More Ghana

Things move slowly here. It’s hot, so we get up early to walk on the beach. We come back sweaty for a slow breakfast of Ghanaian omelet, two pieces of toast, a squeeze packet of margarine that says “Do not refrigerate”, tea, and a bowl of fresh orange, banana, mango, and pineapple. 

Yesterday’s main adventure was Cape Coast University. Meg’s dad stopped in Ghana during WW2 - back when planes could only fly 300 or so miles per day. Someone took him to the beach and offered him fresh pineapple - he loved it. So when he had the option to get a Fulbright grant in 1968, bringing his family and coming here to teach for a year, he jumped on it. Meg was 6 when she arrived, and she attended the Primary School associated with the University. Yesterday we walked over to the University and visited her old school. 

We waded right into the school, through hundreds of kids at recess with very little supervision. No one seemed worried about it, and two girls cheerfully took us to the office. The assistant “principle” abandoned what he was doing and took us on a tour of the school. 

Meg was of course most interested in the primary classrooms for 4 and 5 year olds. Here she is with one of the kindergarten teachers. The school has expanded so much that her second form classroom is now part of the school used just for the youngest kids. 

Each classroom was bursting at the seams, but the children seemed cheerful and focused. At least until we came into their room - we were a huge distraction! This school is partly funded and supported by the University, and does charge fees, but less than most private schools. So many of these kids were associated with the University or from other “middle class” families from Cape Coast and surroundings communities. 

Next, Meg gathered her courage, and we dropped in, unannounced, at the Department of Basic Education. We ended up talking to two professors who do research in early childhood education. So interesting. Both were so welcoming. Meg is hopeful that she can find an ongoing partnership somewhere here. 

Last evening, we climbed up to a tower overlooking the town to see the city lights. The tower was built hundreds of years ago - it’s falling apart. In the US, it would have been barricaded off. Here, a family was happily squatting in it, “watching” over it. I’m glad we got to see the view. 

This morning, we took a shared taxi to Elmira, a little fishing village 12 km along the shore. Small, medium and large traditional pirogues, or fishing boats, bobbed in the natural harbor. The market was mobbed - so Meg didn’t take me - and full of fresh fish. Meg bought me a bag of water that was almost entirely frozen - one of my favorite moments of the trip!

Meg is finishing up our shopping, and tomorrow we start the journey home!

Cape Coast

We were worken this morning by the rhythmic chanting of men pulling in their nets from the sea. The nets are taken out in these large canoes, then pulled back to the shore by teams of 3-6 guys. It look likes hard work. But apparently it’s effective, because this is not a revitalized traditional industry - it’s just the way people here get their fresh fish. There are apparently larger fishing boats that stay out for a week or more - we can see the lights at sea at night - but the locals stick the fresh fish. 

Our first few days in Cape Coast have been difficult. I’m hot and sweaty almost all of the time - definitely every minute from 8 - 5 every day. At first, we were so mobbed by pushy children and taxi drivers and street vendors and party goers that it felt like we couldn’t leave the room. And we kind of couldn’t. 

A couple days later, we’ve figured out a few things. People here DO like to talk and they are pushy. The taxi driver associated with our hotel just stopped by in the hotel garden to chat, as did our server from lunch yesterday at a restaurant. Our host, the manager and the cook stop to chat several times a day. Meg has learned to talk to the street children - giving them food but never money. Some of the chats have been wonderful and informative and profound. Sometimes it’s just hard, when we want to do something else, like read or talk to each other. 

Our hotel, right on the beach.

I also have not taken very many pictures. It feels rude here. It also invites attention, and we’re already got enough. And it feels like it makes me a target to pull out an expensive camera. So I’ve taken fewer than usual, and will post even fewer, since internet seems to be scarce here. 

We took a cooking class with Global Mamas, a local organization that support local women to earn a fair wage. This is Meg helping to make fufu, which is made by pounding green plantain with cassava. We also made red red and a groundnut soup. Yummy. 

This afternoon we visited Cape Coast castle, where thousands of slaves were sent off to America and other locations. The dungeons were awful - the stories are pretty bad. The hope has to come from the fact that it DID end. 

Tomorrow we head to the University of Cape Coast, where Meg’s dad taught 50 years ago. 

Next up: More Ghana

First Day

I’ve traveled enough that I should know this lesson by heart - first days in a new country are HARD. Things are different, and we are usually tired, jet lagged or both. Our first day in Istanbul involved driving a stick shift in rush hour traffic with people who view traffic rules as a suggestion. Our first day in Cape Town was easier, but we still had to change money, buy groceries, and figure out how to get places.

