Blogs from Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana, Africa - page 6

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Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi March 23rd 2009

At 7am on Saturday, our CIEE leaders arrived at the apartment with a small bus to drive us the five hours to Kumasi. Kumasi is the second-largest city in Ghana (behind Accra) and is the heart of the Ashanti region, which used to be an empire that encompassed a large portion of West Africa hundreds of years ago. Ashantis now mostly reside in southern Ghana -- most of my Ghanaian friends and CIEE leaders are Ashanti -- and still have a lot of pride in their history. The Ashanti king, or "Asantehene" in Twi, is still very powerful. As Mr. Gyasi, our fearless leader, explained, "If he tells Ashantis to go to bed at six pm every night, they will do it." A command from King Osei Tutu II, the current Asantehene, trumps one from President ... read more
David and his friends

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi February 25th 2009

Well, today means my trip is halfway over. My cell phone is dead, so everyone will have to contact me on this website. I am now in Kumasi, home of the Ashanti. Today, I visited the market, the cultural museum and the sword in the ground. There is a sword, stuck in the ground from the 16th century. It came from heaven from the Ashanti God. No one can pull it out. It's stuck. Legend has it that if anyone succeeds, that the Ashanti chief and people will lose their power and their kingdom. Marida, I thought I saw Byron for the third time. He was in Accra, then Cape Coast and now Kumasi. Are you sure he is in the US? On the bus to Kumasi, I sat behind a bus driver who has that ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi February 9th 2009

This weekend we took our last ISEP organized trip to Kumasi. It is supposed to be about a 4 hour drive but traffic is another issue. I don’t remember how long it took us to get there, but I do remember we didn’t get lunch until 4. All things considered it wasn’t an extremely eventful weekend. Kumasi is the second largest city in Ghana and is the capital for the Ashanti tribe. The Ashantis are known for their arts and crafts so the weekend revolved mostly around shopping and learning how the stuff is made. When we first got there we went to where the current chief lives. His house is like the White House or something. It was completely surrounded by security and there is a very strict no picture policy. We weren’t allowed near ... read more
Peacocks
Personal carving
Butt...?

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi January 10th 2009

Hi all Life is frustrating! Beteen the internet & trying to get anything done, it drives me nuts! But this entry is about a few of the favourite things I have enjoyed in the last month, not venting my frustrations - there's too many. My shaving experience - i have shared with some of you already, so i'll recap. The Barber shop is a 6' by 8' ramshackle wooden shack on the main street with three plastic chairs for waiting customers. The appointment book is not anywhere to be seen, so i sit & wait for the previous victim to be shawn. On the wall is a sun faded selection poster of about 30 hair styles to choose from - but i studied it for 10 minutes & i couldn't spot the difference between any of ... read more
Market Speaker Stack
Fast Food Stall
Delicious Menu

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi December 21st 2008

Hi everyone, We've moved to New Abiriem, 4hrs North of Accra in Ghana. It's tiny, one shop with supplies, but numerous other stalls or converted shipping containers with electical goods or latex foam matresses or pre-paid mobile phone cards. We live just 5 minute walk outside the village, which has about 1500 residents. New Abiriem is about 6 degrees north of the equator, so we are in dry season at the moment. That means 30C/85F days with 60% humidity - it's always sticky. It's rained twice since I arrived, heavy downpours that are short & sweet. There are 2 market days, Tuesday & Friday, but most things are available everyday if you need something. The supply of fruit & vegetables is limited, and it doesn't keep well. We have plenty of dried beans (Called cow peas ... read more
Market staples
Coiled Fish-sticks
Textile Seller

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi December 8th 2008

hey all, Its been a busy week! Last thursday I went to a volunteer's house from another organisation to have a thanksgiving meal (Ghana Style) which was very nice! There were lots of Americans who were missing there families so it was great to all come together! Then I went on from there to visit my last host family. it was great to see evryone and they all came running out of the house and nearly knocked me over with a gigantic hug! It was like I had never been away! From there i went to the west Coast to a place called Green Turtle Lodge which was so beautiful and peaceful! it was on a long stretch of sandy beach, so i tried to top up my tan before I come home and see you ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi November 19th 2008

hey all! I went travelling all last week to visit the north of Ghana, which was far hotter than where I am now! I visited Mole National Park where we went on safari and we were lucky enough to see three elephants along with some wart hogs, antelopes, monkeys and baboons so that was quite exciting! Also the scenery was spectacular! I didn't like the journey though, it was in a very old bus along a very dirty and bumby road! A clapped out death trap we called it! unfortunately i chose to wear a white t-shirt that day, it was brown by the time i came off the bus and i don't think it will ever be white again! After mole we went up to Bolatanga which was a very nice city. We stayed in ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi November 15th 2008

Hei Alle! Saa er vi ved at naerme mig den sidste tid i Mampong... Det er underligt at taenke paa at det her er den sidste weekend... Den sidste loerdag! Lige nu har jeg bare lyst til at bruge alt min tid sammen med babyerne... KAroline, Sunniva og jeg har brugt de sidste mange weekender paa babyhjemmet, og vi var der igen i dag..! Det bliver virkelig haardt at skulle forlade dem..! Vi har alle sammen faaet nogen virkelig gode forhold til dem, men paa den anden side vil jeg hellere forlade Ghana mens jeg elsker at vaere her, end at blvie kastet ud i en ny familie som jeg maaske ikke kan lig og starte helt forfra!! Der er KUN 10 dage til jeg lander i Kastrup hvis alt loeber efter planen! Lige for tiden ... read more

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi November 9th 2008

Well, another early start and we were out of Nkawkaw before 5:30. The ride out was OK, we had beautiful highway all the way to Kumasi. Unfortunately, the only food along the way was eating packaged food from gas stations along the way. I'm becoming to love Shell Stations! Cake and cookies and Milk drink are about it (along with plantain chips!). Barry was having another bad day of cycling and had to take a nap around noon. I have a picture of Barry lying on the ground, and chickens almost pecking his face - It was pretty funny! Kumasi is a city of close to 2M so we were on the outskirts with 15Km to go. We got into town and things are again pretty crazy with Taxis and Tro Tros everywhere. WE finally parked, ... read more
P1000428
P1000429
P1000430

Africa » Ghana » Ashanti » Kumasi November 9th 2008

Riding Day 3 - 105km (total 298km) After an unexpected day off, we were back on the road again. This time to a small town called Nkawkaw, which lay in-between Accra and Kumasi. The restaurant we had lunch at in Koff Town, had a another restaurant at the junction to the main Accra/Kumasi highway. Since we had a good meal and Linda Dor in Koff Town, there other restaurant would be good enough option for breakfast, and we weren't disappointed. Unfortunately, restaurants like this were the exception and not the rule on the road. We were to soon find out that that juice, yogurt drinks, cookies, cake, and peanuts (for me) would make up our diet during our rides. There was food in the villages, but I just couldn't go there. The haunting memories of Accra ... read more
A more rustic gas station
Wrecked vehicles are just left in the ditch
Fruit bats




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