By Tilda Acorlor
As part of activities preceding the 6th Volta Trade and Investment Fair, organisers have put together a 3-day trip to tour and experience beautiful tourist sites in the Volta Region.
The tour is aimed at creating awareness of the fair and promoting the vast tourist potential of the region.
Dubbed “Visit Volta, Experience Ghana,” patrons were amazed to discover interesting sites throughout the three-day trip.
The team took off from Accra on Friday morning to make their first stop at Atimpoku, the home of the Adomi Bridge, for some experience on the Volta Lake. The Adomi Bridge is Ghana’s longest and permanent suspension bridge that passes over the Volta River and drains south into the Gulf of Guinea.
The Adomi Bridge provides the main road passage to Ghana’s hydroelectric power plant, the Akosombo Dam, located between the Eastern and Volta Region.
Patrons stopped by Kpeve BSK City to have a feeling of comfort away from home, the beautiful ambiance and adventurous boat ride kept the tour alive, yearning for more sightseeing.
From a peaceful ambiance and boat ride experience to a monkey monastery to see the beautiful Mona Monkeys at the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, a popular monkey dwelling in the region.
The Monkey Sanctuary is a conservation area backed by statutory enforcement in cooperation with local communities who believed they were messengers from the gods. They are part of the community, and connect with them.
Kente Village was the next destination. Patrons heard tales, got first-hand experience of how Kente is made, and were shown samples of the over 150 designs produced at the Kente Village of Tafi Abuife, which serves both local and international countries.
Away from Tafi to a colourful durbar, the chiefs and people of Kpando welcomed the visitors to the Akpini state in a rousing welcome.
The Akpinifia, Okpekpewuokpe Togbuiga Dagadu IX, was elated to see patrons, and he commended the organisers of the fair for considering a tour of the Kpando area first this year.
He also honoured the GJA Volta-Oti and the Fair ambassadors for promoting the region’s rich culture to the rest of the world.
The colourful ceremony saw the unveiling of two prominent daughters from the region, Seyram Amakpa-Azasu and Mamavi Owusu-Aboagye, who work with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the Multimedia Group, respectively, as new ambassadors.
He encouraged the ambassadors not to get tired of promoting the rich culture of the Volta region.
Patrons embarked on the adventurous 259-step to the Walkway of the Amedzofe Canopy Walk, which is almost a year since its inception.
The canopy walk is the first of its kind in the region, and it serves guests on the tour of Visit Volta one of the greatest adventures of their lives as they descend the 259 steps to the canopy walk to overcome their fears.
Over 3,000 local and international tourists have so far visited to experience the canopy hike.
Kpando is also a land of spiritual essence for religious pilgrimage, the Agbenoxoe Grotto.
The Visit Volta crew visited Agbenoxoe, a village that hosts the Grotto, the sacred land with carved images of the various stages of the 14 Stations of the Cross, right from the happenings in the Garden of Gethsemane—the betrayal, the trial, the denial, the crucifixion—through to when Christ was finally laid in the tomb.
The 3-day tour made a final stop at Agumatsa, a town in the Hohoe District. It is part of the Akwapim-Togo Range, which is aligned northeast to southwest between the Volta River and the international border with Togo.
Agumatsa houses the highest waterfall in West Africa, the Wli waterfalls, which is the highest water fall in West Africa.
Patrons onboard the trip include medical doctors, teachers, government workers, and journalists, among others, who need time off their busy schedules to experience time outside the regional capital, Accra.
Gina Esi Twumwaa and Helena, a government worker and medical doctor, respectively, who were part of the trip, described their experience as incredible and fun-packed.
The Visit Volta initiative is powered by the organisers of the Volta Trade and Investment Fair, put together by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in partnership with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC).
The main fair, which brings businesses and exhibitors together for two weeks to market their products, will start on November 26 and end on December 10, 2023, at the Ho Sports Stadium.