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Published: August 17th 2006
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Hair extensions
My first time ever as a brunette! We make a lovely pair, don't we? Heya everyone
I'm back in Burkina now, but I promised a rundown of my holiday. So here it is!
So I arrived in Accra on the 8th with no drama whatsoever, which was nice. Chantal was waiting for me at the airport, and we went directly to the house of our colleague who was nice enough to put us up. He's got this enormous but largely unfurnished house in Accra, and we gladly crashed on a couple of mattresses on the floor for free. 😊 Chantal had already been in town a few days, so she took me out to show me the town a bit. Taxis are super cheap there, about $2 so it's really convenient to get around. At some point we decided it would be fun to get hair extensions (see previous post) so we did. The beer definitely helped with the pain but I will say I would not repeat the experience. I thought the Chinese took the cake in torture, but the Africans are right up there!
The next day we headed out to the bus station to decide where we were going to go. We bought tickets for Takoradi, the furthest point we
Canopy walk
It was like hanging with the Swiss Family Robinson! were planning to hit, then decided to make our way back. After the bus being 3 hours late, then needing repairs, then having to beg the locals to let us sit together, Chantal and I weren't about to make the 4 hour bus ride in one piece. So about half way we decided we'd had enough and got off at Cape Coast instead. What the hell, right?
So we get off and grab a taxi to the nearest hotel mentioned in my Lonely Planet (every backpacker's Bible). Turns out they didn't disappoint cuz this place was CHEAP and awesome. We had our OWN BATHROOM and a TV and two beds and everything all for only 19$ US a night (divided between me and Chantal).
We stayed in Cape Coast a few days and had a bottle of wine watching the beach, visited an old castle from the slave trade (very sad but worthwhile), and met some cool nurses from Doctors without Borders who were also Canadian. We tried some local food, which was ok, but not really fantastic. Mostly beans and plantain. We also visited the Kakum National Park which has a famous canopy walk which is AMAZING.
Coconut
Chantal eating a coconut like a tourist. We learned the real way later! The pics say it all.
After a couple of days in Cape Coast, we moved on to the main destination of Busua Beach which came highly recommended by every expat we spoke to in Burkina. We ended up staying in some very budget accomodation which was a thatch roof hut for 15$ US a night (divided between me and Chantal, so about 8$ CAD each). The good points were that we were DIRECTLY on the beach, like open the door and there's the beach. There were also lots of cool young backpackers there, and bonfires and local dancing and stuff. Very cool! One day we even took a hike across the hill that had some great views and led to another little village called Butre. We checked out the fort at Butre, but paid way too much for our guide who knew absolutely NOTHING about the fort whatsoever. He actually tried to convince us that a particular turret was once an oven...
Anyway, we left Busua and our new friends with heavy hearts and headed back for Accra. After Chantal headed back to Burkina, I spent a few days hanging around Accra waiting to visit the mine site
Cape Coast Castle
Slave fort we visited in Cape Coast as seen from the beach. of our partner company. They put me up in their guest house while I was waiting and WOW was it ever amazing! Like a 5-star resort! After thatch roofing, it was a very welcome change! Although it's still Africa, and I ended up killing about 4 giant cockroaches in one night. The carnage of corpses around the bed was disturbing, but I had a really hard time touching them (even through Kleenex) to pick them up and throw them away. They were HUGE!!!
Once at the mine site, everything was looking up. I got to see the difference between exploration (where I work) and production (mines that are actually producing gold). This place not only had a fantastic kitchen with amazing food and a proper bar with a big screen TV, and beautiful housing. It had it's own GOLF COURSE and tennis courts, PLUS a golf pro and a tennis pro on site to give lessons! It was a far cry from my tin can in the desert... One day they took me out to see the big pit and explain how everything worked. And I even got to ride in a giant 100 ton dump truck! I gotta
Inside the castle
View from inside over the courtyard. It's actually really big with dungeons and stuff we visited where slaves were kept. Very spooky. say, that was pretty fun. I think every 5 year old boy in the world was jealous of me. 😊 We flew up by helicopter too, my first ever ride in one, so it was a pretty cool trip in terms of transportation!
Since all good things must come to an end, I had to go back to Burkina and get back to my real job. Boo!!! Actually it was nice to be home and get the heat wave again. I was freezing the whole time while in Ghana cuz it was only about 25... I know, I'm so African now!
So here I am, back in the desert on site. The drive up here was interesting, as we blew a tire, flooded the truck (see pics), and I rode an hour in the back to stay off the wet seats. This is Africa baby!
Anyway, much love to all of you.
xoxo
-Brownie
PS I expect every one of you to post a comment because it too me AGES to load all the pictures!
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Jackie Oh!
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Oh.....my.....gawd!
O.K. Linds, I DEFINITELY want to travel with you some day! I LOVE the way you travel...except for the cockroached...I'd be outta that room so fast, they're giant heads would spin! Love the hair extensions! Big ,fat, wet, sloppy kisses and some hugs too. Love Jackie Oh!