Mid-Semester Break

On Saturday Dorothy and Joe arrived. Dorothy is my roommate Molly’s good friend and Joe is Emily’s boyfriend. My first impression of Dorothy led me to think that she would have a great time traveling around Ghana with us. Joe, on the other hand, brought more luggage with him for the two weeks that he was going to be here than I brought for the entire semester. He seemed nervous and out of his element. That just goes to show that first impressions aren’t always right. We spent the weekend at home with them just hanging out and showed them around town a little. We took them to Madina Market which may have been a little overwhelming for them. That night we went to a great restaurant and club in town called Chez A Frique. The dinner was exceptional and we all enjoyed dancing. The trip that we had planned for so long was finally about to happen. It wasn’t planned very well, but the goal was to go to Mole National Park. We had a delayed start on Monday so we were only able to make it up to Kumasi. It was a long bumpy ride and the trotro was hot and filled to the brim with people. Dorothy and Joe did not enjoy it one bit. In fact, Dorthy decided that she did not want to travel any more. Apparently Africa is not for everyone. When coming to Africa you have to have an open mind and be prepared to be a little uncomfortable at times; it is always rewarded with great experiences. I was disappointed that Molly and Dorothy weren’t going to continue the journey with us.
Tuesday morning we took a taxi up to Techiman to meet Ada and Allen. It was a beautiful drive and we had a nice lunch there before parting ways with Molly and Dorothy. The two of them spent a day at the monkey sanctuary and returned to Accra. The new Fad Five headed up to Kintampo in a couple hour long trotro ride. Kintampo is a small but lovely town that has a waterfall that we were all excited to see. We splurged and spent the night at an “expensive” hotel that was recommended in my guide book which cost a whole US$10 per person. We all had comfortable beds, high water pressure and cable TV :)
In the morning we had a relaxed start and headed out to the waterfall. This waterfall was surprisingly my favorite part of the trip. The stream was beautiful, carving it’s way through the slabs of rock that got in it’s way. After we saw the smaller series of waterfalls, we climbed down the steepest set of stairs that I have ever seen and arrived at the bottom of the large waterfall. We felt it’s mist from far away and when we stood closer it drenched us with the mist, which was a great feeling. We all got into our bathing suits and stood and laid under the waterfall. It is so powerful and amazing, I want to go see all the waterfalls in Ghana now! After a couple hours of having fun at the waterfall we trekked up the stairs and continued our journey northward.
Our trotro got to Tamale at about 5pm. The main bus to Mole had already left so we had to find alternate means of getting there because we did not want to spend the night in Tamale. We ended up finding some English girls that were also trying to get to Mole, so we grouped together and got a decent price on having a pickup truck take us. The English girls rode in the cab and we rode in the truck bed. Riding in the back of the truck was a little uncomfortable and we got a thick "dirt tan", but it was fun! As we were driving many children from the little villages yelled out greetings to us and we waved to them as if we were celebrities. It was wonderful watching the sunset while talking to each other in the back of the pickup. As soon as we drove into the park we were greeted by warthogs roaming the street. They are gross looking fellers, but it was exciting to see them! We got dropped off at the motel and got a room. As we entered the room we were greeted by three cockroaches! I was thankful to not have my usual job as the cockroach killer. Allan had his hiking boots and happily took on the duty.
