Accra Ghana

Cape Coast

This weekend i went to the cape coast region and did a canopy walk through some forest. The guide told me that there are elephants, monkeys and leopards in the park but i didnt get to see any. My lack of wildlife sightings was short lived however. We stopped for lunch at a hotel that had a large pond in it. I say many birds nests in a tree on the bank and walked over to get a good picture. As i approached the bank i checked for crocodiles (naturally) and right where i was about to walk past was a croc of about 6 foot. 2 more steps and he could have had my leg for lunch. I found my friends that i was with and brought them to where i saw the croc. Fascinated by seeing one without a fence in the way we eventually got a little too close and came out of the water at us with a terrifying noise assuring us he was not happy with our presence. We all needed clean underwear after that. Shortly after that, the owners of the restaurant came with some raw chicken and fed the croc with the help of an 8 foot stick. Got some good pics of this. After we went to a castle for a tour and learnt about the slave trade days and the horrible ways they treated people 150 years ago. On the way home i bought a smoked rat that became our dinner the next night. Photos will come soon.

Volta Region

2 colleagues and I spent the weekend in the Volta region in a village called Wli. To get there we had to go through about 6 police checkpoints. Thanks to our driver we made it through all without a single bribe. I saw my first monkeys in the wild and visited a waterfall near the border of Togo. It was great to walk around the village a night during light off and seeing all the stars in the sky. The sothern cross was dominalting the sky that night and it made me think of home. We heard drumming in the distance and went to investigate by torch light. We found a church with a band and everybody was dancing and having a good time. It reminded me of a nightclub without the fights. Somewhere along the way i was attacked by sandflys and spent the rest of the week tormented by itches that did not want to surpass.

Another highlight is that i got to try the local spirit that i cannot write the name of. It tasted like tequilla on steroids and was amazing value at 600 cedi per shot (US6cents). I reckon the car would run on it.

Post some pictures soon

Close Encounter

An African Do

The other day i got my friend Philippe to have a go at cutting my hair. It was his first time to try and it only took about half a bottle of scotch to convince me it was a good idea. Now to be fair to you Phil, for your first go, not so bad....

Another Bloody Lunch

I have to say that culinary experiences in Ghana (with the exception of grasscutter) have been craptacular. Every day our workplace puts on a buffet with a mix of Ghanian and international foods. This translates into rice, oil infested stew, fried chicken, a sandwich or burger, fruit if you get there in time. So far the fresh fruit is the only thing i have been happy about. The rest is like watching a bad copy of a C grade movie, i will watch it when there is nothing else but no guarantee i will finish it. There is one dish that i avoid like the plague, it's fish heads in orka soup. The soup is is like the slime you scrape off an eel. The locals seem to love it however. How i miss Laksa, Vietnamese beef soup, Sushi not forgetting all my Korean faves like tweadgi galbi samyapsal budachegae and shabu shabu. Then theres the quality of ingredients also to contend with. I made a chicken schnitzel the other day that just wasnt right, and last night i threw out my pasta dish. Needless to say that i am about 10kg lighter than when i was last in Oz which isnt a bad thing. Before you get out the worlds smallest violin let me tell you that its not all bad. At least the beer is cheap. Also my indian team mates can concoct a decent goat curry that i am happy to help them finish. Also there is an Asian grocer that i will visit on the weekend in hope to get some familiar items.

I ate a giant rat

I went to Juliana's place on the weekend to meet her family. They prepared a local bush meat for me called Grasscutter. The Grasscutter belongs to the rodent family and is considered a delicacy here in Ghana.

more info on grasscutter here: http://eclof.org/english/newhorizon/nheng34/mc09.htm

I have to say that after getting over the fact it was a giant rat the meat is surprisingly tasty. Better than any chicken i have had in this country. They served it with another local staple called fufu whish is mashed casava and banana. here is the end product:

If you ever get the chance or are contemplating trying grasscutter for the first time GO FOR IT. You will be pleasantly surprised. Next week I will try the BBQ kittens. They are meant to be even better than Grasscutter.

More Malaria

Lake Volta

Birthday

Jiyeon

Adding Pics

http://www.blognow.com.au/albums/augardneda2/&task=viewfolder&f_id=2624

I have started adding a few pics if you want to take a look

Millionaire

This is my weekend money, about 3 million Cedi's. It is about $300US. What can you get in Ghana for this amount?

