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Published: February 25th 2009
Well, it’s official, I have Malaria.
I started feeling bad last Monday, (and by bad I mean I felt like I had been hit by a car and I had a head ache and a fever). I went to the clinic on Wednesday morning to get a blood test but it came back negative because they couldn’t see any parasites in my blood. I was feeling worse and worse as the day wore on, so I went to the hospital that evening because my temperature kept rising. I went with a Ghanaian friend named Junior and he took me to the Military hospital… yikes is all I have to say about that. I saw a doctor right away though and he told me I had Malaria and gave me a prescription. I took 8 pills a day for 3 days and by the end, I felt almost new again. I am still really tried and get worn out too easily, but other than that, I feel pretty normal. I’m guessing that I was lucky and had a really mild case because there are other kids from my hostel that have been hospitalized by it. Malaria is very, very common here and every single Ghanaian that I’ve asked says they have it. It is as common here as the flu is in the US, except that you can die fairly easily from it if you don’t take care of it. Malaria is also a parasite that stays with you for the rest of your life, so I’ll essentially always have it in my system. I still have to be careful about wearing long clothes and using nets and bug spray though because you can get Malaria numerous times and the relapses can often be worse than the initial case of it. But not to worry, the medicine to treat it is by no means in short supply, and now I have a hospital card. Whoopie!
Anyway, even though I was sick, I still felt the need to take a long weekend and travel. Who wants to miss out on five days at the beach? Not me, that’s for sure. If I’m sick, I would rather be laying on the beach than in my bed.
We left on Thursday afternoon on an intercity bus to a town in the western region called Takoradi. We crashed into another car on the way, but whatever, it’s all in a day's work I guess. Haha, we hardly even stopped. We planned on getting to Takoradi and then finding a cab to take us the rest of the way to Butre when we got there. However, it didn’t quite work out that way. When we got to the bus station, all the taxis told us they would take us to Butre for no less that 30 cedis and if you know Ghana, you know that price is completely outrageous. Well, just as we were realizing our predicament, we were adopted by a Ghanaian soldier who had been on the same bus as us. He argued with the drivers for about 20 minutes and then finally told us that he would pay for us to get there. We of course refused, so then he proceeded to help us find a hotel and he even bargained with the porters at the hotel and got us 2 rooms for 6 people for 40 cedis. Not bad, not bad.
The next day, we caught a tro-tro to Agona Junction and then somehow found the smallest taxi made by man and managed to squeeze 7 people and all of our bags into it. It was not exactly a comfy ride. When we got to Butre, we were completely blown away. I don’t think I have ever been anywhere that beautiful in my whole life. I’ve been to beaches all over Mexico, but none so exotic and secluded. It was incredible. After being bombarded by naked village children who desperately wanted us to take their pictures, we crossed a footbridge over the junction of the ocean and the mouth of the Butre River. Our “hotel” was on the beach about 200 yards from the actual village. It was called the Hideout Lodge and it consisted of a small bar, 3 treehouses, a couple bungalows, 2 dormitories and 2 bathrooms and 2 showers. All six of us stayed in one dormitory for 2 nights and we each payed 4 cedis and 50 peswas a night. Another not bad price, if you ask me. We just sat around and enjoyed the view, swam and took amazing walks down to the point for a few days. It was just all-around beautiful and so very clean compared to other beaches we have visited in Ghana. I loved it. On our first night, some of the locals made a bonfire on the beach and broke out their bongos and we had a little jam session. I tripped over a broken lawn chair, but other than that, it was a great time. Haha. On our last night in Butre, we took a canoe trip down the Butre River a ways and saw tons of wildlife (and by tons I mean crabs, birds, bugs and fish. Haha.) The sun was setting on the way back though and it was pretty darn breathtaking.
One night when we were all getting ready for bed, Margaret walked in the door of our room and screamed bloody murder. When she showed us what she was carrying on about, we all screamed too. There was a huge cockroach on the floor. While we were frantically searching for something to smash it with, it disappeared. Of course, we all freaked out and hunted for it on the floor, but we couldn’t find it. Margaret was still freaked out, so we all assured her that she should just sleep on the top bunk, because roaches can’t climb, right? Well as she was about to climb up, low and behold, Nicole spotted the roach up on the top bunk. She then, of course, let out another scream of terror and we all, of course, joined in. This time, Sarah was ready with the shoe and started swinging for it like there was no tomorrow. After a few strikes, she finally smashed it and we could all sleep in peace. Haha, I’m willing to bet we woke up everyone in the area, but hey, it was big, alright?
