Ghana's Boti Falls

Situated in the village of Boti in the Manya Krobo district of the Eastern Region, Boti falls is just one of the many beautiful sites to see in Ghana. While in Ghana, working for Valley View University, a trip for students and staff was organized, and I was lucky enough to be invited. The trip took quite a while by coach, but the company was great. As Boti (red dot on the map) was a tourist attraction area it had been well looked after, and there was little else there apart from the natural surroundings. The locals had made a living there from the tourist trade, and I'm sure they wanted to maintain the beauty of the area as it was their livelyhood. To be honest, they had done a great job. Our coach dropped us off at the compound and then we made our way out to meet our tour guide. He was not a young man at all, but the constant touring, climbing and hiking had kept him fit, and he found the journey to be no problem, while the rest of us were struggling to keep up with the steep climbs and rocky terrain. The tour guide told us that there were different routes to get to the falls, and the one we decided to take went right by many of the other great attractions in Boti. The initial journey took us deep into a thick forest which had a stony, steep, winding path, and a gently flowing stream. This path took us through a collection of caves, which was were some of us stopped to rest a while.      On clearing this part of the walk, most of us were already out of breath. We continued along the path and came to a climb which would then take us to the amazing Umbrella Rock. This was a rock formed, as the name suggested, in the shape of an umbrella. I'm not sure how long the rock had been there, or how it was formed, but it looked amazing. Although, I never quite felt safe being underneath it for too long. I just had the paranoid feeling it could fall at any moment. Of course it didn't though. We stayed here to rest for a while and continued on our hike towards the falls. The next stop on the way was the the palm tree with three trunks.      It was such a spectacular site, and such a tourist attraction that the locals charged us to take pictures of it. Fair enough, I think. I wouldn't be too impressed if total strangers started taking pictures of the tree in my front yard. However, a little cash would make the annoyance less...annoying. I guess it was a good source of income for them, and I'm sure they welcomed the business. We stayed here for a while, and then continued our journey to our destination. It wasn't long after this until we could hear the sound of the water fall. The journey took us through some more forestry, then took us down a path, where we could now see the waterfall through a parting in the trees. The site was breath taking, and as we continued down to the bottom of the falls, it got even better. The level of the fall varied during the year, and was currently quite low. Boti actually consisted of two falls with the main one to the left, and a little mother one to the right. As the falls weren't at their strongest, many people took to going around it and explored. There was an area before the falls where many of us rested and ate, and just enjoyed the scenary and the sound. It was relaxing, and many people stayed for longer than they should have. Although, after a good relaxing time, a swim in the soothing waters and a bit of story telling, we all made our way back to the coach eventually. We all had a great time there, and the trip if you are able to go, is highly recommended. If you do go, make sure you have some coconut from the stall just before the falls. It's delicious.