This past Saturday, I went with Jon and Kiki (the NAP volunteers) on an adventure to Boti Falls, which is about 3 hours to the northwest of Tema. I set out around 10:30 in the morning from Manye to meet up with Jon and Kiki in Ashaiman, which is a market district on the outskirts of Tema. It also has a large station that serves as a transportation hub for buses, or ‘tro-tros’ as they’re called here.
I should say now, tro-tros are really just large vans. To call it a bus is an overstatement. There is a ‘mate’ who sits by the door and tells you where the tro-tro is going and collects the fare, which is usually very cheap. It was 50 peswes (~ 33 cents) to get from Hitension (closest tro-tro stop to Manye) to Ashaiman. Then it was 4 cedis (~ $2.70) to go the much longer distance from Ashaiman to Kofuridua, a large town near Boti Falls.
Unsurprisingly, given their low rates, tro-tros are very uncomfortable. They squeeze one person into every seat for the ride (so minimum of 12 people in the van) and then there are often parents with young (and not so young) children on their laps. So with knees squeezed into the seat in front of me, I rode for about 45 minutes to get to Ashaiman (mostly because of bad traffic, because it’s really not that far). And then we waited an hour and a half for the next tro-tro to Kofuridua to leave. I thought it was interesting that tro-tros won’t leave on long distance trips until they are at full capacity. So there is no set schedule, or if there is one, it is more of a guideline. It's an interesting way to operate because it ensures that all vehicles run at full capacity, which is good for the operators as well as those last people to buy their tickets to fill the tro-tro. It’s really not that fun for the first people who buy their tickets (which was us) or if you’re trying to get somewhere in a hurry or by a certain time (which, luckily, we weren’t).
The ride to Kofuridua was a little under 2.5 hours. It alternated from paved roads to some serious stretches of cratered potholes. It was a long journey. But the landscape was incredible. The trip took us to the northwest from Tema, out of the coastal plains, into some small mountains. The green in Ghana's flag represents its rich forests and we definitely noticed that change in vegetation as we kept driving. When we got there, we were able to take a tro-tro from Kofuridua that would take us to Boti Falls.
The place was pretty empty, which was nice. We paid 4 cedis entrance fee and then were able to go right down to the falls and had the place to ourselves. The falls were breathtaking. This picture of Jon and Kiki doesn’t do justice to the height of the whole thing. If you stand next to it, not so close to the camera, it makes you look like a tiny speck. I would guess the falls are around 150 feet high. And turning away from the falls, it feels like you've entered a real African jungle. It was a great experience to get out of Tema and explore a rainforest environment with spectacular sights.
After hanging out at the falls for a while we caught a tro-tro on its way back to Kofuridua and luckily got the last three tickets on a tro-tro back to Tema. It was pretty late by the time we got back and I was exhausted from all the traveling. But it was a great adventure that I’m really glad we took.
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