J-Term Diaries: Kathryn Dipasqua

Go take a hike.

That's what we did yesterday. Our pod of savvy travelers trekked 30 minutes up a mountain in what is known as the Volta region in Ghana. Along the way: cocoa trees, pineapple plants and a series of footbridges that eventually led us to the Wli (WEE-lee) waterfall. The largest waterfalls in West Africa, the Wli is a mind-bending 400 meters (1300 feet) high; our climb led us to the lower portion of the falls. Had we added three-and-a-half hours to our hike, we would have reached the summit of the falls.

The falls are spectacular to see--and feel. (I get misty, just thinking about it.) We scrambled to get our shoes and socks off and sloshed around in the bracing water at the base of the falls. It was an exhilarating, 5th-grade moment; we were all just a bunch of kids playing in the water. Our trusty photog, Anthony Robinson, snapped away as we romped.

And then, to continue the grade-school theme, there followed a series of  I-will-if-you-will dares to stand directly under the falls.

Brrr. A group of R-MC students put the adventure in adventurer as they traipsed through the numbing water and stood under the rushing falls. Upping the ante, students dared Professor Dunkel to give it a shot. He complied, got dunked, and Professor Jefferson (who went in fully clothed, shoes and all) soon followed.

This Wli wayfarer thoroughly enjoyed the falls; I would have loved to have spent the day there. But our blimpy bus awaited, so we hiked down the mountain, water-logged and smiling.

We leave Ho this morning and drive toward Accra, stopping at the Akosombo hydroelectric dam, one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. The dam generates electricity for  Ghana and other West African countries.

The blog-o-spheric pressure feels good today and I feel another exciting venture around the corner.

Until I blog again,

Fufu DiPasqua

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