last week in ghana

sorry for the lack of an update in sooo long... we've
had problems trying to connect to the internet in
tamale and since sib did an update earlier, i decided
to spare u all of the same story but from a different
perspective.

yep, i'm alright now... the bad tummy's gone and so
has the itch. only the marks will probably remain for
quite a while.

after mole, we were in tamale for another week and
this time, i didn't get to do much. caught up with
some reading, went to visit a school with sib around
tamale, bought a lot of shea butter soap for everyone
back home... handmade from the village of zuo... and
pretty much whiled the time away. internet was down
most of the wk hence the lack of updates. sent a
letter to my lovely girls (chi) and can't wait to see
everyone back home.

we got to accra after a 12 hr ride from tamale and put
up at lemon lodge only to have to move the next morn.
thankfully, the nearby mavis hotel was available and
we're there ever since.

went to legon to look for some soil scientists and got
introduced to a remote sensing scientist whom i'll
meet with next wed.

nothing much happened in accra except our first taste
of pizza again and having met up with Obaa Yaa and
Esther to get our dresses tailored... we should be
getting them checked out on tuesday... can't wait.

we're in cape coast right now. staying at the
university of cape coast IE chalets... perfect place!
real cheap accomodation 60,000 cedis for a chalet with
aircon, private shower, tv and lounge... what more can
u ask for at such a price?

we were at kakum on saturday and it was nice...
reminded me of malaysia' canopy walk albeit at a
smaller scale... we had 7 bridges.. brono looked
absolutely funny walking across... he's afraid of
heights. don't think he is anymore... at least we hope
he's not... but the poor boy got himself hurt again
when we left him in tamale for a few days. got
stitched up under his chin for falling over when the
railing he was leaning on gave way... brono! you shd
really eat less! but he's fine. getting the stitches
removed on wednesday...

cape coast's castle was a grim place... the dungeons
and the door of no return... the cell was the worst.
where the difficult slaves were condemned to die. no
air no water. was horrid. otherwise, the rest of the
tour was pretty much a tour of the bookshops and
souvenir shops in the castle... we spent the rest of
the day sitting at a look out spot overlooking the
atlantic ocean and it was just great to sit and relax
and sketch out what was in front of u... the silence,
the endless ocean, the solitude. just perfect. if only
it wasn't such a grim history that accompanied the
place.

anyway, we'll be back in accra come tuesday and lots
to finish up before we head back to london! get out
dresses, buy more stuff and meet up with people from
the uni and visit the survey office and epp bookshop!

take care everyone. need to relearn how to navigate
the transport in london all over again. sigh...
kirsten, chang yate, we shd meet up when i get back to
london!

sheena

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Mole National Park

 We have just arrived back from Mole National Park.  We left on Friday afternoon, and after a long, dusty and cramped journey we finally got there at night, were charged too much to get in (they wouldn't accept our student ID) and way too much for dinner.  The next morning, refreshed we set off on a guided walk to find elephants.  We came across one near the staff quarters, and outside a very smelly toilet.  We also saw baboons and patas monkeys, warthogs, and several types of antelope, but unfortunately we had been placed with a family of Koreans who asked A LOT of questions (like do you have a hospital to treat the animals that get malaria?) VERY loudly (hence I'm pretty sure we scared off quite a few antelopes) and because they had two kids, we had to walk slowly.  We spent the afternoon relaxing about and had a nosey baboon and patas monkey try to get in and nick our food.  I took a picture of the patas monkey but was probably a little too close and got a real fright when it screamed at me!

 

The next morning I was awoken by lots of people running past our window. Five elephants were just outside our block eating grass (natural lawnmowers) and they came really close to us.  Myself and Sheena hid behind a wall as it walked right up to us.  They then walked down the valley and just looked so silly from behind - so unsteady that you thought they were going to roll down the hill - imagine a very fat person crawling down a steep hill.  Later in the morning baboons ran havoc around the camp raiding all the bins and nicking clothes from tents looking for food.  They nearly broke into somebody's room - the baboon was crashing against the door whilst somebody inside desperately tried to lock it.

