I am now home! This gives me the luxury of filling you in on the last week using a real keyboard and not from my phone.
For our last weekend we headed to Cape Coast, the number one tourist destination in Ghana. Cape Coast is so popular because it has an incredibly well preserved fort, which was used as a port for the exportation of slaves. It was a really eery experience to creep around the dark cells used for keeping slaves before transportation. There was also an excellent museum which told us all about the slave trade and the freedom movement which subsequently emerged. It was a pleasure to have finally found a well run museum after the flops we found in Accra and Kumasi.
We stayed in the Paradise beach resort, which as the name suggests was located right on the beach and was also really lovely. Each room was its own huts, just like at Kokrobite, but the showers were outside so you could shower under the stars. We had a bit of an epic journey to get down to Cape Coast from Kumasi, with a mix up about where we were meeting the new bunch of students from New Zealand. The trotros then decided to break down about 3/4 of the way and we were asked to get out whilst a mechanic took the engine apart and using him mouth, blew some oil/petrol out of a part (we think using our expert mechanical knowledge it was the carbaretta, but it could well have been anything else which is covered in clear fluid).
Therefore everyone wanted to let off a bit of steam once we finally made it, and we had a wonderful time at the bar of the resort getting to know the kiwis and taking in the almost obligatory african drumming and dancing which accompanied each of our nights in the resort.Unfortunately at some point during the frivolities I had my phone stolen, which put a downer on the rest of the weekend. I had to go to the police station and fill out some forms. I then had to sit there for the best part of 2 days for someone to type up the report and get the chief to sign it. It was painfully slow and very frustrating, luckily I had the presence of mind to take a book with me, so it wasn't entirely painful.
I did however manage to slink off for a morning to the canopy walk at Kakum national park. It is a bizarre tourist attraction which, apart from being great because it offers you a chance to walk between trees around 40m off the ground, seemed a little pointless because we weren't deep enough into the rain forest to actually have any chance of seeing any animals. It did provide a terrific photo opportunity, and also much entertainment watching Louise, who is a little nervy about heights at the best of times, edging out onto the walk ways pretending to be calm. After the canopy walk we decided to drop in at the Hans Cottage Botel (yes that's right, it is a botel, apparantly a hotel on water should be called a botel) where the hotel is shared by around 60 crocodiles. For a small fee they allow you to get pictures with and even stroke the crocs, a weird experience which was definitely worth doing purely for the adrenaline rush everytime the docile crocodiles decided they'd had enough and started to move towards you.
After cape coast we headed back to Atibie and did a couple more days in the hospital before a final get together with all the docs and admin staff at the local bar/restaurant, Eastern Palace. Don't be drawn in by the name, there is nothing oriental about this place. They serve a wide variety of dishes: rice and chicken or rice and beef, but the bar is well stocked and it is situated just opposite the compound in which all the doctors live. It was really nice to get to know Dr Addei a bit, becasue although he was our clinical supervisor, he'd been away for 4 of our 8 weeks. It was pretty emotional finally packing up all our stuff and heading for the last time to the tro tros station in Nkawkaw. More emotional was saying good bye to Omar, who was flying out the night before the rest of us, and had been a delight to travel with. The rest of the stay went without much of a hitch, with the 5 hour wait in the airport flying by as we watched the live greece vs macedonia euro qualifier. Ems met me from the airport in manchester and I was a bit of a sleep deprived mess, I'd eaten far too much and watched too many films rather than sleep (a skill admirably demonstrated by Cat, who seemed to fall asleep as soon as she sat in her seat, well before take off).
I will try and get the photo slideshow working down the bottom, so you can have a look at my pictures. If not you can find them if you search for me, Richard Salisbury, on Picasa. Thank you all for reading, I hope it's been interesting for you as it has been for me, and that I have got across what a truly remarkable place Ghana is.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Elephant Fun
This weekend we headed north to mole national park, the largest and most tourist friendly game reserve in Ghana. Unfotunately it is also the furthest away national park and because it is so large, the entrance is in the middle of no where. Because of these 2 unfortunate facts we had the bright idea of chartering a trotros to take us all the way. This was however rather expensive, costing us around 25 pounds each (which is by far the most money we have spent on anything whilst we've been out here). We did however get a nice relatively new air conditioned one, with an engine and driver who took us at over twice the speed limit of 50 km/hr.7 hours and 30 minutes later we were pulling into mole motel situated in the middle of the national park.
