Wli Waterfalls — known in Ewe as **Agumatsa Falls** — is the tallest waterfall in West Africa, plunging roughly **80 metres (about 260 feet)** in a single drop off the Agumatsa escarpment in the **Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region**, near Ghana's eastern border with Togo. **Where it is and how to get there.** Wli (pronounced "Vlee") is a small farming village about 20 km from Hohoe town, tucked against the **Togo-Atakora (Agumatsa) mountain range** — the same range that runs through Togo and Benin. From Accra it's roughly a 4–5 hour drive via Ho and Kpando; from Ho it's about an hour. The falls sit inside the **Wli Waterfalls Reserve**, a community-managed tourism site where local guides and porters are drawn from the surrounding villages, so your gate fee and guide tips go directly into the community. **The walk.** From the visitor centre it's a **45-minute to 1-hour hike** on a mostly flat, shaded forest trail — you cross the Agumatsa River on wooden footbridges about nine times, through moist semi-deciduous forest and past **colonies of fruit bats and straw-coloured flying foxes** roosting in the canopy. It's an easy walk, not a climb, which is why families and school groups do it comfortably. The reward is the lower falls, where the water hits a wide pool you can swim in — the spray and roar are genuinely dramatic in the rainy season. **The upper falls.** For the more adventurous, a steeper **2–3 hour guided climb** leads to the **upper falls**, a smaller but more secluded cascade with its own swimming pool and a view back over the Volta plains toward Togo. You need a guide and decent shoes. **Best time to visit.** **June to October** (the rainy season) gives the fullest, most powerful flow. In the dry months — roughly **November to March**, under the harmattan — the volume drops noticeably, though the trail is easier and the forest cooler. Go early in the day: gates typically open around 7–8am, the light through the canopy is best before noon, and you avoid the afternoon tour buses. **Practical notes.** Wear shoes with grip (the bridges and rocks get slippery), carry water and a little cash for the gate, guide and the village craft stalls. Combine it with **Mount Afadja (Afadjato)**, Ghana's highest peak at 885 m, which is only about 30 minutes away — most visitors do Wli one day and Afadjato the next, using Hohoe as a base. Other nearby draws include **Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary** and **Amedzofe**, one of Ghana's highest settlements. There's a local saying that the Agumatsa speaks only to those who walk to it — *"the river does not forget the path it carved."* Wli is that path made visible: one of the few places in Ghana where the country's full height and full greenness show themselves at once. If you're planning a Volta Region trip, tell me how many days you have and I'll lay out a route.