Road Trip to Wli Falls

It's not Yosemite... but Ghana's Wli falls are magnificent.  We heard how wonderful Wli (pronounced Vlee) falls are, especially during the rainy season.  These are the highest waterfalls in West Africa cascading down 60 to 80 meters, falling into a pool at the base of the cliff.  We took a 3 day road trip with friends from the West Africa Area Office, overnighting in Ho, Ghana both going to and coming from the falls.  Along the way, we visited the Akosombo Dam, a Monkey Sanctuary, a Kente Cloth weaving village, and we saw baboons ripping apart a road sign.

After overnighting in Ho at the wonderful Sky Plus Hotel, we set out early to reach the falls on a 4 hour drive through the beautiful hills and mountains of Ghana's Volta Region.  We arrived at the "ranger station" where we paid our fees and had our last visit to a bathroom (although the water wasn't running and we had to carry in our own bucket of water to make the toilet flush).  Thank goodness for hand sanitizer!  Running water and soap are just not available everywhere.      

We hiked for about an hour along a pretty good trail through a beautiful rain forest, using 11 bridges to cross over the meandering river.  During the rainy season you can hear the falls thundering before you can see them.  When we arrived at the falls, the mist travelled out many meters which really helped to cool us off.  Thousands of bats make their home along the cliffs surrounding the falls which adds to the ambiance of this African adventure.   


There are both upper and lower falls.  Due to the danger of the trail during the rainy season, we were unable to visit the upper falls.  And you know what that means....
Gregg's going to make us go back!  

Home for General Conference and Family time

Gregg and I returned home for General Conference and  DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs) Training Meetings.  It was a very full week.  Two of our children, Brooke and Scott and their spouses, were in North Salt Lake with us.  The pictures are Gregg with Aiden and me with Oakley (Brooke and Joe's children).

While Gregg returned to Africa, I traveled to Reno with Brooke and her son, Aiden, to be Grandma for a week with Greg and Alison's children. I am pictured with Ruth, Grace, and Lina in our banana skirts, and with Collin in our African shirts. Greg and Alison headed off to Yosemite for some great hiking.  My mom also joined us in Reno, which was fun.  I filled my hug quota and won't be back to the U.S. until next July.  It is hard to believe how fast little people grow. 
Oh, how we love them!