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Published: February 24th 2014
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This will be my third and last blog about Ghana.
While I was in Kumasi, I visited the Lake Bosomtwe which was formed by a meteorite impact. It’s located about a 45-minute drive by trotro outside of Kumasi and the village Abono lies at its shores. There are a few hotels along the lake and I went to the first one where I sat down and had a drink. Then I walked a little bit along the shore. I had my swimming clothing with me but I didn’t enter the water. I walked further into the direction of the village and there were many locals enjoying a day at the lake: swimming, dancing, eating etc. I just sat down for a while, relax, observed and enjoyed the scene. I continued a bit further where again I sat down for some time and got approached by a local who I spoke to for some time. I bought us both a Fanmilk yoghurt (like duro-frio in Curaçao), which I bought almost every single day in Ghana, and we kept on speaking. He was telling me how bad he wanted to leave Ghana etc. Then he brought me to a tourist information office
where I could read and see more about the lake, its formation and a bit of history of the village.
Stephen had to work and didn’t have much time to show me around in Kumasi, but I saw him and his brother, David, very often because they work in the city centre close to each other. One day he took me to Adanwomase, a village in the outskirts of Kumasi where they weave Kente clothing, the typical clothing of the region of Ashanti. Here I got a little bit of the history of the weaving and got a demonstration how it’s done. It’s very interesting and I was allowed to try it to for a little bit.
After Kumasi I took a 7 hour bus to
Tamale, northern Ghana. The city has roughly half a million inhabitants and is more organized and cleaner compared to Accra and Kumasi. The climate is drier and the temperature is hotter during the day, but cooler during the night. Of course the landscape is different too; less green, less trees and more dusty. My lips quickly became very dry here. In the north most people are Muslims but there is no tension
between the Muslims and Christians in Ghana, unlike some other countries. Both live peacefully in Ghana, are friends of each other and some even attend each other's feasts. I found it a very nice thing and it proves that humans "can" live in peace with each other, no matter their religion and beliefs. We just need to respect each other and accept each other as we are! My lodge was located a little bit outside of the city, along the main road. The bus driver didn’t know exactly where it was so I called the place and they spoke to him to explain where it is. Then I had to get off the bus and walk about 1 km back, along the dark road (it was around 10pm). The guy from the lodge came on a scooter and took me to the lodge. The next day I decided to explore Tamale a little bit. I walked around, passed along the Central Shi'a Mosque and the market. Here I saw how they sell cow heads, legs and intestines and it all looked gross but it's a common thing here! I went to the Cultural Centre where I bought a souvenir and
I spoke a lot to the owner of one of the small shops. They would start with some drums and dancing in about one hour so I hung around there and waited. Two different groups usually train at the cultural centre but only one came that day. They were all males and they starting to play drums while 4 others were dancing. They were playing and dancing the "Pacha" and the "Agbeko". It was very nice to be able to see these typical Ghanian dances.
The next day I went to
Mole National Park. On the way towards Mole N.P you’ll pass many villages with huts built of mud. Many of these villages don’t have electricity and no running water; they use one or two pumps where everybody needs to go to, pump water and carry back home. Other villages had electricity and even cellphone coverage though. The road was very bumpy in the earlier stage, then it became much better and was semi-asphalted. When I got at Mole N.P I checked-in, went to my room to leave my stuff and then went to the restaurant for some food. There I saw many other tourists and it was
the first place in Ghana where I saw a larger amount of tourists together. In the morning I woke up early to go on a walking safari, which was excellent!!! We went with an armed ranger and we saw elephants, many different birds, antelopes and crocodiles in the water. The crocodiles would just stick a tiny part of their heads above the water and go back down. It was an amazing experience! I also visited a small village just outside the park, called Larabanga. Here they have the oldest mosque in Ghana, built in 1421. It is completely built from mud, covered with a cement plaster for better protection. A localy guy walked around with me, telling me about life in the village.
When I was in Kumasi, just outside the Manhyia Palace Museum I spoke to some local artists and one of them is called Ernest. We exchanged phone numbers and were communicating via whatsapp. We kept in touch and on my way back to Accra, I stopped in Techiman, where he lives. He took me to the Kintampo waterfalls, which was cool and refreshing! His friend Grace, cooked us a delicious dish of fish and
yam. Very nice and humble people, both students at a university in Techiman. After this I left towards Accra, where I boarded at Kotoka International Airport to fly back to Amsterdam, with a short stop in Lisbon.
Ghana was a fantastic experience, like no other before! Glad I finally made it here and I hope to be able to visit this country at least once more in my life. My goal is to visit at least some eight to ten other African countries in my life. I don't need to and don't want to visit all of them. They're many and it's not that simple to get in, with all the visa requirements etc. In Ghana I really needed to step out of my comfort zone, which I handled very well. It made me really eager to see more of this precious continent.
Next blog will be about a tiny Asian country, thanks for reading!
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wilfrido Lovert
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Hopi great, hopi bon. Be good. Frido