I suddenly realized that I had better get a move-on, if I wanted to send you this second Ghana Blog before we got to Salvadore. We arrive there tomorrow morning, and it is now mid-afternoon so here I go.
The day after we went on the canopy walk, we joined up with another couple of lifelonglearners, rented a taxi for the day and went shopping. Vicki and Louanne wanted to buy fabric and art, I wanted to go to the craft market again. We had visited it briefly during the city tour and I wanted to go back. Some of the people on the ship were put off by what they saw as harassment as the vendors approached you from all sides, but I actually loved it. If you kept laughing they laughed with you! I had a great time. Here I am, very happy, surrounded by happy Ghanains.
The next day was the visit to Togorme Village. The chief and elders were all assembled to greet us and we were treated to traditional drumming and dancing by the young people. We all took part in a naming ceremony, where we went up and individually were given an African name and a commemorative pot. It was very moving. Let me share with you just some of the pictures I took.
Next, between the trees you can see Audrey receiving her African name ‘Aki Makafui.
Followed by me, Adzo Edem!
After the ceremony were were led through the village and shown where they did the weaving, and made their pots. The children were so friendly and I had two little boys holding my hands, one carrying my stick and the other my bag. The children seldom smile when a photo is being taken, but grin happily when you show them the picture afterwards. Here are more photos of the children including the one of my boys!
I took SO many pictures. I can’t put them all on my blog. I look forward to showing them to you later. You can see why I fell in love!
We left the village and drove through the Shai Hills game reserve. The only animals we saw were these antelope and a few monkeys in the distance, but it was lovely.
Then back to the ship in the bus. Later that night we stood on deck and watched the tugs manoeuvre us away from the dock.
Good bye Africa.
Tomorrow it will be Hello Salvadore.
Lots of love
Liz, Mum, Granny
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
GHANA 2
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After I had finished sending my last 'comment' I discovered that you had sent another rapid-fire blog, your last about Africa, which must have arrived while I was actually writing mine! I was feeling a bit guilty because I had gone on at great length about my love for Africa and my experience in Kenya. However, your wonderful account of your visit to Togorme Village reminded me that your feelings about Africa and the Africans are the same as mine; so I felt a lot better about having over-rhapsodized somewhat! Your visit to the village must have been a deeply emotional goodbye to what disgusting Victorian Brits used to take sadistic pleasure in calling 'the dark continent'. Your pictures were absolutely out of this world. The one of the two little boys, one of whom carried your bag and the other your stick, absolutely blew my mind. I cannot think of anywhere else in the world where that would happen spontaneously - only, of course, if you paid for the service, which I am absolutely sure you did not because you feel as I do about Africa and you know that it would have been insulting even to offer any reward except thanks and an all-over smile of happiness. There was more unrestrained, all-over happiness per square inch in your photos of the villagers than I have seen since I left Kenya - which may sound like an Inman exaggeration but happens to be true. I have to admit that I wanted to be there, very much.
ReplyDeleteWhen I talked about the Ontario weather in my last blog I forgot to mention the blossom. I have honestly never seen anything quite like it. Trees of every imaginable size have positively exploded with masses of blossom of every imaginable colour pretty well overnight. It is really quite incredible. Particularly so since it is about a month early! Bailey and I are taking frequent long walks - long, but far from fast, because my breathing prowess is still abysmal and neither of us is as young as we used to be - and, because of her deep conservatism, we tend to always go on the SAME walks - which means that we (well, I) get to know the units of vegetation intimately, me by eye and she by nose. And the change from one day to the next is truly astonishing. Bare twigs one day; full leaf the next; profuse blossom the next. Speedy Gonzales in the plant world. The really odd thing about this weather is that it is glorious summer in the afternoon and plunges into winter at night. What the plants must think of this I can't imagine. But I returned to shorts yesterday - it went up to 24C in the afternoon! - and I refuse to go back to anything longer even if it kills me; so there! I think you must be in Brazil by now. Maggie sent a message - an Email, I think, because she has been having an undiagnosed, and therefore untreatable, attack of blogitis recently - saying that she and George are going 'up the Amazon'. I was absolutely GREEN with envy. I have ALWAYS wanted to go into the Amazon jungle. It seems to me to embody the last remaining, untouched-by-human, mysterious, dangerous, captivating, imprisoning, unwelcoming land-mass on the planet. Nothing could possibly be more exciting. Are you going too? I do hope so - but do watch out - everything there is out to get you, no holds barred. This turning into another meandering, tubdra-like blog; so whu don't I shut up? Oh, alright then, I will. Give my love to Audrey and keep masses for yourself. David.