Last night we had our “first day” in Ethiopia, even if it was just an overnight. The airline arranged transport and a hotel for us, but almost everything was primarily in Ethiopian, we had to figure out where to go and where to wait, and eat a very strange (and spicy) continental breakfast.

This afternoon was our first day in Ghana, and I hit the “why the hell did we come here and when do we leave” moment about an hour after we arrived. It is hot, humid, and a lot more typically African than Cape Town.

Our taxi driver rushed through clogged streets, past pedestrians, motoscooters, and make-shift shops of all kinds. I sweated. 

These are not bottles of coke - they’re bottles of gas. Motorists or cyclists can buy fuel or bananas or soda or toilet paper right from their car, or with a very quick pit stop. 

On our way to dinner, we had another wildlife sighting - goats! A bunch of them. 

We walked the streets of Accra this afternoon in search of money changing, shampoo, a USB plug (I left our good one in Ethiopia this morning) and water. This Indian place was just where the guide book said it would be - and had lovely shaded tables amid trees. 

Right now we’re up on the roof of our hotel watching the sunset and feeling the cool(ish) breezes. To one side, there’s this compound with three or four family “houses” with a shared bathroom (or at least that’s what I think it is). 


On the other side, is a junk heap, but next to that is this nice house with a walled compound and trees. From street level I couldn’t tell!

The breezes are amazing, the lights are coming on, and the call to prayers are echoing across the city. I might survive Ghana after all!

Next up: Cape Coast

Safari!

When people think of Africa, they think Safari. So did Meg yesterday afternoon as we hiked down from table mountain. She suddenly realized that she didn’t want to leave Africa without seeing zebras. She called a tour company from the hillside, and set up a trip for this morning. Ah- the wonders of cell phones!

Kruger National Park is amazing. People say it’s a trip of a lifetime. It’s also on the other side of South Africa - a really long ways away. Near Cape Town, Table Mountain National Park, at 85 square miles, hosts tons of plants and a variety of animals. But not the Big Five - Lions, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo. I’m not exactly sure why those are the big five - I think there are all sorts of other just as interesting animals - which is good, because we saw many of them today. 

We went an hour north of Cape Town to a private game reserve that boasted four of the five. We took a tractor/Jeep game viewing vehicle all over their 10,000 hectares to see giraffes, zebras, eland, springbok, gnu/wildebeest, ostrich, rhino, cheetah, lion, leopard, and a little nocturnal cat. Seeing the herbivores was best - they were loose on most of the property, and mingled freely. The carnivores were in large pens. They looked pretty happy, and most were rescue animals, but it didn’t feel that different from a zoo, except for walking IN the cheetah pen - that was different. 

This guy was just hanging out by himself. 

We saw a couple eland on table mountain, but there were a lot more and they were a lot closer here. I took all of these pictures with my 3x zoom. 

There was a whole herd of eland. 

The springbok were a bit more skittish. 

And finally - zebra! 

They have two rhino - a male and a female. They go everywhere together, but five years later - no babies. These animals are huge - we didn’t get that close. 

Meg didn’t get nearly as close as the toddler and her mother, but this cheetah was pretty chill. He looked at us, rolled over and went back to sleep. But yes, we were IN his enclosure. 

We were not in the lion enclosure. Not even fingers. 

There were ostrich everywhere. They’re a kick. 

On the left is the giraffe dad with the 7 month old baby on the right. 

I think the giraffe were my favorite. So much character! 

To cap off the day, the staff sang Happy Birthday to Meg and brought her sparkling grape juice for her birthday. Happy Birthday Meg!

Next Up: First Day (in Ghana)

Table Mountain

Table mountain looms over everything in Cape Town, from the tip of the cape of Good Hope to Robben island. All over town they have big frames that tourists can use to take pictures of the mountain from different angles. Today we set foot on the top. 

This one is down at the waterfront. 

There’s a cable car that goes up to the top, but we were inspired by the hike. There are 65 different routes to the top. Every one seems difficult - and is! We choose to start at the Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden. The gardens are amazing in their own right - we especially enjoyed the hanging walkway. 

Walkway through the canopy. 

Then we started our trip up. And up. And up. It’s 3,000 feet to the top. 