 

That afternoon we cycled to Larabanga.  We were told the road was flat.  It was not.  The last hill was a killer - until a young boy offered to push my bike up the hill (which I happily accepted). We visited the mosque - very white, very small, and the 'mystic stone' - which apparently every time it's moved, returns the next day, which is why the road curves round it.  We also saw how they make shea nuts into butter and bought some to use as moisturiser (MUCH, MUCH cheaper than that you'll find in Body Shop!).

 

The journey too and from Larabanga has been quite an experience.  Arguments broke out in both directions.  On the first journey, the conductor got off to buy food which left the rest of the bus in uproar as it was so hot inside - there was a chorus of 'Are we animals??!' whilst one single man argued in her favour that we all eat at diffferent times and this was hers (?!), then at the police barrier somebody was arrested from the bus, and the same man who was so vocal in favour of having our time wasted, insisted that the police were going too slowly.  On our return journey this morning, one grumpy man shouted at everybody throughout, to everybody's amusement, and a fight broke out between the bus conductor again and a policeman on board.  Buses are the place to be if you like drama!

 

We have heard of the London bombings.  The lines were blocked between Ghana and London that night.  We are praying that all our friends and family are safe back in London, and that life can return to normal soon, as well as for all those affected by it.  All the best.

 

Siobhan

 

 

London Bombings

Dear all, I was very shocked at what happened yesterday. Not being as connected to the news as I would be in the UK or Singapore, I did not find out about the bombings till late in the evening (GMT time). Siobhan came back from work looking very flustered and told me the news. I did not believe her at first and did not think much of it until it came on the news and I got very worried about Wei and other people who are or might be in London like Chang Yate, Nic, Barney and so on. God knows how many more people have been around the area. I did not realize it would impact me that much. The fleeting images on GTV news were barely on for more than 5 seconds. But when images of places that looked so familiar came on, first the city and then Liverpool street and worst of all, Russell square and the words tavistock square, I did not know how to react. I just thought of the worst. Tears just overcame me and it was horrible. These are places I walk by everyday. The very places I frequent quite a few times on a daily basis. It’s where the geography department is, where I walk to from one departmental building to another and back home. In fact, the bus bomb at Tavistock and at Russell Square just nicely sandwiched Bedford Way in between. It was a mad rush to try and call Wei back in London but all the lines were jammed. And I realized if it was anything of huge proportions, he would be in the hospital on call anyway and would not be able to call me back. But it’s just so worrying. Wei, the least you can do if anything like this should happen again, is to let me know what’s happened and that you and others are fine at first instance. Thankfully mum managed to call through from Singapore and called me back to let me know all was well. Sorry mum, I realized it was 3am+ in the morning in Singapore but I was just too worried. I didn’t want to call but had no choice.

I’ll be praying for those affected by the bombings and those who know people involved to be strong too. Take care and keep safe.

-Sheena

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Bolgatanga (Sheena's northernmost point)

It’s the 7^th of July today, so happy birthday to my dearest mummy. Yesterday was spent at Bolgatanga, the northernmost point of my trip here in Ghana. It’s a regional transport interchange between Tamale and towns further north (Paga the crocodile town) and further east to the border with Togo. Unfortunately, I was one day late and missed the market day. That’s when the town comes to life I guess. When I reached Bolga (as the locals call it), it was about 10 am in the morning and boy was it almost a dead town. Nothing was going on and apparently, there have been quite a few drastic changes in town since the Bradt guide people last visited it in 2004. I got quite lost in my first 15minutes there but later asked some ‘sisters’ (that’s how you should address the ladies here) and got directed to the market. It was dead quiet with only traders selling the absolute essentials of fruits and veg and spices. Unfortunately, what I was interested in, straw baskets, leather goods and traders with straw hats piled on high on their heads and Fugu shirts (stripped shirts) by the Frafra people were no where to be seen. So, I decided to just look for the bookshops to find at least 1 good novel to bring to Mole for light reading since I’ll be there from Friday till Tuesday. Unfortunately, all the mentioned bookshops were no longer in existence, neither was the forex. So, I had a really long lunch at the diplomat, next door to the former Readwise bookshop. But on my way there, I found a shop selling some leather bags. They’re not the usual designs you get back home, unless you’re talking about Camden markets. So, I browsed a little and later went back to buy 4 bags and 1 cowboy hat for 200,000 cedis in all. Not too bad for genuine pure leather. Yeah, that was about all and off I went back to Tamale after a mere 5 hours at Bolga. I should have been there one day earlier. That would have made much more of a difference.

