From priestess miracles to chicken tragedies II

(To be read after part one below. Cheating will result in revocation of plantain privileges.)

Monday through Wednesday was devoted to registration for classes, a process that basically means walking from department to department, standing in line all day and signing little pieces of paper. I signed up for Educational Psychology, Social Psychology, Historiography, Introduction to Development Studies, History of Ghana Until 1800, Introduction to Twi and a Creative Writing class. Classes begin Monday, and I'll be so curious to see how they are. More on that later.

Then, Wednesday afternoon, a group of six other girls and I went on a trip to HoHoe, about four hours away, to do some ecotouristy things. The first hotel we stayed in seemed like a Byzantine labyrinth, despite the fact that it only had twenty rooms or so. This was probably the grossest place I have ever spent the night, all neon green flickering bulbs, smudged walls and left turns, but none of us really cared because a) we were exhausted, b) we were a teensy bit drunk and c) we were so very exhausted. I especially didn't care because that night in the garden I saw my very first swarm of fireflies, which had me thrilled for a good hour. I even managed to catch one and bring it in a loose fist to my roommate, whose cynically arched eyebrow dropped as she watched it fly just beneath her nose. I think they're my new favorite insect.

The next morning, on what felt like about three hours of sleep, we took a tro-tro to Likpe Todome, a small village that boasts six caves deep in the mountains and a small set of waterfalls. The hike took about four hours and was really strenuous, but gorgeous. The weather was gray and cool and the tropical forest was lush. Each cave required vertical rock climbing to reach the center, during which our only safety was a secure rope to hold onto with several knots in it. Ages ago, before foreign sets of heels paid three Cedi to ooh and ahh and sweat, each cave had a different purpose. The first is a small, elongated one where Bakwa elders strategized during times of war. The second was a watch tower for spying enemies. The third was a hideout. The fourth was the chief's palace, and also the coldest. It even had an escape route at the top where he could escape and run to Togo during battle, which seemed strategic enough, albeit cowardly. The fifth was a punishment ground for criminals, and also housed a huge colony of bats, which were amazing to watch as they darted across the beams of our flashlights. The sixth and final cave was a long vertical tunnel which was another watch tower and a resting place. It was beautiful to look across the entire expanse of hills, still for the most part untouched by concrete housing and wide roads, and imagine what life must have been like three hundred years ago, scurrying up through the steep caves. Then we finally reached the waterfalls at the bottom and tried our first coco pods, a wonderful yellow fruit that tastes like a mixture of grapefruit and lychee when you suck on the seed, but make sure not to bite it. Trust me. Bitter is an understatement.

Sweaty and victorious, we headed back to the Waterfall Lodge, which completely made up for the first hotel. Run by a older German hippie couple, it passed the Deutschekeinschmutzdanke cleanliness test, had a beautiful garden with a gigantic gazebo, a parrot who spoke French, enormous beds with clean, fluffy pillows and the tastiest food I've had since I've been here. Spaghetti with savory vegetable sauce, cucumber and tomato salad with vinaigrette, cous-cous with vegetable stew, and even real ice cream. It was such a treat, and who would have thought I'd have a chance to practice my German all the way over here? The next day (yesterday) we went to Wli falls (taking a taxi whose driver casually ran over a chicken as I turned around to see a large flourish of feathers, horrified). Wli (pronounced Vlee, a linguistic gift from the former German colonists of Togo) are the largest falls in the area, and had an even more strenuous three hour hike. Horrible blisters from the previous day eventually convinced me to go barefoot, which was a serious adventure scrambling up and down muddy hillsides. The falls were worth it, though, as they blasted us in the face from about fifty paces away. We even used walking sticks for that hike, which helped tremendously and gave me very sore arms this morning. That evening, feeling even more victorious and even more exhausted than the day before, we relaxed in the garden and fell asleep well before the bedtime of a six-year-old.

Then, this morning, we headed back on a very bumpy tro-tro and got here in record time. Today is actually another girl's birthday, so we're heading into town later to try a sushi restaurant, per her request. I'm so curious to see what it tastes like, although my culinary reporting will be limited to avocado and cucumber. I know, I know. You're all on tenterhooks.

More to come soon!