We enjoyed some normal American food for dinner, which was a nice change. After dinner we sat around the swimming pool and chatted. I was amazed by the enormous numbers of bugs in the park, they were evvverryywhere! On my way back to the room I came across a herd of antelope in the field, along with warthogs, and an anteater. I was so mesmerized that I just stood and watched them for a long time, and then called my family to tell them about it. It was during my time standing outside, under the stars watching the exotic animals, that I had one of those incredible reality checks that I am in AFRICA and it is AMAZING!
After a full night's sleep in our crappy hotel room Ada and I woke up early to go on a walking tour. It was wonderful to be up early enough to avoid the heat and bugs for at least a while. As we were leaving the hotel to go to the tour center we came across a big baboon and decided to ditch the tour idea and follow the baboon instead. The baboon ran off pretty quickly but we kept walking down the road until we came across some children going to school. One of the little boys really wanted us to go to his school so we went with him down the little path that led to the school. The school children were darling and so happy that we walked with them, and the scenery was breathtaking. Ada and I are a little jealous that they get to go to school in a national park! The path was surrounded with soft grasses heavily covered in morning mist and the occasional tropical shrub or tree. It was a peaceful and beautiful walk. We saw warthogs and an older male antelope with big horns. After our walk we went back to the hotel only to find that our room had been raided by baboons in search of food. In Mole National Park baboons are the equivalent of raccoons, although I like them much more. They aren’t really afraid of humans, and they will do anything for food. We went on a couple guided tours as well during the days we spent there. During our walk and tours we abserved baboons, green monkeys, an elephant, three different types of antelope, some really cool looking birds, warthogs, anteaters, and every type of insect imaginable. When the sun was up it got way too hot to do anything but go swimming, and when the sun went down the horrible heat was replaced with masses of bugs. I wore bug repellent but by the time we left the park I counted over thirty bug bites on my arms alone! The scenery was amazing and I loved seeing all the animals but I was happy when it was time to leave.
We got a van going back to Tamale and went to a cheap hotel that was close to the bus station. It was the worst hotel that I have ever been to; it really shouldn’t have been in the guidebook! The paint was peeling off all the walls, it was dirty, there weren’t sheets on the beds, the ventilation in the room was poor which made it unbearably hot during the day, and it had a gross communal bathroom. Luckily, we only had to spend one night there and I had brought my own sheet!
We left the hotel promptly that night and went out to a little club for a drink and got some yummy street food. It was a fun night apart from the walk home. An annoying boy with horrible breath refused to let me walk back without him. During the walk when I stepped over a miniature wall between parking lots I found that the ground wasn’t where I anticipated but there was a sewer there instead. I fell into the sewer! My entire foot was covered in grime and I had a few scrapes. I got back to the hotel, sent the annoying boy away, and got Emily to go to the communal bathroom with me so I could wash the sewer grime off my legs.
After a not-so-good night's sleep, I was awakened by Emily and Joe. We had overslept and had to get ready in record time to go to the bus station. I jumped out of bed and speed walked over to the bus station to get our tickets, only to find that the bus was already full. We made the best of our day by hanging out at a restaurant and going shopping at the art market. Tamale has some amazing art work and it was fun shopping there because we weren’t hassled at all like we would be in Accra or any village in one of the southern regions.
Finally we got a nice bus that took us the entire twelve hour drive back to Accra. The traveling wasn’t bad because I managed to sleep most the way. I was happy to be back. The trip had its wonderful parts and its not so wonderful parts, but all in all it was a great trip full of wonderful experiences!

