Ghana Tour October 2006

Hi all,

Firstly - sorry to all you complaining ones for not posting enough! We have been on our 3-4 week backpacking around the country which has been ace.

The Tour:

Few hairy moments with the local transport here - for example, our bus jumping the 10 bus que ueto go around a jack-knifed lorry in the bushes all directed by our fellow passenger 'The Army Man'. They didn't seem to be too concerned when it got stuck in the bush/mud as just hacked at greenery with machetes and pushed it through with the force of 10 Ghanaian men. 2 hours later later - all out and on our way - perfect. Don't worry mum - big knives are pretty blunt I'm sure and with the lovely culture of peace and love here they hardly ever hurt people. Only if you have stolen or murdered do people get lynched.

We have spent a long time on the south in small villages and on the beach. We stayed at an eco guesthouse call Green Turtle Lodge which was so good we have booked up for Christmas. Beach volleyball everyday after a day of eating lovely food and chilling. This is why I like it. Dave has fallen in love with the compost loos and solar panel power for the whole lodge thereby sticking with his 'green' side. He is trying hard not to be too worried about the no recycling or bins at all in fact.

Following this, we headed up through the central region to Kumasi which has the biggest market is West Africa apparently. It was great. The atmosphere and fun/laughter from stall holders and making us feel welcome was enormous. Sure they are not all laughing at us but with us! We are getting into buying material to have our clothes made so are not being as dull as the obligatory black i wore at home a lot. Not quite sure whether we'll go full out on the colours though!

We got to Kumasi on an overnight train from Takoradi - 12 hours in bunk beds in what felt like the whole train was tipping over a few times. Not the best night sleep but fun and got to see some more remote villages as we went through.

Despite the size of the country it is strange how you meet up with people you have met already. Suppose like usual travelling places people do similar trails - here either north to south or south to north so maybe not that strange after all. Thing is we now have time to ponder this sort of rubbish which I think is actually making me a little brain dead but I tell you a lot more relaxed!

We headed up north next stopping for day trips to bat caves and a monkey village on the way. Mum - you would have loved the monkeys as saw them jumping between trees and pretty close as they come to the village to steal food apparently.

Talking of food, anyone heard of fu fu? or banku? How do I describe it? Dave says its like chewing gum - um - not sure as you're not supposed to chew it. You just get a dollop of it by the right hand (left one only used for sanitary purposes - i.e. wiping bum), add the spicy soup/sauce with fish or chicken and swallow. Looks a bit like mashed potato but made with plaintain and cassava so completely different. 2 women and a mega size pestle and mortar type things are needed to pound it. One sits to folds the stuff whilst the other stands to thrust down the big pole thing bigger than themselves. Few broken fingers later and lots of sweating and you're there. Strange but true and tastes alright actually. Usual food here is rice, chicken, fish with lovely sauces. If you're lucky you can eat beef, goat or grasscutters (large rat things). Can you tell I'm hungry all this talk of food.

So, the north - Mole national park is a big game reserve which most travellers who visit Ghana go to. Usually via the obligatory punchure stop/wheel change, 4.30am bus and bumpy road on the way. All worth it though as get to see elephants within a few feet, different antelope types, warthogs and my favourite - baboons with their babies and raw bums. It's fun to go on the nature walk as you do get so close to the animals but also to see that they live together with people well. E.g. baboons in the staffing quarters, warthogs near the rooms and elephants trying to drink from the swimming pool. Only thing about the north which is tough is the heat - is crazy up there. Whereas Accra the capital in the South is 30 degrees the north is much hotter and humid.

North and South also differ in terms of culture and religion too with the north being more muslim and south more christian which makes different atmospheres. All lovely and people don't seem to mind the preachers who stand up on the buses to tell them all about it.

So, after our 2 day journey home from the north we are back in Ho in the Volta region (South East). Feels lovely coming home. This is a small town where we find people are the most friendly, e.g stopping in the street to introduce themselves, their wives etc and ask you name and how long you stay. Kids everywhere shout 'white man' in their respective languages whether it be Twi, Ewe or one of the others. Amazing how many different languages are spoken here - some of the smaller villages we went to had their own one too. Kids also most usually come up to you to shake or hold your hand which is nice. They are real fun, open and loving life despite what seems like a hard life for kids with all their chores, working and no toys like we would have. Amazing.

We move to our village today which we are really looking forward to as will be a different side of Ghanaian living. We are looking forward to being part of the community as will be there for the remainder of our stay.

So - the village stuff to come later when we are back in Ho with internet access!

Take care all - post some comments - we love them.
Thank you Jax and Caroline/Bobster aka Master Krump Machine) for yours.

Maria (and the lovely Dave)
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