Don’t Look Down! Hiking Wli Falls In Ghana, Africa

Volta Region 

In Wli-Afegame, right outside of the major hub of HoHoe, are the Wli Falls. This area is part of the Volta Region, a great destination if you want to experience a more natural, mountainous area of Ghana instead of the more loud and chaotic regions such as Accra, Swedru, and Cape Coast. The area has a lot of hiking options, although be warned, you will always have to pay a price (nothing in Ghana is free!). From Accra, you can take a tro-tro from Tema Station straight to HoHoe for 8 cedi, 50 pesawas. The ride will take about 4-5 hours. From HoHoe, you can take a tro-tro for less than 1 cedi or a taxi. If you are coming in at night, I would recommend being safe and just taking a taxi (I haggled and was able to get one for 15 cedi for my two friends and I. Taxis are more expensive at night in this area, so during the day I would try for less, maybe around 8 cedi).

Accommodations

Wli Water Heights – very nice rooms, good food, reasonably priced (For 3 of us we paid 13 cedi each for a comfortable room with a bathroom right outside our door, and on another night we paid 18 cedi each for a plush room with an in-room bathroom), comfortable

If you want really cheap accommodation in a more rustic atmosphere (think sleeping in huts and outdoor showers), head over to Ras Madesko’s place, which is right up the road from the falls. Just tell your taxi driver to keep driving on the main town road of Wli-Afegame (you will pass the turn for the falls on your left), and continue down the road about 1 mile. Ras Madesko’s will be on your right. He is a friendly rasta who loves to have bonfires and play music and will tour you around the Volta Region for a cheap price.

Hiking the Falls

You can either just walk to the lower falls (takes about 40 minutes, all flat land, no uphill) or hike to the upper falls (very steep and difficult, must use a walking stick and be in excellent shape, takes 2-3 hours). Bring your student ID for a discount (you will pay 5 cedi to hike to the lower and 8 cedi to hike to the upper with your ID). They ask you to pay 1 cedi if you want to take pictures, but they really don’t know if you do this or not.

We got to see many local fruits on the walk out, including this banana tree. The bananas start out inside of that purple Dr. Seuss looking thing and then as it grows the bananas start coming out.

Beginning of the hike, before we got to the uphill section

Beginning the uphill section, which gets steeper and steeper as you go

Lookout point during the hike up to the upper falls