More travel adventures

Last weekend (which really started on Wednesday) Froukje and I went Southwest. We began at Kakum National Park, swinging like monkeys along the canopy walk. I was hoping for a bit more of an adrenaline rush from it, since many people step out or get to the first platform and must crawl back, but it was simply fun for us.

The next night we made it out to Nzulezo, a stilt village WAY off the beaten track. Nobody knows exactly why this village was built on stilts in a lagoon an hour canoe ride from shore, but it happened over 400 years ago and people still live there (nobody knows why that is, either). They have a population of about 500 and I think very little has changed for them over the last 4 centuries. The most peculiar part, however, is that their main means of survival is farming. No, I didn't say fishing- Farming. A 3-hour canoe ride takes them to their farms, where most men in the village work. I will let the picture tell the rest of the story; it is too much to describe on a blog.

We slept in their guest house and headed back towards civilization the next morning. 1 canoe ride, 3 tro-tros, and 7 hours later, we were lying on the beach in the touristy Cape Coast resort area. It is a beautiful beach, as long as you don't look too closely, as it's actually covered in trash. And the water is pleasant, as long as you don't go in past your knees, as the brutal undertow will sweep you away...

When we arrived back in Mampong Sunday night, our new outfits had arrived! This is one of two outfits I had made of the same fabric. With the hair and the clothes, all I need is a little darker tan and I will be truly Ghanian!

And now to answer a few miscillaneous questions I have gotten.

The new baby has a name, though I can't pronounce it and haven't found somebody to spell it for me. Apparently she has a father, who named her. Her mother died in childbirth.

I absolutely feel like Richmond is a fictitious place, it doesn't seem possible from this perspective. At times this is daunting, but I enjoy the idea of "home" being transient, and being forced to create a new association or definition for it.

It took about a month for my body to get used to the food, but now I absolutely love it. We have gotten more adventurous (and are learning what will be spicy and what won't), so I will try just about anything on the street. Yesterday, while we waited for 6 hours for a bus that wouldn't leave, we ate rice with chicken and stew, something that resembled peanut brittle, fried egg on delicious bread (they fry it right there on the street), roasted plantains, oranges, and a home made cake-type thing women frequently sell. It covered 3 meals and total cost each of us about 2 cedis. So no need to worry about Becca being hungry any more!

I have not yet talked about music here, which a few of you have noticed and asked about. I haven't talked about it, because I haven't found anything worth talking about. The music I hear on a daily basis is so loud it constantly bases out the speakers, and is usually bad 90's rap music from the states. I have heard the best place to hear traditional music is at funerals and festivals, neither of which I have been able to attend yet. As soon as something worth talking about comes up, I will post it immediately! I know there is a traditional drumming group at Tafi Atome, so hopefully I will hear it and, even better, learn it, when I am out there.

I am off to Burkina Faso tomorrow- I won't be able to post pictures again until we are back in Mampong November 11th (ish) but I will try to post again soon.