The trip to Hohoe

After the morning meeting of all internal medicine doctors, I went home to pack the last things for my weekend trip to the Volta Region. We left in the Trotro at 10 o'clock and arrived exhausted at the hotel near the Wli Waterfall at 6 o'clock. I mixed together some interesting information (because I had enough time to think about different things 😅):

Most cars have writings on them, here are the most beautiful ones:

• Respect
• Make believe
• Prosperity
• The Lord is my Light

On the way, women and children stand on the sides of the road selling drinks, food, and small items like detergent and toilet paper. They balance everything on their heads to have their hands free, even though the items are stacked up to a meter high! It's very convenient because you can buy everything while driving.

There are many people here who have cuts on their faces, and today I learned the story behind it. Depending on the region, babies are cut on the cheek so that everyone knows which community they belong to. Sometimes the cut is quite long (from ear to nose), sometimes short. Sometimes you can even see up to 12 cuts: 3 next to the left and right eye, and 3 next to the left and right mouth. This means that the person is the fourth-born and that all their siblings have died before. The marking is meant to make this child "ugly" so that they always stay home and take care of their parents. It's sad to hear something like that! But apparently, this custom has been banned and only a few tribes still do it.

On the way to Hohoe, it started raining and suddenly we were all wet! Water came into the Trotro from all sides 😅 - it's an adventure! Fortunately, it only rained for 5 minutes though.

Also, I wanted to check at some point how fast our driver was driving, and then I noticed that this Trotro doesn't have a functioning speedometer.. In one of the photos, you can also see the road: potholes, rocks, and animals on the way. Everyone drives in a zigzag pattern to avoid driving into the holes as much as possible. (Cars here usually drive on the right side, like in our country)