200 bottles of Gin (750 ml and 42%) or

4200 bananas or

33 cases of beer or

20 taylor made shirts or

3000 haircuts (if you like the shaved head look)

A back ache lugging it around with you

Driving

They have given us a share car to use on weekdays. I was a bit nervous at first because it was a left hand drive manual. I am still trying to change gears out the window occasionally but am getting better. Also the road rules here are somewhat confusing. Most drivers rely heavily on the horn to communicate to other cars in their vicinity that they are about to do something risky like over take on the shoulder. All a bit amusing to watch but driving with them can get the heart rate up a bit. There is also no speed limit and a lot of them take advantage of that. Despite all this i hvent seen an accident yet. Nestle are planning to send me to the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Although our government strongly advises against any travel to these areas i am still quite keen to go even after the stories about a hijacking of an employee from the office in Nigeria. http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Ivory_Coast 

I am getting around to posting some pics shortly.

Travel back to Korea on Wednesday. Im really looking forward to it.

An Inconvenient Truth

If you haven seen this documentary then I suggest you find a copy and watch it ASAP.

Watching it has made me want to learn more about how to combat the increasing CO2 emissions in our atmosphere. For those who have seen it I am a little curious about the zig-zag pattern of CO2 levels presented and the reason for it. They conclude that the natural reduction coincides with summer in the northern hemisphere. The reason that it reduces at this time is because of the greater land mass and hence greater amount of vegetation photosynthesizing. I read somewhere that 80% of all photosynthesis occurs in the oceans. This photosynthesis was thought to have very little impact on CO2 in atmosphere until recent studies found nitrogen fixers, who are getting their nitrogen from the air could be contributing to consuming around 10 to 20% of the annual carbon production.

More detail can be found here

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810132730.htm

What has this got to so with Ghana? Not much really.  I expected a tropical climate that rained frequently but am experiencing dry and hot weather. They say that annual rainfall in the West African region is getting less and less each year. A little like Australia’s problem right? Anyway, the documentary is good if it only raises awareness.

“You can’t change the world but you can make a dent” – Smoochy the Rhino

Makola Market

I went to this market with my maid to buy a few household items. The procedure for buying things in one of the department stores was truly bazaar. When you find an item you want to purchase you request a ticket from the closest clerk. After collecting the tickets for all items of interest you go to the cashier for payment. The cashier gives you a receipt that you can now use to present to the clerks to pick up the items you’ve bought. Then you line up for a security check to leave the level followed by 1 or 2 more checkpoints until your out of the store. I didnt make it to the open market that day because of the unbearable heat and humidity that was amplified as i was still recovering from the night before. I am soft.

The Guest House

Had a great time at Jokers once again, dancing and pool. Got home at 4.30am and awoke with a little problem. I was running like a greyhound. It made me miss the scheduled tour on Saturday. You will be happy to know i have recovered now.

Moved into the long term accommodation on sunday. My bedroom alone is bigger than my place was in Korea. To top that we have a maid who does everything. Are you jealous?

We have already had people over for Karaoke and PS2 soccer comp. Settling in nicely.

Mosquito

Last night i was attacked again by mosquitoes because of the unstable electricity supply and my mozzie lamp running out. I have resorted to drinking vast quantities of Gin and Tonic to overcome any Malaria that may have infected me. Im also taking malarome which is said to be 80% effective in the prevention of the disease. Fingers crossed.

Going to Jokers again tonight with a few of the team. Should be a good night.

Ghana 50

Traditional Ivorian cooking

Philippe has a friend Preska who is studying in Ghana. She offered to prepare a some Ivorian food for Philippe who was missing his local style.The invite extended to me also and i was excited to try what promised to be very spicy food. On sunday we traveled across town to where the ladies had prepared the meal. We were in a police housing complex. This place opened my eyes as to how some of the locals get by here. A table was set up under a tree in the middle of the complex and our meal waiting. Around us were young kids playing and chickens scratching around our feet. We went for a walk to stock up on beer and a group of children were calling to me "Abroni" which in local tongue means something like white man. The site of me was not common in this area and they were happy with a wave from me in acknoledgement for their call. The place to buy beer was more of a shed with 1 plastic table than anything else. We bought about 8 litres of beer, a few ruski's and tried the local beverage that is something like grappa. The whole lot was about AU$10 and they even carried it all back for us (in a crate on your head of course). The ameneties in this place seemed very basic and things like running water were not available. Most places had a drum on the porch for water storage. Even modern housing are using water delivered in trucks in Accra.

Now for the food. We had futu and a chicken dish that was similar in flavour to satay. The futu is like a sweet sticky dough. you break a bit off with your fingers and swirl it around in the sauce and pop it in your mouth. It is pretty tasty stuff but i think they made it mild for me not knowing that i love chili. The other dish was a chili tomato like dish with something that resembled couscous. Also quite nice.

Thats all fo now

Its a hard life

I have made good friends with a guy in my team Philippe from Ivory coast. On Saturday we sat by the pool, drank beer and sang karaoke all day. Doing it tough as you can see. Some other team mates also joined in the fun and we had a great time. Glad i brought the karaoke mikes along.

Favourites in this crowd:

Red Red Wine

Tarzan Boy

Lean on me