The next morning, I awoke around 8am, somewhat as a zombie and somewhat as a traveler - the zombie implying I felt dead, the traveler implying that I felt ready to get the hell out of there - and I got Jackie up so that we could head out. We didn't really know how to get to Mountain Paradise Lodge, and we were ready to reunite with our friends, so we didn't want to find out where that 4km uphill walk was that would take us to the lodge. We thought a taxi seemed much more appropriate for our current mental states. We couldn't find the nice man who had helped us the night before who told us he was a taxi driver, but of course, being white, we had no problem finding a taxi. In fact, we didn't even half to look. We were just asked (happens all the time). The driver wanted 150,000 cedis for a ride to the lodge. Jackie and I weren't completely sure how far the lodge was, but we knew that 150,000 was way too much.
"How far is the lodge?"
"Oh, far, far..."
"But how long do you think it would take to get there?"
"Oh, long time, long time..."
"Can we walk there?"
"Oh, you could walk, but it would take you a long time."
(People have a habit of repeating things here for emphasis. So instead of saying, "He is very small," someone might say "He is small small.")
Jackie and I just sort of stood there thinking and looking at each other. In Accra, if a taxi driver tries to overcharge me, I know that he's trying to overcharge me and so I call him out for it and demand a lower price. Plus, in Accra, there are so many taxi drivers that if one driver won't take me for a certain price, another probably will. Here, though, we had no reference for how far the lodge, how much a ride from a rural area should cost, or if there were any other taxi drivers around to create some competetion. Finally, Jackie and I agreed to ask for a lower price. Usually it's best to aim really low, otherwise you might still get gypped.
"We don't have very much money. Could you take us for 60,000?"
"Oh, no! I will take you for 100,000."
"That's still a lot. How about 80,000?"
"Please, it is far. 100,000."
"90,000?"
"100,000."
Thinking.... "Fine." (We later found out that 60,000 would have been an appropriate price for the journey, but oh well, at least we got there).
The taxi driver was very amusing. Everytime we would pass someone on the way up the mountain he would stick his upper body out the window, honk at them, and yell things with a humungous smile on his face. Everyone else we passed would do the same. we could tell the whole town must have been like a big, happy, silly family. Or something like that.
Anyway, we got to the lodge around 9 and were very happy to see that it was right at the top of a mountain, very secluded. The owners had a nice large house with a spectacular porch that had a long dining table, an areas of couches for sitting, lots of littles plants and porch ornaments, a little library, and a chair specifically reserved for the some of the cutest little kittens in the world (the chair actually had a sign that said, "Reserved for cats"). Then there was a separate building where guests stayed with a few bedrooms and bathrooms, a clothesline, a water spicket... all the things one could possibly need in life. The place reminded me a lot of the hostels and bed and breakfasts I stayed at in the Appalachain Mountains - very homey, cute, secluded, and so friendly. The owner was a friendly man named Tony who really cared about his guests feeling at home. Tania and Tony had an ongoing little banter where they would put each other down a lot. But then again, that seems to happen a lot with Tania. It's always amusing.
Soon after arriving, I washed my hands and sat down to an amazing and much-needed breakfast. We had omelettes with peppers and onions, oatmeal, a banana, fresh toasted bread from the village down below (Biakpa), and locally grown coffee. I can't really say that any part of the breakfast was really the highlight, but I must say, it was about time I had some real coffee. Coffee isn't a very big thing here in Ghana (people here refuel by napping instead of getting wired on caffeine - it makes a lot more sense, really), so you can't get real coffee hardly anywhere. It's all instant coffee. Even at the Labone Coffee Shop (I'll remind you that Labone is one of the only rich neighborhoods in Accra), if you order coffee, you'll get instant coffee. So the locally grown coffee they served us with real cream (instead of powder) was welcomed enthusiastically by my whole body and essence.
After breakfast, we all got ready to go on the nearby hike through the mountains. I was extremely excited because it had been so long since I had had a real hiking adventure. Of course, this wasn't exactly going to be the Appalachains. The highest point in Ghana is Mount Afadjato which is only 885 meters (about 2600 feet), compared to the Appalachains which range from 125-6,600 (I think) feet. (Of course, the Appalachains definitely pale in comparison to many other mountain ranges). Anyway, I was excited. We packed along our lunch which was pretty good but sadly consisted of almost no protein and started our journey. We asked someone working at the lodge how to get to the trail and he said we would need a guide to find the trail. We asked how much a guide would cost and he told us 30,000 cedis per person (that's always how they get you). We told him that we would just try to find the trail on our own since we didn't have much money, but the guide came along with us anyway. We told the guide, whose name was CK (may be spelled differently, but that's how you say it), that we didn't mind if he came along with us, but that we weren't going to pay him. He said that was fine... he didn't have anything better to do.
