More Adventure!

Since we were able to get back from paragliding the same day we left (something we hadn’t anticipated, but leaving at 5 in the morning paid off for once!) Saturday was wide open for another adventure! 

Mariel, Heidi, and I opted for a little mountain biking. So we headed back up to the Eastern Region, rented ourselves some bikes, and hired a guide. 

Things I realized on this bike ride: 1) The Eastern Region is the most fantastic of all the regions. Everything was incredibly clean, the people were incredibly friendly (the chief even came our and said hi to us!), and no one harassed us. The taxis didn’t honk at us and we felt completely at ease. I didn’t want to leave at the end of the day! 2) I will forever love mountain biking. Having grown up on a lake/ state park, I’ve always taken the fact that I could go mountain biking whenever for granted. Its never occurred to me that biking wasn’t something other kids did every day growing up. I had so much fun speeding along those trails.

Our little trip took us down a canyon and to a waterfall (three levels of waterfall actually!) hidden in the middle of the forest. 

Be still my heart. 

Perfect weather. Cool days have finally reached Ghana!

We're talking mid 80s people!

Weird how patriotic all of us have become.

nananana bat man!

Just your average garden snail.

I felt like I was in the middle of a photo shoot with our guide.

This of course went both ways.

Hahaha I love this.

The awkwardness hangs thick in the air.

So this moment was classic. In typical loner fashion, I wandered off and down the creek on my own while everyone else splashed around the falls. The creek was pretty shallow and I was having a grand time walking down the creek and climbing on the smooth rocks.

I met my downfall (ha) on a particularly large and smooth boulder. As I was unintentionally sliding down it I thought to myself, no problem, this creek is like two inches deep, I may get a little splashed but whatever. 

WRONG.

Out of no where I was dropped into a huge pool. My feet couldn’t even touch the ground. Have you ever been dropped into something deep when you’re expecting it to be shallow? It’s the weirdest sensation. You don’t brace yourself at all so you just drop like a rock. It must have been a hilarious sight, sliding down this huge rock on my butt and then instantly disappearing under water. 

Mariel had a good laugh at me as I emerged from the depths of the forest soaked from head to toe.

This is the only photo I took of Aburi, it felt wrong just snapping away at people's homes, but you can take more word for it when I say it's the cutest little town in all of Ghana.

I think most of these photos speak for themselves, but I will add that it really was a perfect day. While wandering down the creek I came to this small clearing. The sun shone down and illuminated this perfect little circle in the most delicious golden sunlight you could imagine. A butterfly the size of a dinner plate flew by. No joke. Sitting on a rock, soaking up that sun, listening to the forest, I was filled with gratitude for this earth and this life and this wonderful Easter season. 

Needless to say, there is little chance I will ever be able to top this Easter weekend.