From waterfalls to football fields and back

Still impressed by the views of the Wli Falls yesterday evening, the bikers had an early wake-up at 6h30 this morning. Some of us woke up even way earlier, thanks to a rooster who decided it was time to get up at 3h00.  A good night sleep or not, everyone departed at 8h00 for a quick stop at the Togo border. Right after the bikers were treated with another beautiful single track through the bush around the falls.

After a few kilometers they arrived on the tar road again on their way back to Biakpa, 44km down the road. A first stop was planned around 20km, at the R.C. Primary School of Liata-Soba. The school welcomed us with open arms and instead of just a little break for a drink and a snack, we decided to challenge the school team for a football game.

The 11 best players of the school stormed onto the terrain and were all set to play the game of their lives. After just a few minutes they scored their first goal and the whole school was over the moon. Laurens from the biker team could still score the equalizer, but the Ghanaian boys were too strong. Just before the end of the game they scored a beautiful 2-1, hitting the crossbar. It was a beautiful ending of a great game!

For the remainder of the course, the cyclists had two options: a direct route to our lodge, covering 6km, or a detour passing Mount Gemi, featuring a beautiful uphill single track. Since we have a tough last track on the program tomorrow, the majority decided to go straight to the hotel. However, around ten brave cyclists embraced the challenge and they all successfully triumphed.

Once everyone returned to the lodge, the group had the option to go for a 40 minute hike towards the nearby waterfalls. Half of us joined our lodge host for a challenging trek towards the falls. The trek itself was adventurous, and the falls would have been nice if there had been water… But we can’t have it all, right?

The hikers on their side left their camp at the falls early in the morning for a bus drive to Dzemeni, a busy Ghanese harbor village at the shores of Lake Volta. Once arrived they enjoyed a magnificent 6,32km walk along the Volta Lake.

Tonight, we still have a bonfire on the agenda in the biker group, and then we all hope for a good night’s sleep for the final stage of Bike and Hike in Africa tomorrow.