As this is out first and only trip to the north it is worth mentioning the differences I have noticed between the north and the south. Perhaps the most syiking difference is in the change in religion to Islam. As we travelled north, at first every village we passed had a church at their centre, then a church and a mosque before finally only mosques. In the last two villages the mosques were made in the traditional mud and stick construction and were said to be the two oldest in Ghana. Another change we could see out the window, besides the change in clothes from ashante toga to Islamic smock and trousers, was the change from brick houses with metal roofs, to mud houses with thatched roofs, which were very similar to the houses in the villages of Morocco.
As we got furher north, the temperature also increased, to such an extent that we all struggled to sleep the first night we were in mole.
The next day we awoke with the sun rise and rushed out to the viewing platform overlooking 2 large watering holes, right next to the hotel. I got my trusty binocculares out and was treated to a great view of cobs (an antellope species) waking and heading down to drink. There were also a few males rutting to try and gain control of the herd of females. At 7 we headed off on a walking safari. Our guide abdula took us out into the bush and pointed out the different animals we saw. We actually managed to see almost all of the different animals in the park, 2 different antelope, the sociable cob and the solitary bush buck, the ground bound guinea fowl, some green monkeys and some crocodiles. It was great fun but we all agreed, what we really wanted to see were elephants.
With this in mind we booked a jeep to take us out that afternoon and spent the rest of the day sunning ourselves by the pool. At the designated time we headed to the information centre and found our jeep.4 of us were to ride inside the jeep and 4 of us on the roof. By the roof I don't mean some seats constructed on the roof, but a couple of planks which had been screwed onto the roof bars. The boys naturally went straight for the precarious root, whereas the girls decided they would see how we fairer before taking their turn later. With us all in position clinging for our lives on top, we headed off. It was actually quite safe, the bumps in the road were taken at a sedate pace and we were easily able to keep ourselves upright in the corners, but we did get a great view of the animals we saw, who rather than being frightened of the jeep seemed mesmerised, and would stop and turn to have a good look at us before running off after we'd all got some really nice pictures. We went on for an hour, heading further and further into the park and still no sign of the elusive elephants until suddenly their was a screech from below us. Cat had seen something grey in the trees. We all strained to see what was there, and I could see nothing until all of a sudden a long grey trunk shot out and grabbed a leaf. We all tumbled out of the jeep and crept closer. There was a massive male about 100m away. He seemed unconcerned by us and continued to munch on the trees and move slowly towards us. As he got closer we could see that he wasn't alone, behind him were 6 or 7 more, 2 females, 2 babies and 2 young men. They were all walking straight at us. We started to back away as our guide hissed at us to get onto the road. I must say as excited as I was I could see that if they started to charge we would have no chance of getting to the car in time as they were now very close. Thankfully they still looked unconcerned about us and wandered on now slightly away from our direction. They then came out of the trees and walked just in front of us across the road giving us a brilliant view of them before they headed off in the same direction on the other side of the road. By this point our guide had called the other jeeps and lots people were turning up, so we smuggly left them to it and headed back to the lodge. We had been incredibly lucky and congratulated ourselves all the way back.
The next day we spent mainly by the pool, with omar and I heading out on a walking safari in the afternoon before the big fa cup clash between reading and man city, which we could watch in the bar. It was unfortunate to see reading knocked out in a game where they were the better team for most of it. Although they didn't have many chances I thought they were at least good enough to get a replay. Still after a few drinks in the bar and a look out at the magnificent views framing the hotel and things weren't quite so bad.
The next day we rose at 4 for the morning bus to tamale and the less said about the day probably the better, I think it will suffice to say we didn't get back home until 11 that evening and were all shattered.