 

Anyway, rather excited about Mole from Friday! Tamale has lots of cheap things to buy and they’re useful too! Imagine, plastic lunch boxes for US$0.25???? Yeah, we got one each for packing lunch J Alright then! Take care everyone! And to the chi, look out for a card coming your way (via Lishan).

 

-Sheena

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From Nkoranza to Tamale

 

The itch is going away now… But it’s still there and still rather irritating. Maybe I’m learning to live with it. Anyway, I spent 2 hours on the computer yesterday typing out the experiences from Nkoranza all the way to Tamale only to have it stall in the end. So here it goes again…

 

Nkoranza was a nice place. Well, the place where we stayed at was nice. It was at a NGO Guesthouse, Operation Hand in Hand for handicapped kids physically and mentally… Mostly the latter. These are kids who have been left behind by their parents or given in to the center because they can’t care for them. One of them was a baby girl who was born without limbs and was given in when she was only 10 days old. Emmanuella’s her name. I’m sure if you do a quick browse on the internet, you can find lots of sponsorship opportunities for these kids. Or even buy the crafts that they are making there for sale in the town and to tourists. It’s for a good cause. And it won’t cost you that much considering the cost of living here in Ghana.

 

Nkoranza was otherwise left unexplored. Not much considering it was a main transport interchange for trips to Baobeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary and the Kintampo Falls which we did the next day. The falls were uninspiring. A mere 25m tall and no opportunities to explore neither up nor downstream. A place with limited options and things to do. The Monkey Sanctuary was better seeing that we got into very close contact with the Monas but not the colobus monkeys though. There’s a cute legend behind why they are protected and given proper burials when found dead by the local fetish priests.

 

The only thing that was bad about the day was the hassle of getting from Kintampo back to Fiema. We were told that no trotros do the return journey that we took there and got onto a charter to Fiema. That we realized in the end was probably a lie since we managed to get a tro tro from Fiema village back to Nkoranza in the evening. But all’s well.

 

Sadly, we got back too late to buy any crafts from Hand in hand.

 

The next morning was an early start off to Bui seeing that the guidebook suggested that the only trotro from Wenchi to Bui would be at the station at 8.30pm, we thought that we should be there latest by 8.30am and so started at 5.30am from Nkoranza to Techiman to Wenchi. Unfortunately, upon reaching Wenchi, we got hassled non stop by chartered taxi drivers but preserved till the Bui trotro arrived at about 10am and was sitting in there till it left at 2pm in the back row. The worst place to be on a trotro. Better to sit in front.

 

It was a long, bumpy and dusty ride all the way to Bui and took over 3 hours. It was so hot and dirty that I kept telling myself, this better be worth it.

 

Bui Camp was free of electricity and running water. So it was down to Tillney lamps and bucket showers with water fetched from the local pump. Yes, I pumped the water myself but Osman offered to carry the bucket back for me in the end seeing that I spilled half the water on the ground after walking just 10 steps from the pump.

 

Dinner was coal stove cooked pasta with Gino and we were off to bed at 7pm when the sun went down. Spent the night talking to one another till we fell asleep.

 

Early start the next morning for the 2 hour hike to Bui fishing village for our canoeing trip to see the hippos. But sadly, as expected during the wet season, they were no where to be seen. We went as far as to the third pool and saw only 2 pairs of ears sticking out of the water. Sad. The later hike was bad as well. A trashing session through thick vegetation. We returned back to camp both disappointed and hungry. Did not have breakfast and longing for lunch but no chance to cook since we had to pack to leave by 3-4pm as we’re lucky enough to find some people going to Wenchi that afternoon or rather evening for a funeral. If not, we would have to catch the first tro tro out on Monday and Siobhan and Bronson would have been late for their research part 2 in Tamale.