The first hour or two were wooden steps that went steadily up - and up. But we were hiking in a gorge next to a stream with waterfalls, trees and lush vegetation. There aren’t any pictures of the next part - and the most difficult. There were six steep wooden ladders. Then path went right through the stream. Not so bad during the dry season, but during the wet season we had to climb from boulder to boulder, trying to stay dry, not to slip, and hoping we were still on the path. We were. We made it just fine - if a little terrified. And deeply grateful that we were not planning to return that way. 

Finally, we reached a reservoir - kind of like an alpine lake. Beautiful. 

But the climb was far from done. We headed off and went up - and up - and up some more. Each time we thought we were as high as we could go, there was more. 

The views kept us going. As we approached the top, we could see ocean on three sides - all the way from False Bay down to Cape Good Hope to the Atlantic off downtown Cape Town. 

The top wasn’t what I expected. I though it would be pretty flat - hence the name. But there was a lot of relief up there! There was also a lot more vegetation than I expected - knee high, waist high and sometimes over 

my head. But finally, we reached the highest spot. 

From here, it actually was pretty flat, though it still took us another hour to reach the cable car station. The trail was very alpine, with water pooling on flat rocks, even though it has been days since the last rain. 

It was a shock to reach the cable car station, with crowds of people who just camel up for an hour or two. But the ride down was awesome. Then we hiked back to our apartment. We’re beat but really happy. Meg made us Indian curried chicken with green beans, chard from the farmer’s market and brown rice for dinner, so we wouldn’t have to leave the apartment. We had fruit chutney cheese puffs for snack - which are amazing. 

Next Up: Safari

Robben Island

Yesterday, we took the boat out to Robben island. High winds on Friday cancelled our first date, but this time the weather was perfect. 

Robben island is named for the seals - Robben is the Dutch word for seal. Not a guy named Robben. Around the turn of the century, it was used as a leper colony. Then, in the 1960s, the prison was built. It only housed men, and only black or colored men. Most of them were political prisoners. They were forced to break rocks every day, given scant rations, and slim clothing. Everything in the prison was designed to divide groups. One group got better food and more clothes. But the stories from this prison were amazing. Groups pooled and shared their resources. Those who could read taught those who could not. The current constitution was born on the island. Still, life was incredibly harsh, and many did not survive. Those who did had lifelong health problems. It was, as intended, a sobering visit. 

Solitary confinement. The cells were tiny, with a pallet on the floor, a bucket and a tiny table. 

Prisoners were known by their number, not their name, as a way to dehumanize people. 

Today, the island is home to interpretive staff - they’ve got a lovely little town. 

Next Up: Table Mountain

Penguins!

Bike and Saddle picked us up this morning for a tour of the Cape Peninsula. Both guides were a delight - both black South Africans. We had many discussions of racism, politics, and life experiences. Their love of  “life behind bars” (handlebars) with new visitors each day was evident. 

These frames are kind of cheesy, but kind of cool. This is from Signal Hill looking at Table Mountain. We had a gorgeous, sunny day! Sunny with a high of 58 F. My idea of perfection. 

After a stop at Hout Bay, we headed down to Cape Good Hope, the furthest west-southwestern point in Africa. I really wanted to see this - and it wasn’t a place we could reach ourselves with public transportation. It’s not the southerernmost tip of Africa - that’s about 100 miles southeast of here - but it’s still a confluence of two major ocean currents. Biking through the park was amazing. At first, we just saw ocean and drought landscape.

I was at the back of the line, so I could take pictures of everyone else.

Then we saw baboons! That’s a baboon behind Wendy. They were close.

A rock Dassie - the closest relative to the elephant, but the size of a marmot. 

There was a gaggle of Ostrich. This one ran down the road ahead of us. 

There are many signs warning against feeding the baboons. We were very careful!

At Cape Good Hope, we hiked from sea level up to the lighthouse. The hike was actually harder than the bike ride, but incredibly scenic. See the lighthouse way up high? We went there. It was stunning.

Then we headed to Simon’s Town and Boulder’s Beach. And the penguins! There’s a colony of African penguins thriving at Boulder’s Beach. Boardwalks allowed us to walk through their colony. The pictures don’t convey the braying sound coming from the bushes when we arrived - they were loud. Many pairs had one or two babies, which were born in March. Some were as big as their parents - it was funny to see the parents try to cover them. I thought the colony would be smelly, but not so much. They were delightful - we could have watched them for hours. 

Tomorrow - Robben island - if the weather cooperates.

Next Up: Robben Island