As this is out first and only trip to the north it is worth mentioning the differences I have noticed between the north and the south. Perhaps the most syiking difference is in the change in religion to Islam. As we travelled north, at first every village we passed had a church at their centre, then a church and a mosque before finally only mosques. In the last two villages the mosques were made in the traditional mud and stick construction and were said to be the two oldest in Ghana. Another change we could see out the window, besides the change in clothes from ashante toga to Islamic smock and trousers, was the change from brick houses with metal roofs, to mud houses with thatched roofs, which were very similar to the houses in the villages of Morocco.
As we got furher north, the temperature also increased, to such an extent that we all struggled to sleep the first night we were in mole.
The next day we awoke with the sun rise and rushed out to the viewing platform overlooking 2 large watering holes, right next to the hotel. I got my trusty binocculares out and was treated to a great view of cobs (an antellope species) waking and heading down to drink. There were also a few males rutting to try and gain control of the herd of females. At 7 we headed off on a walking safari. Our guide abdula took us out into the bush and pointed out the different animals we saw. We actually managed to see almost all of the different animals in the park, 2 different antelope, the sociable cob and the solitary bush buck, the ground bound guinea fowl, some green monkeys and some crocodiles. It was great fun but we all agreed, what we really wanted to see were elephants.
With this in mind we booked a jeep to take us out that afternoon and spent the rest of the day sunning ourselves by the pool. At the designated time we headed to the information centre and found our jeep.4 of us were to ride inside the jeep and 4 of us on the roof. By the roof I don't mean some seats constructed on the roof, but a couple of planks which had been screwed onto the roof bars. The boys naturally went straight for the precarious root, whereas the girls decided they would see how we fairer before taking their turn later. With us all in position clinging for our lives on top, we headed off. It was actually quite safe, the bumps in the road were taken at a sedate pace and we were easily able to keep ourselves upright in the corners, but we did get a great view of the animals we saw, who rather than being frightened of the jeep seemed mesmerised, and would stop and turn to have a good look at us before running off after we'd all got some really nice pictures. We went on for an hour, heading further and further into the park and still no sign of the elusive elephants until suddenly their was a screech from below us. Cat had seen something grey in the trees. We all strained to see what was there, and I could see nothing until all of a sudden a long grey trunk shot out and grabbed a leaf. We all tumbled out of the jeep and crept closer. There was a massive male about 100m away. He seemed unconcerned by us and continued to munch on the trees and move slowly towards us. As he got closer we could see that he wasn't alone, behind him were 6 or 7 more, 2 females, 2 babies and 2 young men. They were all walking straight at us. We started to back away as our guide hissed at us to get onto the road. I must say as excited as I was I could see that if they started to charge we would have no chance of getting to the car in time as they were now very close. Thankfully they still looked unconcerned about us and wandered on now slightly away from our direction. They then came out of the trees and walked just in front of us across the road giving us a brilliant view of them before they headed off in the same direction on the other side of the road. By this point our guide had called the other jeeps and lots people were turning up, so we smuggly left them to it and headed back to the lodge. We had been incredibly lucky and congratulated ourselves all the way back.
The next day we spent mainly by the pool, with omar and I heading out on a walking safari in the afternoon before the big fa cup clash between reading and man city, which we could watch in the bar. It was unfortunate to see reading knocked out in a game where they were the better team for most of it. Although they didn't have many chances I thought they were at least good enough to get a replay. Still after a few drinks in the bar and a look out at the magnificent views framing the hotel and things weren't quite so bad.
The next day we rose at 4 for the morning bus to tamale and the less said about the day probably the better, I think it will suffice to say we didn't get back home until 11 that evening and were all shattered.
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Sunday, 13 March 2011
Accra and independence day
Again I seem to be languishing a week behind on my blog buy hopefully today as I sit basking in the sun by the pool at mole motel I will be able to make amends.
Last Sunday was Ghana's independence day and to celebrate this we decided to head to the capital Accra. Accra is the largest and busiest of the cities we have visited, and comes with some draw backs.2 drawbacks in particular come to mind, the terrible taxi drivers who never seemed to know where we wanted to go, and the pushy street sellers who would grab your arm and drag you kicking and screaming into their shops. Despite this it is a nice city, although there are few tourist attractions, we spent a great day at the mall, drinking in the air conditioning and took in a film at the excellent cinema. The nightlife is also great, and we discovered plenty of really cool bars and a nightclub which felt like a decent club from home rather than the dark hall we'd experienced in Kumasi.