 

So we were waiting by the road side at 2.45pm after the sunset trail walk up the hill to see the whole area from a vantage point. We spent the afternoon playing with the local kids aged 2 and upwards teaching them how to play duck-goose and learning their games. Can’t sing them though. Caught them singing the Ghanian national anthem on video too! It was definitely the highlight of the trip! We had so much fun swarmed (literally) by all the kids! I gave Osman the toys to distribute to the kids, but he made them fetch water in return for a toy each in the end. They seem genuinely pleased with their new toys… I should have brought more! Clothes will do just as well too… Maybe Yaoch can bring them for me next year.

 

We finally left at 5pm and it was sad bidding farewell to all the kids. The 3 hour ride back to Wenchi was less strenuous this time.

 

Spending the night at Techiman’s hotel was a bad choice. It was there where I got bitten by bed bugs and ended up itching till today. I counted. 45 bites on my left arm and 37 on my right. It’s really unbearable. I felt like tearing it all out… But it’s getting better now with the antihistamine and a lot of washing. Moisturising it seems to irritate it though.

 

We had our first good meal at Techiman that night and left in the afternoon for Tamale. By this time, Bronson was falling very ill. He did not eat anything and was feverish. After the 4 hour ride to Tamale, thankfully on paved roads, we sent him to the hospital for a checkup. He was given antibiotics and plasmodium even though the malaria test was negative. We’re on larium. You wouldn’t know for sure. Best to err on the side of caution. You’ll all be pleased to know he’s a lot better after a day’s rest now.

 

They’re all out doing their research now and I’m stuck in Tamale on my own. Be going around the market and doing some shopping later. Things here can get real cheap. Bought a pair of earrings for 10 US cents, a lunchbox for 25 US cents… Goodness! I’m probably getting more lunchboxes back, and earrings too… Anyone wants anything?

 

Tamale’s not much to talk about. It’s basically a very busy town that’s dangerous to walk around if you don’t look both sides when crossing the road. Cars, Bikes go in all directions regardless of the stipulated direction! But it’s the only town in Africa with bicycle lanes! It’s quite a cool town, apart from the mid day heat that really kills! And gosh! When can I find some fufu again??? I’m sure I’ll learn to love Tamale. We’ve 2 weeks here anyway. Be going to Bolgatanga either tomorrow or on Thursday and then to Mole for a long while on Friday with the two of them. Take care you all!

-Sheena

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Itching

I got bitten by bed bugs in Techiman. Real bad. At least 30 bites on each arm. Unbearable. Just lost the last 1.5hrs of update cos of the internet. Can't find anything on the net to soothe the itch. Any advice? Been washing it and applying insect bite cream and now anti-inflammatory cream. I'm soooo itchy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Help!

Am in Tamale now after Kintampo, Baobeng-Fiema and Bui. Might go to Bolgatanga soon and will be in Mole NP this weekend. Might stay on there for the following week before heading back to Accra and more reliable internet connection at Busy Internet.

Take care.

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To Nkoranza

Siobhan and Bronson were due in Akosombo on saturday. I was waiting at home the whole day, anxiously waiting for their call or for their line to go through. Unfortunately, I did not manage to get through to them the whole day. Weiliang called instead and shortly after that, I got a call to go out to the dressmaker's to try on my new dress. Sadly, it was way oversized. Fortunately, it was to be resized and ready for collection on Monday between 2 and 3 pm before we leave on the ferry. After getting home, Siobhan and Bronson called and all was well. We arranged to meet up at 11am on Sunday after church for canoeing and lunch at Aylo's Bay. A long awaited reuion!

