By Ke’ali McCarter

The Man
Our trip to the Volta region of Ghana was full of some of the best moments of the trip. While I love shopping, cultural immersion and museums, there is really nothing like exploring nature. On our first day we visited Wli waterfall, the highest waterfall in Western Africa, and it was breathtaking. There was this childlike joy as tourist and Ghanaians alike splashed around in the misty winds and rainbows of the falls. As we were leaving most people had cleared out and I captured this young man having one last moment with the falls. This is maybe my favorite photo I have ever taken. The position of the man in the rainbow, the shear power and size of the waterfall, the way that it is both ominous and yet peaceful, are some of the many things I love about this photo.

The Butterfly
With the joy of the waterfall flowing through us, the hike back felt like jungle fairytale as golden hour slanted through the trees giving a neon glow to dark green leaves and butterflies circled around us. I took my time, camera in hand, capturing all the details around me. The patience payed off as I was able to capture this beautiful golden butterfly perched on a background of dark green jungle foliage.

The Monkey
The last item on our weekend itinerary was monkeys. With not much more of description I assumed that we would be seeing monkeys in captivity or maybe get a glimpse of them in the trees. I was wrong. There were monkeys on us, above us and at our feet, scrambling to get a bite of the bananas we had brought. It was a somewhat unstable balance of charming and chaos as tails, branches, bananas and cute faces were jumping all around us. In the drama I was able to capture a mother and her baby looking longingly for another banana.