On independence day we got picked up by sefa and headed to independence square, which we visited on our first day in Ghana. We arrived to find thousands of people already milling about in the stands, and the last of the school groups marching into the square. Once we found a seat we settled down to enjoy the independence Day celebrations. Several hundred school children from all the areas of Accra and a group from each of the armed forces marched around the parade ground accompanied by a military band. Then the president turned up surrounded by the presidential guard on horse back. The president then got out his limo and greeted the dignataries before getting into a pope mobile and touring round the assembled regiments of children. He then lit a massive flame and there was a fly by from 3 jets and a salute from a battery of artillery. This was all well and good but the real entertainment came from watching as the children, standing in the baking sun, started to faint. They were dropping like flies and with every one to fall there were st johns ambulance men sprinting out with stretchers to fetch them. It became a real case of survival, with some schools suffering heavier losses than other schools, some of which had thought far enough in advance to bring replacements who donned their white gloves and sprinted out to replace their class mates. All in all a very entertaining weekend.
Last Sunday was Ghana's independence day and to celebrate this we decided to head to the capital Accra. Accra is the largest and busiest of the cities we have visited, and comes with some draw backs.2 drawbacks in particular come to mind, the terrible taxi drivers who never seemed to know where we wanted to go, and the pushy street sellers who would grab your arm and drag you kicking and screaming into their shops. Despite this it is a nice city, although there are few tourist attractions, we spent a great day at the mall, drinking in the air conditioning and took in a film at the excellent cinema. The nightlife is also great, and we discovered plenty of really cool bars and a nightclub which felt like a decent club from home rather than the dark hall we'd experienced in Kumasi.
On independence day we got picked up by sefa and headed to independence square, which we visited on our first day in Ghana. We arrived to find thousands of people already milling about in the stands, and the last of the school groups marching into the square. Once we found a seat we settled down to enjoy the independence Day celebrations. Several hundred school children from all the areas of Accra and a group from each of the armed forces marched around the parade ground accompanied by a military band. Then the president turned up surrounded by the presidential guard on horse back. The president then got out his limo and greeted the dignataries before getting into a pope mobile and touring round the assembled regiments of children. He then lit a massive flame and there was a fly by from 3 jets and a salute from a battery of artillery. This was all well and good but the real entertainment came from watching as the children, standing in the baking sun, started to faint. They were dropping like flies and with every one to fall there were st johns ambulance men sprinting out with stretchers to fetch them. It became a real case of survival, with some schools suffering heavier losses than other schools, some of which had thought far enough in advance to bring replacements who donned their white gloves and sprinted out to replace their class mates. All in all a very entertaining weekend.
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Monday, 7 March 2011
Back to the Hospital
After two weeks stumbling through the generic symptoms of community clinics, we are now back at kwahu general.
It makes a nice change and I definitely feel more confident now on ward rounds which has resulted in me asking the questions I want to and getting stuck in examining patients with signs. As a result I'm getting much mote out of my days. We've had some really interesting patients in this week, someone with Stevens Johnson syndrome, where your skin dies and starts to peel off, another with a herbal enema induced collitis which has led to bowel obstruction and a case of unknown weight loss and cachexia. This last case is really interesting because with the limited tests available it is very difficult to locate a cause, although it is almost certainly due to a cancer somewhere in the body.
I've also been into surgery and watched a very exciting operation where a lady had presented with an ectopic pregnancy. When she was opened up, the entire abdomen was filled with blood. It was pretty scarry to see them suction out about 2 litres straight away, and seemingly from my angle still not be able to see the cause of the bleeding. Luckily that didn't matter as one of the doctors reached into the pool of blood and managed to pull out the fallopian tube with the ectopic pregnancy clearly visible. Around the ectopic you could see.the tell tale squirting of an arterial bleed. They calmly clamped off the ends of the tube and resected the ectopic, and by doing so stopped the bleed. It was great to see someone's life being saved, especially from some quick thinking and expertise from the surgeon (all doctors at the hospital are general physicians as well as general surgeons).
