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

Kente Weaving

Time to do some (hand)work. We visit Adanwomase, a community based tourism project. After seeing and learning how a Kente Cloth is made, I have a go. It’s very good I do not have to earn my living weaving; I am not a natural talent! My hand, feet and the head get totally confused, and this is just a plain weaving with one color only!

The final products

 We spend the night in a guest house in Nkoranza, It is quite tricky to find the location of the guesthouse. Our guide Patrick asks some five locals and gets five different directions, so he calls up his office to get the phone number and call them directly. It is in the hospital complex, past the mortuary, down the hill – the guesthouse helps support the orphanage for handicapped children. We stay in a lovely bungalow with open air shower.

More to come,

Cynthia

Lake Bosumtwi

Rain season is here! For two days the sky has been grey and from time to time there are some heavy showers. I am still optimistic though that tomorrow it will be better again.

We left Accra Sunday morning for our drive up north, arriving at the lake mid afternoon. A very cute little hotel, I think there only about three guestrooms, right on the on lake shore (welcome mosquitoes…. glad we have a mosquito net we can use)

We skipped Kejetia Market in Kumasi today (well, we postponed that visit to our return journey) It would simply have been to wet and muddy there. Kejetia is the largest open market in West Africa, incredibly busy; it will be quite an experience.

PS: internet connection does not work here, so posting of this entry will be delayed.

More to come,

Cynthia

Sun, Fun and Nothing to Do

With the CSC project over, data delivered and presentations done, we are all set. In my case: ready to start vacation. Bojo Beach Resort is our destination for the day. The beautiful sand island is only accessible by a very short boat ride. What a perfect day to end the project!

The evening is another highlight. Live Ghanaian Highlife Music and wonderful company. Guys, I will not forget that evening…. Thank you!

More to come,

Cynthia

The Showdown

Presentations are over. And honestly, I am impressed. Impressed, by what I can see that all four teams have learned, achieved and implemented in (as Remi from IBM Nigeria pointed out) just 16 working days. Yes, that’s true; we had just 16 working days! The teams met for the first time physically the day we arrived, and during the following 16 days (and yes, some evening or weekend work included) we all delivered findings and recommendations, pilots and documentations that I hope the clients find really useful. I can only speak for myself, but I think we have all learned a lot – from the projects, from each other, the clients and from this wonderful country.

To celebrate we went out. First things first – I am a woman – we went shopping. Those that know me also know that usually I am not a shopping queen. But once I get started, it’s difficult to stop. Look at those beautiful things! I could have bought the whole market….

Our CSC project is now over – my blog is not. I will stay in the country for two more weeks and travel around, so stay tuned.

More to come,

Cynthia

Murphy's Law?

We were scheduled to present our two projects internally to the client today. All ready and set to go in the big boardroom, microphones tested, laptops ready – waiting, with all unit leaders for the Auditor-General to join us. Suddenly a loud noise, some sparks above my head, and the projector goes black. This is the exact minute when the Auditor-General walks into the room!!!! OMG!

Our "subversive" team

But the situation is solved quickly; a new projector is in place in no time. Our presentation went well; I saw many heads nodding around the table. We can’t have missed the points too much. So tomorrow we have all day to fine tune the slides for the “big” presentation on Thursday, finish the paperwork, and we even have some free slots to meet with our client to walk them through some of the recommendations and suggestions in more detail.

More to come,

Cynthia

Sunday in Accra

We went to the beach (yes, famous Labadi Beach). I had a hard time keeping all the vendors at a distance. My usual “later” did not really work here. One of the guys really came back later, and we had to say “no” again and again. He was quite persistent. 

A word on taxis in Accra: I have never before been to a place where there are so many taxis. They honk at every “Obruni” (white person). Never forget to negotiate the price before you get in! Meanwhile we are quite good at it. Before we went to the beach I checked with the hotel staff on a price to be expected, and she said about 15 Cedi -  we paid 10 Cedi each way.

But look at the taxi! Mirrors in bits and pieces, the inside was a total mess, everything broken, the doors were difficult to close. A 33 year old Opel Kadett, as Salomon, the taxi driver, proudly explained.

Despite the very old car - he brought us back safely.

It was at least making a living for him and his family.

More to come,

Cynthia

Let's party

Our team has collectively selected to visit a shelter for abused children and children in remand. Thanks Poliane, for having the idea with the party, and thank you Joan for this perfect project management in preparing everything. We had an “arts section”, a games committee, a team in charge of food and drinks, and one team in charge of gifts (I usually outsource the wrapping of gifts, but not this time!)

The children greeted us with songs and dancing, we painted with them, we played games, and we had music, food and drinks. A splendid afternoon for us and the children, we all had a great time.

More to come,

Cynthia

A major step forward

Today we are informed that the final presentation will be moved to an earlier date. Instead of Friday next week it is now Thursday. Doesn’t sound like it made a huge difference to you? Bet it does! Our team is working on two subprojects in parallel. We need all the time we get. In the beginning we focused on Project A (skills assessment) - while that survey was running we dedicated more time to Project B (governance model for a new unit). This means, while we basically are at the end of the data gathering stage, we still need to analyze all results and research, and come up with our recommendations. Not to mention that we must prepare the deck for the internal presentation to the client and the great showdown on Thursday.

I do not complain, though. I get deep insights into areas I never thought about before. And the highlight of today is a meeting with the client. Once the meeting actually begins (this usually takes some time…) it turns out to be an amazing and fascinating experience. It is productive and informative, a show case on meeting culture and negotiation skills. I feel like watching the council of some chiefs. Totally energized we continue afterwards. We really do take away a lot from that session!

More to come,

Cynthia

On top of everything

Unbelievable, this is already our second weekend in Ghana. Time goes by so quickly! This time we traveled along Ghana’s coast to Cape Coast and Elmina. Just to get out of Accra takes 45 minutes; the whole drive is about 4 hours, depending on traffic. I never tire of watching what is going on outside the car window. You can buy everything and anything along those roads – most often though the street vendors sell water, dried fruit, little snacks, khebab or nuts. As usual in West Africa everything is carried on the head. Fascinating. I have even seen a man carrying his suitcase that way. Image he walked up to check-in at the airport like this! 

We had previously discussed on how difficult it might be to carry stuff around on your head. Well then, I tried it! Quite heavy it was, but surprisingly stable.

 

         

After the visit to Cape Coast Castle we settled into our beautiful beach resort. Time for a walk on the beach, to play ping pong or go horseback riding.

Sunday was time for Kakum National park and the famous Canopy Walk. This walk offers beautiful views into an area of the  rainforest you cannot discover in another way - nothing for people who are afraid of heights, though. 

                                 

Priya and Poliane

More to come,

Cynthia