Easter in Bolga

After quite a long time down in Accra over the last month and a whole lot of travelling I decided not to travel over the Easter break. As in the UK it was a 4 day long weekend.  Thursday night Helen joined me for a sleep out on the roof.  It was her first time and she loved it… so much so she stayed the next night too.  On Good Friday we took some newly qualified moto drivers out for a long ride to Widnaba near the border of Burkina Faso.  We had intended to stay at the Eco tourist centre but the lack of water after riding for a few hours put us off.  Despite the disappointment of the lack of an overnight stay it was still a great day out. Saturday was a lazy day watching films and catching up with chores etc.  On Sunday, after another night on the roof, I went to Helens early where she and I cooked up Easter Sunday lunch for a few volunteers and made use of the luxury of the her oven – something I don’t have at my house.  It was a lovely, if bizarre mix of food with great company that culminated in painting blown eggs and making Easter bonnets in the semi dark a result of a power out due to the massive storm (there were a number of primary/wannabe primary teachers at the meal!) .  Easter Monday and everyone brought provisions for a fantastic Ghanaian picnic at Vea Dam… so pleased to have some Ghanaian friends who can cook something other than fried chicken!

The weather is hot, hot, hot at the moment, reaching low 40 degrees often. Even the Ghanaians are complaining. This is probably the reason for the Easter Sunday storm and the one we had a few days later during the night which started at 10 and finished around 3.30 (difficult to sleep with rain hammering on the tin roof).  It was huge.  Lightening was lighting up the whole sky behind the clouds and you could still see the lightning strikes despite the light being generated.  God was clearly having a disco…an amazing tropical storm. It’s so hot that being outside is a luxury you can ill afford without getting burnt, especially if there is no breeze (something of a regular occurrence here).  Even sat stationary at the traffic lights for a couple of minutes leaves you burning and wanting to rip off your helmet.  The heat is intense and hits you like a brick wall. I am constantly damp.  Sweat just pours off me, I can feel it running through my hair and trickling down my face but I’m still loving it…. and what a beautiful image to leave you with!