Haunted Hostel

I haven’t had much to write about for the past few weeks because I was doing pretty much the same stuff every week. There was a solid month that I just went to different beaches every weekend, but I’m definitely not complaining.

Classes ended last week, leaving us with one month and one day of finals. In this time span I only have two finals, so it goes without saying that I’ve had a lot of down time. After having a big celebratory weekend when classes ended [at the beach, of course], I was feeling pretty tired and unmotivated to leave the hostel.

Then yesterday, a friend asked if anyone wanted to go see a botanical garden nearby and spend the night in the woods.  I had a few moments of reluctance, but then decided to go for it. I also went so I could take pictures for my mom who always made it her mission to tack on a botanical garden trip to the end of every family vacation. My brother and I would beg and plead that we just keep driving, so I never thought I would see the day that I would head to a botanical garden by my own free will.

That being said, I could not be any happier with my decision to go on this spur of the moment trip.  The village we went to was situated in a big mountain range that had the most beautiful view of the entire region. This was easily the greenest and prettiest place I’ve been to in Ghana.

We stayed in a hostel inside the botanical garden that was really cheap, but also haunted. I think we were the only guests, there was a giant hole in the ceiling, and the antique furniture and floor space were eerily huge. Since the power was out all day and night, the receptionist gave us a big candle when it got dark, and we melted it to the coffee table to keep it upright. [After staring at in confusion for a few moments and realizing it wasn't a flashlight.] My friends thought it would be a good idea to then tell scary stories in the candlelit room. If I had any doubts earlier that this place was haunted, they were thoroughly erased.

Even though the room was haunted, it was really cool because since the buildings in the gardens were so old and unmaintained, vines and trees were starting to break things down and take over. I finished reading a book a few days ago that talks about this same process that would occur all over the world if people were no longer around to maintain all types of infrastructure. Essentially, once enough time passes, there would be few, if any man-made legacies, at least in the form of buildings, bridges, etc. I was able to see the author’s descriptions right before my eyes, as vines were beginning to swallow the walls right up.

After surviving the night, we went on a bike ride to a waterfall about an hour away. It was a very fun ride- One moment it would feel like I could be in the mountains back home and the next we would approach a small village that put everything back into perspective. I got back today just 24 hours after I left, but that one day was all I needed to feel completely revitalized. I have 3 weeks left here and a few more adventures ahead. [Sans haunted rooms, I hope.]