and then they eventually come together when the rains are heavy. I thought that was a cute little story. We all decided to walk around the back of the falls. No one fell in the water luckily, but it was pretty slippery. We all sat on the rocks behind the falls and our trainers took our pictures from the other side of the lake.

After sitting on the other side for a while, we headed back because our guide was talking us to another area of the park. It was a 45-minute hike away from where we were, but we all survived. However, it did make us realize how much sitting we have actually been doing. We were all sucking wind pretty hard! The first part was pretty flat and the scenery reminded me of the Lion King – it looked like rural Africa, which was a nice change from village life. Our path then turned into the steepest hill ever. I’m surprised no one rolled his or her ankle. You could stand at the top of the path and look straight down to where we were going. We took a little breather under the side of a rock that many people had signed their name on at one point in time. It’s a good thing we did stop for a little bit because the next part of the hike was INTENSE. It was about 400 degrees outside and we had to walk up the side of the mountain – just straight up. There were no switchbacks, just climbing and trying to dodge all the centipedes. It was pretty brutal, but we all made it to the top and there was a very nice breeze waiting for us. At the top of this mountain was a rock called Umbrella Rock I think. You guessed it, the rock is shaped kind of like an umbrella and you can sit underneath it. So we all caught our breath and rehydrated under there and set off again. We walked for about 5 minutes and we came to a little village, and by little I mean 1 or 2 houses and some sheep. These houses were different from the ones in Anyinasin because they were made of clay and some parts had thatched roofs. There was a mini tourist attraction though – in the center of the area is a 3-headed palm tree. You can climb up and stand on it if you want to pay 50 pesewas (pesewas are the Ghanaian coins). Apparently this palm tree is a fertility tree and those who stand in it are supposed to be blessed with lots of babies…I don’t know if the married couple knew that before they climbed up! Right underneath the tree is a stump, perfect for sitting on, and our guide explained that this particular stump is supposed to make you have twins.

It was nearing lunchtime so we were getting kind of antsy as we heard that we might be getting something really yummy to eat. Luckily we didn’t have far to walk to where the PC bus was meeting us. There was a little open-air school that we sat in as we took our lunches. It was wonderful when I opened up our little box…pizza. It was like a little taste of America. It was so great! There was actual cheese and sausage and vegetables! Needless to say, we were all very happy.

There was one last waterfall that we went to see before we set off. The PC bus drove us to the entrance about 10 minutes away. We had to walk down some more stairs but it wasn’t too terrible. This waterfall was more forceful than the first two, so I didn’t try to walk behind it like before. Some people did but it made me nervous because it looked really slippery and I was afraid for their cameras.

On the way home, as my body temperature began to normalize, I realized I got my first sunburn in Ghana. So I have a nice little tank top and bra tan line on my shoulders. Beats a farmers tan though. Good thing I brought some Aloe Vera gel from America. My host family was giggling at me because they said it was my skins process of becoming African. Luckily it started raining when we got home because my shoulders felt like they were on fire and I stood in the middle of the courtyard to cool down, while my entire family sat around the courtyard watching me. Ghanaians don’t really like water!