For the last night of our trip, we hiked over the hill to Busua, a slightly touristier version of Butre, and searched for a hotel. There was one called the Alaska Beach Resort, and I took a picture under the sign. We ended up staying in this tiny little guest house with no running water and three people to a bed. It was only 5 cedis per person per night though, which was the best we could find in Busua. I can’t say I really enjoyed washing off the sand and salt and sweat with a bucket of water, but at least it was something, and it was cheap. Sunday night was also Margaret’s 21st birthday, so we all celebrated by playing cards at the surf shop on the beach and then migrating to a completely deserted rooftop bar. By the end of the night there was no music, so Margaret ended up dancing to ringtones on our phones with our new Ghanaian friend from Butre, Enoch. It was a quite good time.
We left Busua for Accra at 9 am and didn’t get back until 5 pm Monday afternoon. It was a looong bus ride, especially since the intercity buses show Nigerian movies and soap operas at full volume for the entire 4 hours. Ugh, if I never have to watch another Nigerian film in my life, I think I’ll be ok. Worst acting/cinematography ever, not even kidding.
Meanwhile, life in Legon/Accra is as good as ever. Our group goes out for American style pizza at Pizza Inn in the Bonjour gas station across from campus every Tuesday. It’s great!
I went to the primary school again yesterday and it was the best day yet. We’ve switched to afternoon sessions for the next 2 weeks and yesterday the kids got to stay outside and play for an hour and a half before the teachers closed early because they were “too tired.” During that time, we played tons of crazy games where the kids clap and sing and dance around in a circle. I like those ones the best because when you are dancing around, going faster and faster and always being on the verge of falling down, you can sort of freeze the moment in time and listen to their little voices sing songs in Twi. Its pure bliss, let me tell you. I made a big effort to learn their names yesterday - I’ll let you know how successful it was when I go back on Monday and see how many I actually retained. Abigail, our program director, asked Margaret and I to take her camera with us yesterday and take a few picture for her to show her colleagues at the board meeting. Man oh man did that create a small riot. They ALL wanted to be in the pictures and when they all got together, they would be completely silent, and then as soon as the flash went off they would erupt in one huge collective scream of happiness. It was hilarious. None of them ever asked to see the actual picture either, they just loved the thought of getting their picture taken.
On Monday after we got back, we went out to eat at Frankie’s in Osu to have an official birthday dinner for Margaret. Frankie’s serves all types of really good American and Lebanese food and they also have an ice cream and cake parlor. Monday was the first time we went to Frankie’s though because it’s pretty pricy by Ghanaian standards. Anyway, as soon as we walked in we saw a big table of white guys and I suspected right away they were American GIs. As we were walking by to get to our table, we heard whispers of “Oh man!” and “Oh my gosh, American women!” and my suspicions were confirmed. Not 5 minutes after we sat down they came over to talk with us. Long story short, they ended up being US Marines who are stationed in Accra for a few weeks to work with the Ghanaian military. They bought us a birthday cake and 2 rounds of Heineken before they started acting like 14 year olds and we shooed them away. Haha.
Well, I know you all want to see pictures, but the internet is so slow that I don’t think I have the patience to sit here and upload them all. I may get ambitious one of these days and try, but until then, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll put them all up when I get back and I’ll show you in person too, if you want.
Meanwhile, I’m missing you all.
Much love,
Cari
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Kari :D
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Jealous!
Ugh, every blog I read makes me that much more jealous of you! I feel like I HAVE to study abroad sometime. Or maybe just go traveling without the whole school part of it haha. So I definitely have no idea how much a cedi is, and I'm wondering how much your 5 day trip actually cost you, in amounts I can understand. And also, it's kinda okay that you don't put pictures up, because one of your friends does and tags you in them and then I look at her whole album :) That canoe trip sounds frickin awesome Care. LOVE YOU!