The End

Six weeks in Ghana are already over. I had a wonderful time, met so many friendly, open, smiling people; I saw beautiful things, heard fantastic stories and I listened to some great highlife music. I will treasure all those good memories (and I will miss those delicious pineapples and mangoes…)

Let me finish my by saying a few words of thanks: to IBM, that “sent” me to Ghana in the first place, to the CDS team that organized everything just wonderfully, to the client in Accra that made us feel welcome and valued, to Green Bug Adventures and their local partner that organized our travel after the assignment and to Patrick, our wonderful guide during these days. 

I have heard so many times that one day I will return to Ghana that I start to believe it….

On our very last day - to "ease" good bye it was raining for once. Photo with Patrick, our guide.

Bye for now,

Cynthia

Eating in Ghana

I have been asked about food in Ghana. So let me give you a short (not very comprehensive but more personal) overview about what I have been eating here. My favorite Ghanaian dish is Red Red (rice and beans cooked in lots of red palm oil, served with fried plantains). I have also tried Banku (made of fermented maize or cassava, and of course I have eaten yam (boiled and chips).

Red Red with fried plantains

Luckily we are here during Mango season!

Fufu (similar to Banku, but made of cassava, plantain or yam) and Banku are probably the most popular and well known dishes in Ghana. Food usually is quite spicy, served in lots of red palm oil. As I don’t eat meat my usual vegetarian option is Fried Rice, available throughout the country. Fish (fresh- or saltwater) is also widely available. And I can never get enough of those delicious mangoes or sweet pineapples… So, I was not starving here. But I am looking forward to same fresh salad at home!

More to come,

Cynthia

Kejetia Market

We venture into Kejetia Market (the one we skipped due to bad weather on the way up north). This is not an adventure Europeans should try on one of their first days in Africa. A real African Market, extremely busy, noisy, lively, overwhelming, speaking to all of your senses. With Patrick expertly leading us (a typical male though, running past all those nice things….) we enjoy it tremendously. If you know where to find it, I guess anything can be bought here. There is no logic in the stalls, cloth next to fish next to spices next to kitchen ware, anything goes.

No, I did NOT buy any...

Later in the day, what we also very much appreciate, is the guided tour at Elmina Castle, built in 1482, owned by the Portuguese, the British and the Dutch, and also used as a fort to collect the slaves. The guide is very knowledgeable and again we are lucky to have been assigned such a good storyteller. It really makes a difference.

More to come,

Cynthia

Tano Sacred Grove

Today can really be split into two parts. We leave the Upper East Region early in the morning as we have a long distance to cover. Because it is such a long drive, I have to add some more “roadside photos” – just to give an impression.

A Tro-Tro fully loaded

My hair has grown - should I have it cut again?

After lunch we stop at Tano Sacred Grove. We skipped that one on the way up because the info center was not staffed so we could not get hold of a guide. It would have been a shame not to stop there today, we would really have missed something! A nice walk, some climbs over rock, a talented storyteller entertaining us with history…

And to mention it now before I forget it: a great thank you to our guide and driver Patrick! He really is doing a marvelous job, taking care of us all the time, a very patient and cautious driver and he knows everything there is to know about Ghana. Thank you, Patrick!

More to come,

Cynthia

Roadside Photos

Just a random collection of what you can see when you drive through Ghana:

Greetings from Bolgatanga!

More to come,

Cynthia

Creatures Great and Small

Our three nights in Mole National Park are already over. We have seen so many different things and animals, time passed quickly. One of the highlights was the guided tour through Mognori Eco Village – a great place to experience how the locals live. Not so to our liking was the canoe tour afterwards, but maybe that was due to the fact that the river was very dark after the rain, and definitely because there were some Tse Tse Flies.

Barbara during our guided tour. It was really hot!

The canoe safari

This morning we went “buffalo hunting”. It seems to be very new that you are allowed to drive through the park in your own vehicle, but you have to have an armed guide with you. That’s what we did. A nice drive, many kob and waterbuck, loads of Tse Tse Flies every time we opened the window to snap a photo. Grrrrr. Horrible. Then: Buffaloes – the ranger made us jump out of the car and follow him through the bush, hunting the buffaloes, being hunted by Tse Tse. Honestly – I did see some furs from a distance, but to me that could have been any animal….But the ranger really wanted us to see buffaloes, he tried…  And you know what? When we returned to the hotel after our long drive: the “normal” guided safari tour group told us they (!) had seen buffaloes (probably the ones we saw from far). Anyway, we did enjoy our stay in Mole NP. Even without seeing buffaloes.

Waterbuck

Kob

A make-shift petrol station...

More to come,

Cynthia

Elephants!

After the heavy rain and thunderstorm last night we wake up to a wonderful sunny day again. We leave early morning for our walking safari with armed guide. The cool of the morning quickly turns into another very hot and humid day, but never mind…. We soon find the first signs of elephants nearby. Our guide very expertly traces the footprints, and suddenly there is this huge lone male elephant. He goes swimming in the waterhole, and we watch fascinated for a long time. Tempting to join him in the pool, but after seeing the crocodiles this option never really comes up.

Slowly we walk back across the open plain towards our hotel. Suddenly the guide stops. Elephants again! I don’t believe it, we are so lucky!

 

(Joan, I promised to paint his toenails in green, yellow and red, but the way the elephants look at me, I decide against it….)

Wow, what a morning – I never expected we would really see elephants, and that close!

More to come,

Cynthia