Apart from ward rounds I've also been in casualty, which is very much like the community clinic apart from there are many more tests and medications to use, and had a tour round the lab, where we saw malaria parasites and got informed about which machines they have. All in all a rather good week!
It makes a nice change and I definitely feel more confident now on ward rounds which has resulted in me asking the questions I want to and getting stuck in examining patients with signs. As a result I'm getting much mote out of my days. We've had some really interesting patients in this week, someone with Stevens Johnson syndrome, where your skin dies and starts to peel off, another with a herbal enema induced collitis which has led to bowel obstruction and a case of unknown weight loss and cachexia. This last case is really interesting because with the limited tests available it is very difficult to locate a cause, although it is almost certainly due to a cancer somewhere in the body.
I've also been into surgery and watched a very exciting operation where a lady had presented with an ectopic pregnancy. When she was opened up, the entire abdomen was filled with blood. It was pretty scarry to see them suction out about 2 litres straight away, and seemingly from my angle still not be able to see the cause of the bleeding. Luckily that didn't matter as one of the doctors reached into the pool of blood and managed to pull out the fallopian tube with the ectopic pregnancy clearly visible. Around the ectopic you could see.the tell tale squirting of an arterial bleed. They calmly clamped off the ends of the tube and resected the ectopic, and by doing so stopped the bleed. It was great to see someone's life being saved, especially from some quick thinking and expertise from the surgeon (all doctors at the hospital are general physicians as well as general surgeons).
Apart from ward rounds I've also been in casualty, which is very much like the community clinic apart from there are many more tests and medications to use, and had a tour round the lab, where we saw malaria parasites and got informed about which machines they have. All in all a rather good week!
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The gang
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Friday, 4 March 2011
Aburi and the lake voltage dam
Sorry for the late update, confusingly this post is about last weekend. When we scored a mighty victory against the French in the six nations , which was made all the sweeter by sharing the news with a Frenchman we were with at the time.
Last weekend started late because it began raining just as we were about to leave and we don't trust the roads (or the driving) in the wet. So it was Saturday before we headed off to the akosumba dam which is responsible for creating the largest man made lake in the world.
Seeing the dam was not as simple we could have hoped. In order to approach the dam we had to get a pass first from round the back of a bank in a tiny unmarked office, which then had to be stamped by a man in the adjacent room and then return to the same woman to give her our address and phone numbers. Goodness knows why, but it ended up that we then needed to get a lift with a stranger who happened to have some empty spaces in his car up to the dam itself.
The dam was constructed in the 80s I think and seems to provide the entire electricity for Ghana as well as be able to export to 3 of the neighbouring countries. It is as you may imagine a very impressive structure. We were told it is a terraced dam. Whatever that may be, and is constructed from stone cut from the hills either side of the dam. It is only about 20 meters high and I must say I thought it was going to be taller. Our tour guide took us (as well as 2 parties of school kids) onto the dam from where we could appreciate the power house where the turbines are held and the many cables taking away the power to different areas. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside the dam, so the tour was quite brief. This was probably a good thing as we were starting to worry that we would not be able to reach aburi that evening. We shared this predicament with the nice Frenchman who had given us a lift to the dam and he said he was heading in our direction so would give us a lift. What a nice chap! We made it to aburi in no time, and discovered that our new French friend was working out in Ghana for john west fishing for tuna. He told us of the politics and corruption of the fishing industry and the racial tension which existed between the Korean and Ghanaian crew members.
Aburi is a town unlike any we had been to before, it is situated ontop of q hill which provided spectacular views out over the capital Accra. It had narrow one way roads and everywhere was green rather than the red dust which seeps through in drier areas. We enjoyed an excellent meal that night and headed to bed early as tomorrow we were going to go mountain biking.