Tidbit on Water

The water systems here have been the most difficult changes for me. Ghana has an open sewer system and the tap water is unfit for drinking. These things have taken a lot of getting used to, but I suppose they are just part of living in a developing country.

Walking down the street I can look at the water, or whatever it is, mixed in with pieces of trash and debris floating down the sewer. I can see and smell it's contents, although I try not to. The most common way of crashing a car is driving it straight into the roadside sewer, which usually doesn’t damage the car too badly but can in some cases. Every now and then I will notice someone using the roadside sewer as their bathroom. I will also notice chickens, dogs and goats drinking and eating out of the sewer, the same animals that are used for eggs and meat. This almost make me want to become a vegan despite my love for meat, but that would be almost impossible because almost every meal has meat in it around here. The sewer has bad drainage in many areas. This is for many reasons including it has been clogged by trash in some areas, and Accra is a pretty flat city so it has been difficult for the city to prevent stagnation of many sections of the sewer. Speaking of stagnation, the sewer has accumulated into a lake near a highly populated slum on the outskirts of Accra. This lake is a big health concern. The city has tried numerous tactics to get the water flowing but nothing has worked. Hopefully sometime in the future Accra will have the finical means to tackle the drainage problems and cover the sewer.

Drinking out of a bag... it was not something that I was expecting to do during my time in Africa or ever for that matter, but it is what we do here. The tap water has been treated but still isn’t good enough for drinking. We go to the closest store to buy a bag full of bags of water to keep in our house. The water is cleaned and bagged by various factories in the city. I have come across some many unknown and sketchy brands of water but have stuck to the strategy of drinking what taste okay and dumping what doesn’t, which I like to think has saved me from sickness. The water bags are cheap (aprox. 3 cents each) and are sold everywhere individually or in bulk. There are also many other things that can be bought in individual bags for cheap prices such as toothpaste, shots of alcohol, chocolate drink mixes, etc. They are typically trashed anywhere (including straight into the sewer) after use and cause some environmental problems, but the environment isn’t the biggest concern around here. I sure hope that in the future Accra will have drinkable tap water like it once did. It sure will be nice to come home to that drinkable and delicious Oregon tap water!

Kumasi

Learning how to make kente cloth.
The bead molds.

The adinkra we made.

This weekend our program took us to Kumasi, which is one of Ghana's largest cites. It is located in the southern part of the Asante region, a 140 mile drive from Accra. About half of the drive was on dirt roads and it took a long time to get there, but on the way we bought some tasty new foods from people selling them on their heads. We bought the African equivalent of a tamale which was a steamed corn husk containing corn kernels and peanuts. We also bought a loaf of sweet white bread, which may have been the best bread that I have had in my entire life!
When we arrived at the hotel we got settled in and then went to the hotel restaurant where they prepared a great lunch buffet for us. It was truly fabulous Ghanian food.
After we were done eating we hopped back onto the bus and went to the king’s palace museum. The king of the Asante region has the most power of any of the Ghanian kings, although the kings don't have much power now that Ghana has a democracy. We had a hilarious tour guide and it was a lot of fun.
We then went to the Kumasi market, which is the largest market in west africa. We stayed there for less than an hour so we didn't see very much of it, but what we did see was really cool. The market sells every thing that you could possibly imagine. The venders mainly sell clothing, household supplies, food, and various other things. Some venders sell a lot of things, some only have one thing to sell. There are huge metal bowls in some of the little store huts that contain anything from homemade peanut butter to rice to giant snails.
We briefly walked through the leather section of the market. It was interesting to watch all the men cutting and sewing the leather into sandals, belts, and other commodities. Later we walked through the market's meat section, which was quite the experience. The smell of the fish and the various types of meat stagnated in the air so I tried to breath through my mouth. We quickly walked through the open building full of tables covered in a medley of animal parts. Ghanians eat pretty much every part of the animals, and to eat the head of any animal is a delicacy. It was a cool experience but I was very happy when it was done!
In Ghana it is expected that almost every price is bargained down. It is fun to bargain but can be difficult sometimes, I am getting better at it though.
On Sunday we went to the kente fabric market. It was really cool to see how kente is made and how much work goes into each piece made. Each of us got to try to make a portion of kente ourselves. I'm sure that it takes a LOT of time and practice to master the art. I bought one big piece of the beautiful fabric which I plan on either hanging on a wall or using as a tablecloth.
Next we went to a adinkra building. We got a history lesson on adinkra and how it is made. Adinkra is a traditional paste made from the bark of a certain tree that grows in the northern region, which is stamped or painted onto cloth. All the stamps have different meanings such as love, ambition, friendship, etc. We then got to stamp some onto cloths to take home with us. As we were making our pieces a huge thunder storm rolled in. Every time the thunder struck it was so loud that it made us all jump.
Our last stop before we journeyed home was the bead making factory. One of the owners of the family business showed us how they make the beads and the different ways that they can put designs in them. I never knew that bead making was such an art!
The bus ride was at night time so I happily sleep through paved road portions and the bus ride went quickly.