Wli Waterfall

The trip to the Wli Falls today was both unbelievable and unbearable. The unbelievable part was obviously the actual waterfall. Surrounded by a lush forest and emptying into a beautiful lake, the waterfall was truly a sight to behold. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. The kids hadn't either, apparently, as they all went nuts they second the falls came into view. I was the designated photographer tonight and the shouts of "Sir Michael, Sir Michael, Sir Michael" from all of the kids wanting to get their picture taken by the waterfall or while swimming was almost deafening. By the time we left, I had taken about 200 pictures of the 40 or so kids that went with us today. (Clarification: I've been calling it a "school-wide excursion" simply because it was open to everyone above Class 4. Only about 40 people had time/could pay the excursion fee though, which is why it seems like there are so few.)

The fun really started and ended at the falls though. The journey there was pretty miserable and the journey back was only slightly better. First major problem of the day was not having a bus. The driver that the school had hired totally flaked and Sir Dun was scrambling around at 5 in the morning looking for a bus to take us on this excursion. The result was that a trip that was supposed to leave at 5AM didn't end up getting on the road until closer to 9. Then, this bus ride that was supposed to be about 3 hours ended up taking us a little over 5 hours because the bus kept on having minor issue after minor issue. Finally, when we were only 15 km away from the falls, the bus broke down completely and we had to wait while we found enough taxis and trotros to take us the rest of the way.

To be honest, the ride home really wasn't all that bad. It was just late and everyone was tired and the AC stopped working so everyone was hot. That said, everyone had a really great time at the falls and most people slept so it could have been a lot worse. I, unfortunately, didn't get much sleep because I was sitting with a Class 6 girl and two Form 1 girls in seats that were supposed to fit two people. We made it work just fine, but it just made for a pretty uncomfortable sitting situation. And then the two Form 1's decided they wanted to fall asleep on my lap which, again, was fine but, again, made it pretty impossible for me to sleep. Oh well. They both said that they slept really well so I guess it was worth it. I figure a couple 13-year old girls need more sleep than I do anyway.

All in all, going to the waterfall was a fun trip... just with a few hiccups along the way. Would I do it all again? Definitely. The falls really were amazing (look for pictures when I get home on Tuesday). That said, I wouldn't complain if we had a bit more luck with the bus next time either.

Tomorrow marks my last full day in Ghana. I still have tons of mixed feelings. Going on the excursion today was really great in that I got to spend a lot of time with the students that I've already built relationships with. On the other hand, it kind of stinks that I went on this excursion right before leaving because I talked to many new students that I would love to have more time to talk to and get to know better. For instance, before today, I didn't even know the name of the two Form 1 girls that I sat next to on the way home. We hit it off right away though and by the end of the day, they were comfortable enough with me that they both fell asleep on me/on each other just hours after really meeting me. After spending time with them today (for the record, they're names are Belinda and Gertrude), I would love to spend more time with them at school but I'm unfortunately limited to one last day on Monday.

So, while I'm happy to be going home after two months, I'm also very sad thinking about all the relationships I'm leaving and knowing that there are so many more relationships that I never had time to build/develop. For now, I guess the most important thing is just that I had an unbelievable experience over the past 8 weeks and even though I don't necessarily want it to end, I have to be content with the fact that the time I was here was unbelievable. That, and the hope that I'll come back and visit Ghana again someday.