We made our way down the road, not in a rush (the trail was only 4km), chatting away, and then we found the trail. There was a big tree on the left and a burned area on the right. Rachel claims that we couldn't have found it without CK, but I maintain that we could've found it. We just didn't bother looking for it since he was with us. We started on our journey, and the first thing that happened was that Rachel told us she was terribly afraid of heights and that sometimes she gets dizzy spells and is paralyzed on the spot if she notices a big drop off next to her. Comforting to know. I assured her that I had experience with those sorts of hikers (coughcoughdaddyandajayecoughcough... love you two), so she had no need to worry about going slow on the trail. The Overall, the trail didn't have too much variation in elevation, but when it did change elevation, it would be very drastic, so there were ropes tied to several trees to prevent you from falling on your way down (and to ensure that you could get back up). Rachel wasn't too excited about the idea of traveling by rope, but she did it, and she was very proud of herself. After I cartwheeled down the same steep rope journey (just kidding), we came to the second of three waterfalls, which would be our stop and have fun spot. We were informed that this waterfall would be safe to swim in (well, the watering hole below the waterfall, not the fall itself obviously). I say safe because there's a risk of getting schistosomiasis from swimming in still water, but apparently this water had been tested for safety.
The waterfall was absolutely gorgeous. It wasn't huge, just very majestic, cascading down the dark rocks and into a large pool of water, waist-deep by the fall and neck-deep closer to the spot where it streams further down the mountain. The water was so cold, but the air was so hot, so the water was very welcoming. CK didn't get in the water with us, but he hung out and watched us swim, which might sound a little weird, but it was fine. We had a great time splashing around in the water, being silly, taking pictures with Tania's underwater camera. We ended up exploring a little further down the stream to find more waterfalls and pools, although we only swam in the one. After a while, we all got pretty hungry, so it was time for lunch. We ate a loaf of bread, tomatoes, avacado (which was totally different and not as good as any avacado I have had previous to this experience), the Trader Joes trail mix (so magical), and apples. Then we all got dressed and continued on with our hike.
After hiking for a little longer, we began hiking through a farm. I got to see many fruit plants that I had never seen before such as banana trees, a pineapple plant, a cocoa tree, coffee plants, and palm nut trees. Sometimes its easy to forget where food comes from. ("But Drew, we all know food comes from the grocery store. Duh!") We also met the farmers, a nice old man and woman who also had a little child. We greeted them and admired their little stone hut that they lived it. They were strangely happy that we had hiked through their farm, but I guess we weren't the first to do so. We finished up our hike with a nice uphill trip back to the lodge. Oh, uphills. How I do love and yet despise thee.
The rest of the day was more or less chill. We got back to the lodge around 4, so we had plenty of time to kill. Tania and I climbed a really cool tree, and we also played on the tire swings tied to the tree. We did some art for a while, colored, met a girl from Slovenia (whose name was also Tania), I sang for a bit, and then we all had dinner. I had red red for dinner which is beans with fried plantains. Of course, we all shared, so I also had some fufu, jollof rice, and tofu. After dinner, we set up our tents outside (we could've stayed in the rooms, but the tents were so much cheaper and seemed a lot more exciting). We made a campfire for the occasion (it just seemed right) and then we all sat around the campfire - me, Jackie, Rachel, the two Tania's, two people from Holland, CK, and CK's young brother Adem. we mostly just sat around and talked, enjoying the fire, the breeze, the cool night air (the first time I've actually even considered that I might possibly be chilly since I've been in Ghana, although I wasn't actually chilly, I just felt great). CK told us a few African stories about a michevous man named Kokwoanaase. I would retell them for you here, but one, that would kill the fun of telling the story orally, and two, I really don't feel like typing all that right now. At about midnight, once we had exhausted the fire and ourselves, we climbed into our little bitty tents, uncomfortable, but tired enough to pass out anyway.
To be continued...
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