Mountain biking for anyone like me who hasn't done it before is a mixture of great fun, hard work and being absolutely petrified. Thankfully the bikes we hired had good brakes so we were ok going embarrassingly slowly down the hills. We stopped along the way for our guide to point out plants and demonstrate how they were made into food. We also had a look round a local house, which was fascinating. We enjoyed a great morning of exercise and headed to Pete's pizza place for lunch. Pete is a rasta who gave up his job fishing in Italy to create a tiny 4 person restaurant which looks like his living room. It is the kind of restaurant which would be perfectly normal if at glastonburry festival and q real delight to find. After lunch we had a wonder around the botanical gardens which houses a large range of different plants, and then headed home.
Last weekend started late because it began raining just as we were about to leave and we don't trust the roads (or the driving) in the wet. So it was Saturday before we headed off to the akosumba dam which is responsible for creating the largest man made lake in the world.
Seeing the dam was not as simple we could have hoped. In order to approach the dam we had to get a pass first from round the back of a bank in a tiny unmarked office, which then had to be stamped by a man in the adjacent room and then return to the same woman to give her our address and phone numbers. Goodness knows why, but it ended up that we then needed to get a lift with a stranger who happened to have some empty spaces in his car up to the dam itself.
The dam was constructed in the 80s I think and seems to provide the entire electricity for Ghana as well as be able to export to 3 of the neighbouring countries. It is as you may imagine a very impressive structure. We were told it is a terraced dam. Whatever that may be, and is constructed from stone cut from the hills either side of the dam. It is only about 20 meters high and I must say I thought it was going to be taller. Our tour guide took us (as well as 2 parties of school kids) onto the dam from where we could appreciate the power house where the turbines are held and the many cables taking away the power to different areas. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside the dam, so the tour was quite brief. This was probably a good thing as we were starting to worry that we would not be able to reach aburi that evening. We shared this predicament with the nice Frenchman who had given us a lift to the dam and he said he was heading in our direction so would give us a lift. What a nice chap! We made it to aburi in no time, and discovered that our new French friend was working out in Ghana for john west fishing for tuna. He told us of the politics and corruption of the fishing industry and the racial tension which existed between the Korean and Ghanaian crew members.
Aburi is a town unlike any we had been to before, it is situated ontop of q hill which provided spectacular views out over the capital Accra. It had narrow one way roads and everywhere was green rather than the red dust which seeps through in drier areas. We enjoyed an excellent meal that night and headed to bed early as tomorrow we were going to go mountain biking.
Mountain biking for anyone like me who hasn't done it before is a mixture of great fun, hard work and being absolutely petrified. Thankfully the bikes we hired had good brakes so we were ok going embarrassingly slowly down the hills. We stopped along the way for our guide to point out plants and demonstrate how they were made into food. We also had a look round a local house, which was fascinating. We enjoyed a great morning of exercise and headed to Pete's pizza place for lunch. Pete is a rasta who gave up his job fishing in Italy to create a tiny 4 person restaurant which looks like his living room. It is the kind of restaurant which would be perfectly normal if at glastonburry festival and q real delight to find. After lunch we had a wonder around the botanical gardens which houses a large range of different plants, and then headed home.
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Aburi and the lake voltage dam
Sorry for the late update, confusingly this post is about last weekend. When we scored a mighty victory against the French in the six nations , which was made all the sweeter by sharing the news with a Frenchman we were with at the time.
Last weekend started late because it began raining just as we were about to leave and we don't trust the roads (or the driving) in the wet. So it was Saturday before we headed off to the akosumba dam which is responsible for creating the largest man made lake in the world.
Seeing the dam was not as simple we could have hoped. In order to approach the dam we had to get a pass first from round the back of a bank in a tiny unmarked office, which then had to be stamped by a man in the adjacent room and then return to the same woman to give her our address and phone numbers. Goodness knows why, but it ended up that we then needed to get a lift with a stranger who happened to have some empty spaces in his car up to the dam itself.
