Samina and I had pledged to spend
Christmas and New Year together way back in September when we met in the first
week on In Country Training. I had splashed out and booked a flight from Tamele
to Accra. Samina was picking me from the
airport at about 10.30 in the morning so we could head straight off on our
festive adventure. I could go into much detail about our 2 and a half hour taxi
ride across a very small area of Accra moving at a snail’s pace through the
worst traffic I have ever seen in the world to find a bus station which had a bus
leaving to go to Volta region. It took 3 attempts to find one; third time
lucky. I could follow it with further detail about the following expected two
hour wait for the bus to arrive that turned into a 6 hour wait and then the
expected 3 hour bus ride which turned into a 7 hour bus ride. We finally arrived
at mountain lodge at 2am and crashed having not peed for 14 hours. But I won’t
dwell on The Worst Bus Ride In Ghana So Far for two reasons; One, we woke to
find we were slap bang in the middle of some fabulous views and one of the
nicest areas of Ghana I've seen so far and two, that hideous bus ride earned us
enough ‘travelling karma’ to get us to Accra, on to Elmina, back to Accra and
then me back to Tamele and then Bolga; in relative comfort, practically stress
free, with zero hassle or waiting and, despite a tro tro tyre blow out at speed –
safely.
While in Volta Region for
Christmas Samina and I experienced a half hour walk to a waterfall, a monkey Sanctuary,
Kente weaving, Wli Waterfalls and some well-deserved ‘down time’. Most was as it says on the tin. That is apart from the half hour walk to the
local waterfall. Marketing is not a
great skill of the Ghanaians and in true Ghanaian style this half hour walk
turned out to be a two hour trek. It
involved a significant amount of time in an abseiling position (without a
harness) both ascending and descending steep, (often too steep) inclines to reach
the damn waterfall. It turns out my arms
were strong enough to hold my own weight… not something I have ever been good
at but it was close to failure. Too close and the ‘snaps’
show it all. As we got further and
further on in the walk my photos become more and more blurry as my muscles
spasm under the strain of having to support my own weight! Still we did it and to be honest I am sure
even the fittest Ghanaian couldn’t do it in the half hour advertised…
We had a great time and met some
lovely people and saw the most amazing scenery and wildlife. I cannot express it well enough in words and
I am sure through my ‘snaps you still won’t truly be able to appreciate it, however
here are a few Christmas snaps so you can see what I saw during Christmas 2011….
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| view from mountain lodge bar |
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| waterfall at the end of the 2 hour trek... blurred due to muscle spasm |
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| the abseil |
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| mona monkey |
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| mona monkeys |
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| young girl enjoying her 'snap' |
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| there is something about this picture I love.... |
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| kente cloth being weaved by a young boy |
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| bobbins |
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| no explanation needed |
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| Surrounded by Kente cloth |
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| Samina and I |
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| Wli waterfall |
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| View from Wli guesthouse |
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| EVERYTHING is carried this way - except babies... they go in a wrap on women's backs |
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| Christmas lunch; tilapia and jollof rice |
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| Ellie B experiencing snow in Ghana |
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| Buttterflies at Wli waterfalls |
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| typically green at Wli while the north of Ghana is as dry as a desert... |
It’s true I got a little homesick
at Christmas but luckily I had a fab group of people around me.
New year brought us moving to the
coast in hot pursuit of Ali and other VSO vols that both Samina and I had spent
the last 3 months with. So here are a few New Year snaps to show the fab beach
week we endured with pleasure!
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| Ali Samina and me |
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| look carefully... there's a man in that coconut tree! |
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| the gang |
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| they don't seem to have black dolls here in Ghana... |
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| washing drying |
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| fishing boats |
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| bath time |
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| Ko Sa...Where we stayed |
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| The beach |
The trip highlighted that
Ghana for me is full of contrasts which are frustrating and at times unfathomable. The further south you get it seems the rich
just get richer (Accra is a minefield of rich getting richer)
but the country as a whole has so much to offer on so many levels it seems a
great shame that the contrasts of Ghana have not been fully exploited in a
sustainable way to the benefit of all its people. I have no doubt there will be another blog
expanding on that at a later date. For
now; a very belated happy Christmas and New Year to you all…
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