Sunday was spent going to church in the morning and then Mr Kwakye sent me to Atimpoku to meet up with Siobhan and Bronson at the Benkum Motel before bringing us over to Aylo's Bay for canoeing. Now that was a joke. Obviously, we lacked quite a bit of 'connection' there, or it was simply cos we're just lousy at canoeing. Half of the time, we were going from one bank to another instead of going straight along the course of the riverflow. But we managed to get under the Adome Bridge linking Atimpoku to Ho and managed to get back in one piece, not having capsized at all, which was a miracle I think, having had us move about so much in the dug out canoe of sorts.
We had lunch after that and boy were Siobhan and Bronson excited at having non-Ghanian dishes as options again. I stuck to a Ghanian dish option. Still trying new things... Nyoma this time. Somewhat like a potato pumpkin stew... was nice... After lunch, we had to work it off and so, walked over the Adome bridge and voila! there was phone service!!! So Siobhan called to let Charles know we were fine. I managed to get on a tro tro and then a cab back home. Cost me only 10,000 instead of the usual 15,000. Yeah!

Monday morning was spent finishing up the stupid King book - Dreamcatcher... Went to the port to pay for our 312, 000 fare for first class cabin in the Yapei Queen and then it was off to the Volta Hotel to wait for my darlings... Siobhan and Bronson... So, more reading and getting bored by all the useless reports that repeat themselves over and over again the whole morning on Euronews. Siobhan and Bronson soon arrived and it was a long wait for 3pm... We had great hot chocolate and even better food... Yep, American chicken and chips again... the fifteen minutes before 3 was excruciating. I did not have Auntie Agatha's number and I didn't know if she was going to be there with my dress and I had her keys and we HAD to catch our ferry! Thankfully, she was there at 3 sharp and we managed to get a cab waiting just outside the hotel to take us to the port too...
Arriving there, we were early. We were told that the ferry would leave between 4-4.30pm but we didn't get on till after 5pm and had to pay an extra 5,000 each for our bags and got out hads stamped all blue.

On the ferry, all was well, the cabin was great and we had access to a locked loo... So it was rather luxurious... a 2 men cabin for 3. Bronson of course was the wonderful gentleman who took the floor... It wasn't bad. We had lots of time to read since the sun went down soon enough and soon proceeded to have cabin cooked spagetthi... Silly us didn't open the windows cos of the mossies and nearly died of the fumes. So we all had to end up feeding the mossies before we had our dinner. I'm not sure what happened soon after. I fell asleep at 9pm. Next morn, we got up at an alright time and spent the rest of the day walking around the deck, looking out at the lake, the trees all dead and bare and sticking out by the shore. Siobhan did wonderful watercolour paintings of the Kete Krachi stop and of the cabin. You have got to see it soon! I'll put it up on the blog when we get home. That's exactly 30 days more! Yeah, so the ferry ride was ok. Just rather disappointing when I realised that just one month ago, there was a Singaporean on board. Sigh. I'm not the first anymore.

Arriving in Yeji at around 10pm, Siobhan won the bet, beating me by 3 minutes. We were one of the last few to get off. It was super dark and it was horrid being hassled into getting into a cab and to the Volta Hotel for the night. We got hassled into one and soon found ourselves at the lousy hotel. Such a rip off at 70,000 a night for a room was poor lighting and a horrid fan and no net, no running water and well, horrid ok? for the price? What made it worse was that the next morn, we were conned into taking the lousy breakfast that was overpriced at 20,000 for tea and bread and this guy constantly trying to get me to change his Sing-dollar into cedis with me. Horrid reminder of the Singaporean who was here one month earlier.

The next morn was a nightmare trying to get to Nkoranza through Ejura being hassled by taxi drivers. We were out at 7.00am but only left Yeji for Ejura after 9am. The journey was long and bad. We ended up at Nkoranza all red and dusty. But we finally managed to find the Hand in Hand place and it was beautiful. I'll tell more in my next email. It's basically a school and home for mentally handicapped and disabled children that you guys should find out more about. It's not much to sponsor a child and you could make so much of a difference!

 

Anyway. today was spent at the Kintampo falls and the Baobeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. It was a good day overall and boy are we looking forward to Techiman, Wenchi and Bui tomorrow! A lot of travel on the cards!

 

Take care everyone!

 

-Sheena

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