Africa, up close and personal

So, yesterday was my first real African adventure. We went to Anesema Waterfall, a couple miles north of Accra in the town of Adukrom. The falls actually weren't that impressive but it was such a nice change of pace from Accra that I think we all really needed.

It would take us 2 hours to get to the falls, so we decided to treat it Amazing Race-style by breaking into 3 groups and seeing who could get to the destination first. each group was required to have a cell phone, a guidebook, and a boy...a perfect travel kit. My group (Kristen, Emily, and Matt) got on a tro-tro* pretty quick and, as we drove off, saw the rest behind us. Off to a good start for us! :) Pretty impressive since travelling with 4 is actually a hindrance to tro-tro riding

We got to the falls and Matt and I climbed up onto this rock ledge behind the water, which was pretty sweet. Little did we know there was a MUCH easier way of climbing up, which everyone else took advantage of, but we hold ourselves as the true explorers, having done it first (as well as tackling the more difficult route).

Later in the day, Derek, Jordan, and I decided to find the source of the falls, which ended up involving blazing our own trail through 5-ft visibility grasses and pricker bushes up the side of a mountain. Unfortunately, Jordan's shoe broke and he ended up having to make the trek barefooted. But we eventually found the source, which was pretty sweet, but what we couldn't find was our way back down. I mean, we knew where we were, but we couldn't find a navigable path. At one point, Derek said to me, "So...we're hot, thirsty, in our bathing suits (and basketball shorts for me), and stuck in the middle of the bush in West Africa." ("in the bush"....Nate, you would've been proud). But what an adventure!

All this to say, we found our way out without too much trouble, though we did have to tackle an obstacle worthy of a youth group team-building retreat, which was to boulder our way across a short rock face to get to clearer ground (in retrospect, we could've probably just jumped down, but this was a little more extreme...Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible style...). And the boys were pretty heroic, I have to say. I think Derek has a shoe imprint on his shoulder still from letting me step on my back and lowering me to the ground.

We also had to cross the river to get to the path that would bring us back to the foot of the falls (well....it was really more like a creek at the point we chose...like, 2.5 ft across and about 8 inches deep...but river sounds so much better), and unfotunately, I had twisted my already-bad ankle while we were hiking so when I put too much weight on it in the water, I basically wiped out (not my most graceful moment) and got soaking wet.

But we made it back safe and sound with the best story of the trip so far and only a few minor injuries to speak of....Jordan's feet are a little raw, Derek's back is pretty scratched (he was our trail-blazer), and I have a bit of a raspberry on my leg from my nice (read: embarrassing) fall in the water. But this is what I came to Africa for....excitement and adventure and sundry humorous stories that will keep me laughing for a long time.