The Weekend


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June 26th 2006
Published: June 26th 2006
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MillipedeMillipedeMillipede

This was the awesome millipede we found. We were stroking it but later found out that they are apparently very poisonous. Good thing it was slow.
Well I'm really falling behind on subjects I wanted to write about, but I think I put some of them off for a little while longer to tell you about my first weekend here. However, I soon as possible I'd like to write about my first week in the Police Hospital since it was at a completely different level of care than any hospital back home. Also, I'll have to tell you about navigating Accra and making it through a market without being held up for a hour. But that will have to wait.

Friday



Helen, Eric and I wanted to explore the area just to the north of Accra (I forget the name of the region at the moment). We started by going to Aburi to see the Botanical Garden there. To get there and back we used mainly tro-tros and some shared taxis, which made the trip very cheap as far as travelling went. The Botanical Gardens were very cool because they had a lot of interesting plants that are used to make common products (ie rubber) and medicines (not just a bunch of flowers like a initially thought). Although, Eric was definitely the most interested in
Me in a TreeMe in a TreeMe in a Tree

This is a picture of me climbing up the inside of a tree. The tree is actually not dead. It's the kind of tree that rubber is made from, which apparently grows hollow.
the milliped. We found one the first night and for the next day he was constantly talking about it. I have to admit I was also fairly pumped because I've only seen a dead one before. They actually move quite slowly. You think they would move faster with all those legs. It was good that I saw one because now if I wake up with one on me I'll be far less freaked out. Even though they look slimy they are actually dry and have quite a tough outer shell, so if one was on you, you could easily just pick it up and move it. Plus, as far as we could tell, they would never be fast enough to bite you (and I'm not even sure if they bite).

Eric's other encounter with an 'animal', as he calls them, was when I found a frog and put it in his bed with him. Unfortunately for him when the frog got scared it emitted an extremely ranced smelling odor, which didn't go away when I put the frog outside.

Saturday



After taking a lot of pictures of the garden, we went to the bead market in a
Boti FallsBoti FallsBoti Falls

The Boti Falls are in the middle of nowhere, which makes them very relaxing and free of other tourists.
near by town. When I say bead market I mean a freaking huge market that sold absolutely everything, which included a rather large section of beads. The draw was that the beads were in the style of the Ashanti Empire of the region and some of the beads were supposed to be really old. We did by some beads, including 'old' beads, which I think were made at the exact same time as the new beads, but they were at least of better quality. I did enjoy the market though. It was extremely busy no doubt, but there difference was that the commerce was supported mainly by the locals and therefore the vendors weren't constantly hissing at us and yelling obruni (their word for white people). I even had the energy to barter with the vendors.

Then we took some tro-tros to reach a waterfall, which I forget the name of. They were cool but I think I almost just appreciate being in the middle of nowhere even more. It was very nice that we were the only tourists at the falls. After the falls we headed home.

Sunday



I finally got out surfing on sunday, which
HelicopterHelicopterHelicopter

This is Helen and I in an old helicopter we found in the middle of the Aburi Botanical Gardens.
was awesome. However, I thought I'd never get there and near the end of the journey I had decided that I wouldn't be worth it even if I did go surfing but I changed my mind after finally arriving. I'm just glad I had some other people to share the 'experience' with me.

There's a big long story behind spending three and a half hours to get about 30 km out of town, but it will have to wait. I'll add it to this page later.

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