KOKROBITE TO THE VOLTA REGION – GHANA

Kokrobite Beach, Ghana

Kokrobite to the Volta Region – Travel Blog. The Ghanaian leg of our Oasis Overland ‘Accra to Cape Town’ trip. From Kokrobite to the massive Wli Waterfalls.

Kokrobite

Having spent a week in Ghana at Cape Coast and Kakum National Park, we arrived back in Kokrobite in preparation for our upcoming tour with Oasis Overland. The Oasis group arrived shortly after us. Then we, along with another couple joining the tour, had our pre-departure meeting. This involved a tour rundown, tour paperwork and an abundance of forms to fill out for future visas.

As we had signed up for a camping trip, we set up our tents and had a quick run over the truck. We were expecting to stay in Kokrobite for around a week. As, we had to apply for our Angolan, Benin, Togo and DRC visas. So after an hour of filling out visa applications, we were able to relax and mingle with the group.

Oasis Overland 'Accra to Cape Town' tents

The following morning after yet another beautiful hazy sunrise and after a quick truck breakfast (cereal, toast, eggs, coffee), we headed to the Angolan embassy at 7 am. It took 3 hours to get there, despite the embassy only being around 30 km away! Traffic was horrific. We submitted our visa applications and as the embassy needed to keep our passports overnight, we had a free afternoon.

Kokrobite beach sunrise fishermen

The tour we had booked was a full participation tour meaning we were divided into five groups of three. Each group cooked breakfast and lunch or dinner (where meals were included.) This is on a rotational basis, along with gathering firewood and sweeping the truck.

As we were travelling on a tour, we weren’t required at any other embassies for visa applications. Instead, our tour leader spent the rest of the week running between embassies in order to get all of our visas. This was one of the main reasons we had elected to do a tour rather than independent. She did a great job and after five days, we had all 4 visas. In turn, we spent the rest of the week enjoying some amazing sunrises, swimming and running on the beach and generally, chilling out with the group, drinking cold beer.

Kokrobite  beach sunrise, Ghana

The Volta Region

Though Kokrobite had been a friendly and easy start location for our West African travels, we were pretty happy to move on and continue our adventure. We were next heading to Togo, via the Volta Region. We stopped at the Akosombo dam where we had an included tour. Neither of us found this particularly interesting and found ourselves scouring the lake for birds and wildlife instead.

Akosombo dam in the Volta Region, Ghana

After that, we were hoping to make it further north to Wli Waterfalls to camp the night. With no other tourists in sight, it was heartwarming to see the local children and even adults waving and smiling at us as we passed by. The roads were quite bad in parts, so the journey took some time and we didn’t quite make it to the falls. Instead, we camped in the grounds of a nearby guest house for the night.

After a decent nights sleep, we took off after breakfast and reached the Wli waterfalls before 10 am. Keen to actually do something physical, we got changed and headed straight for the falls. At just over 140 meters tall, the two-tier Wli Waterfalls was something we were keen to see. We paid 40c ($7USD) p/p for the upper and lower falls circuit, a circuit we were told could only be hiked with a guide.

The hike from the visitor center was a pleasant flat stroll along a well-trodden path, with butterflies everywhere. Shortly before reaching the lower falls we turned right, starting our hike to the upper falls. It was a reasonably strenuous hike, clambering up steep slopes. Despite the effort and excessive perspiration, the views were definitely worth the pain! Chris was more than happy to jump into the freezing cold water to cool down whilst I stayed on the sidelines. It was far too cold for me! One of the benefits of hiking to the upper falls was that it was less busy than the far more accessible lower falls section.

Upper section of Wli Waterfalls, the Volta Region

After an hour or so, we hiked down to the base of the falls (to the lower section of the falls) where again, Chris was only too happy to jump in the freezing water again to freshen up. After around six hours of a combination of hiking, swimming and chilling, we returned to the campsite for dinner.

Lower section of Wli Waterfalls, the Volta Region

Kokrobite to the Volta Region was a nice and leisurely introduction to our overland expedition. And, the beautiful Wli Waterfalls was our Ghanaian highlight and a great way to spend our final day in the country before making our way to Togo.


Our Oasis Overland Expedition

We travelled with Oasis Overland on the 12 week Accra-Cape Town section of their 42 Week UK-Cairo Trans Africa expedition. Doing an Overland expedition was an epic way to travel through this big and beautiful continent. It took the hassle out of travelling independently through some of most remote parts of the world and yet, it still provided the challenges and adventures that we as well-travelled backpackers wanted. From free-camping under the stars to sweltering in the dense jungles and driving for days along dusty desolate tracks to haggling in the busy and bustling markets, this expedition had it all. We really did get a little off track!

Oasis Overland - Accra to Cape Town Map

Other countries visited on the Accra to Cape Town trip

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