a walk in the dark and no power

Day 87.

Saturday: Carmen and I left Legon at 6:45am for an overnight trip to the Volta Region. We went to Wli Falls since Carmen couldn’t come the first time. Though there wasn’t as much water this time, the sky was clear and there was a rainbow at the base of the waterfall that was almost too perfect. We went in the water and worked our way backward towards the falls, fighting the winds. The water got deeper as we got closer and though we were a little scared, we couldn’t stop laughing.
It was getting dark, but Carmen and I wanted to stay the night at the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary for the 6am tour. We took a tro from Hohoe that we thought would drop us at the sanctuary. At 90kph, I saw the sign “Tafi Atome, 5km” with an arrow pointing right. Realizing that we weren’t stopping, I said, “Mate, Mate! We need to get off”.

Standing alone on the side of the road, in unfamiliar surroundings, we realized that our only option was to walk. It was pitch black by this time and we were on a dirt road flanked by dense vegetation on either side. At first, we were using our cell phone flashlights to guide the way but we turned them off when we realized we were surrounded by fireflies. Looking up it seemed as if the sky was a mirror – the stars stationary reflections of the fireflies below. It was quiet except for the insects and we felt safe. Up ahead, we could see the lights of a town. It wasn’t the sanctuary so we continued on. Almost out of town we were stopped by a very kind man offering us a place to stay if we didn’t want to walk. We thanked him and said we were fine, but asked how much further it was. “Oh, not far, just a stone’s throw, just a stone’s throw”. An hour later, we were there. Apparently, Ghanaian’s can throw stones far.

We have only had running water for about 5 hours in the last month. This week, the power has been off and on all over campus. This means we can’t charge our phones, laptops, or cameras, use internet (or a computer for that matter), lectures that require televisions or powerpoints are cancelled, and all the ice cream is melted. Despite all of that, it is nice when the lights are off, because when the power is out, there is no noise. Everyone retires early and speakers don’t work. I miss the quiet. Last night, I remembered that I had birthday candles, so I stuck three in a piece of bread and Carmen and I watched in silence as they slowly burned, flickering in the wind coming in through our window. After five perfect minutes of thought lost in flame, Carmen noticed that they left the shape of a heart burned into the bread.