The dam was constructed in the 80s I think and seems to provide the entire electricity for Ghana as well as be able to export to 3 of the neighbouring countries. It is as you may imagine a very impressive structure. We were told it is a terraced dam. Whatever that may be, and is constructed from stone cut from the hills either side of the dam. It is only about 20 meters high and I must say I thought it was going to be taller. Our tour guide took us (as well as 2 parties of school kids) onto the dam from where we could appreciate the power house where the turbines are held and the many cables taking away the power to different areas. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside the dam, so the tour was quite brief. This was probably a good thing as we were starting to worry that we would not be able to reach aburi that evening. We shared this predicament with the nice Frenchman who had given us a lift to the dam and he said he was heading in our direction so would give us a lift. What a nice chap! We made it to aburi in no time, and discovered that our new French friend was working out in Ghana for john west fishing for tuna. He told us of the politics and corruption of the fishing industry and the racial tension which existed between the Korean and Ghanaian crew members.
Aburi is a town unlike any we had been to before, it is situated ontop of q hill which provided spectacular views out over the capital Accra. It had narrow one way roads and everywhere was green rather than the red dust which seeps through in drier areas. We enjoyed an excellent meal that night and headed to bed early as tomorrow we were going to go mountain biking.
Mountain biking for anyone like me who hasn't done it before is a mixture of great fun, hard work and being absolutely petrified. Thankfully the bikes we hired had good brakes so we were ok going embarrassingly slowly down the hills. We stopped along the way for our guide to point out plants and demonstrate how they were made into food. We also had a look round a local house, which was fascinating. We enjoyed a great morning of exercise and headed to Pete's pizza place for lunch. Pete is a rasta who gave up his job fishing in Italy to create a tiny 4 person restaurant which looks like his living room. It is the kind of restaurant which would be perfectly normal if at glastonburry festival and q real delight to find. After lunch we had a wonder around the botanical gardens which houses a large range of different plants, and then headed home.
Last weekend started late because it began raining just as we were about to leave and we don't trust the roads (or the driving) in the wet. So it was Saturday before we headed off to the akosumba dam which is responsible for creating the largest man made lake in the world.
Seeing the dam was not as simple we could have hoped. In order to approach the dam we had to get a pass first from round the back of a bank in a tiny unmarked office, which then had to be stamped by a man in the adjacent room and then return to the same woman to give her our address and phone numbers. Goodness knows why, but it ended up that we then needed to get a lift with a stranger who happened to have some empty spaces in his car up to the dam itself.
The dam was constructed in the 80s I think and seems to provide the entire electricity for Ghana as well as be able to export to 3 of the neighbouring countries. It is as you may imagine a very impressive structure. We were told it is a terraced dam. Whatever that may be, and is constructed from stone cut from the hills either side of the dam. It is only about 20 meters high and I must say I thought it was going to be taller. Our tour guide took us (as well as 2 parties of school kids) onto the dam from where we could appreciate the power house where the turbines are held and the many cables taking away the power to different areas. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside the dam, so the tour was quite brief. This was probably a good thing as we were starting to worry that we would not be able to reach aburi that evening. We shared this predicament with the nice Frenchman who had given us a lift to the dam and he said he was heading in our direction so would give us a lift. What a nice chap! We made it to aburi in no time, and discovered that our new French friend was working out in Ghana for john west fishing for tuna. He told us of the politics and corruption of the fishing industry and the racial tension which existed between the Korean and Ghanaian crew members.
Aburi is a town unlike any we had been to before, it is situated ontop of q hill which provided spectacular views out over the capital Accra. It had narrow one way roads and everywhere was green rather than the red dust which seeps through in drier areas. We enjoyed an excellent meal that night and headed to bed early as tomorrow we were going to go mountain biking.
Mountain biking for anyone like me who hasn't done it before is a mixture of great fun, hard work and being absolutely petrified. Thankfully the bikes we hired had good brakes so we were ok going embarrassingly slowly down the hills. We stopped along the way for our guide to point out plants and demonstrate how they were made into food. We also had a look round a local house, which was fascinating. We enjoyed a great morning of exercise and headed to Pete's pizza place for lunch. Pete is a rasta who gave up his job fishing in Italy to create a tiny 4 person restaurant which looks like his living room. It is the kind of restaurant which would be perfectly normal if at glastonburry festival and q real delight to find. After lunch we had a wonder around the botanical gardens which houses a large range of different plants, and then headed home.
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