Blogs from Tamale, Northern, Ghana, Africa - page 2

Hey All! Sorry for the long delay, the internet here at times can be such a pain! Anyway... with my batteries recharged, it was time for another high flying adventure. And this time I pulled out all the stops. The destinations? Mole National Park, the largest wildlife refuge in country and The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary. The team? Loren, Bethany, Melissa, and myself. This trip was so big; I’ll have to spread it out over three entries. Hope you’re in a reading mood, because this might take a little time. In fact, this is another entry where it wouldn’t be a bad idea to grab a snack or something… I mean…I would…but that’s just me…anyway, let’s do this! We departed ISH around five thirty Saturday morning, and caught a tro tro to our first bus…which didn’t ... read more

Thanks for the words of encouragement and prayers. The Man Upstairs heard them and I'm feeling better. Health is back to normal (I think I had malaria - at least I was treated for it - but I didn't want to write that for fear of worrying Mom & Dad and the G-parents). But, not to worry, all is good now. The last two nights, I cooked my own dinner - spaghetti and sauce made out of tomato paste and water. It's not quite the same as Ragu but it was still pretty heavenly compared to some other food I've had to force down. Add some onions, peppers, and tuna and it makes for a pretty good meal. After seeing how happy cooking my own food made me, I realized the two things I've really missed ... read more

so the last blog i said we were leaving and going to be driving for 4 hours...i lied, the professors lied. we were in the car for 21 hours driving to the mole game reserve. i kid you not, 21 hours. it was awful. we were on only 2 or 3 main dirt roads for most of the trip. it felt like we were getting no where. not to mention the headlights went out and we were basically driving by the moonlight. the game reserve was awesome!! it was beautiful. i went on two walking safaris and saw: baboons, wild hogs, elephants, deer, a few other things. the elephants were the best part. we were about 30 feet from them. we visited a mosque & the mystery stone of larabanga. after that we drove to bolgatanga. ... read more

Greetings from Tamale, which unfortunately lacks any Mexican food, despite it's name. Have I mentioned how much I am missing a nice big bean burrito these days? We are heading over to Larabanga this afternoon and then on to Mole National Park for a few days of animal watching--elephants, baboons, hyenas, etc. It is nice to get out of Accra once again. Speaking of Accra... Quick anecdote: Quite frequently the traffic lights will go out in Accra, leaving busy intersections without any sense of order or procedure. Almost as often you will soon see a few teenage boys, with broken off sprigs of leaves from a nearby bush held high in their hands, walk out into the middle of the intersection and start directing traffic. When I asked my cab driver the other day if the ... read more

So far, I've enjoyed my first week in the north of Ghana with my new family. I met Thomas when he was touring the US, talking about his experience growing up and his work with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Long story short, we kept in touch and he told me I could stay with his family. He's actually traveling with a group of American Catholic high school teachers and people from the CRS Headquarters in Baltimore right now and has two more groups coming throughout July so I don't get to see much of him. But, I've had a great time with his wife Felecia and three little kids Loretta, Kelvin, and Melvin. They have a nice house with a stove and oven(!), a (somewhat) flushing toilet, and a shower (but it doesn't work so we ... read more