It is hard to believe that it has already been a week since
I arrived in Ghana and almost two weeks since I left Van Isle. Since that
leaving I’ve reconnected with an old (as in long time ago – we are not ‘old’)
classmate from Acadia, travelled to Ghana, reconnected with friends and
colleagues here, and travelled through four different regions (i.e., provinces)
of the country!
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As noted the adventure started in Seattle where I met up
with Andrea and her family for a couple of days. This was a great send off as I
got to participate in their Seder dinner – a Jewish tradition to mark the start
of Passover – and to check out the Pike Place Market (Andi I’m still dreaming
of those pain au chocolat!). As trite as it is to say… it was like I had seen
her just yesterday and despite all the living we’ve done since graduating in
’99 (OMG) we are in essence the same people! Her daughters are lovely and her
husband Herbie is a riot! Andi was busy complaining that I was heading off to
Ghana and Herbie was off to Kenya and she had to stay home… oh well perhaps
next time!
J
The decision to fly from Seattle was driven by the
$400/ticket saving over flying from Vancouver ($300 when you factor in the cost
of getting to Seattle). From a travel perspective I would rather hang at YVR
than SeaTac but its not worth $300 to do so!
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Jay Eating the Tilapia Head! |
I’ve been in Ghana for just over a week now and it seems
that I’ve been on the road for most of it. I hung out in Accra for a couple of
days waiting for students to arrive and took the opportunity to meet up with my
friend and collogue Donna Sheppard (NCRC/Calgary Zoo) and eat some great
Ghanaian food! I haven’t seen Donna since hanging out in Nairobi last spring so
there was a lot of catching up to do! We also hung out at Duncan’s in Osu (area
of Accra) where my student Jay got her first taste of Ghana – Banku and
Tilapia!
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Fufu with Groundnut Soup & Goat |
Once Brianne and Ashley arrived (11th) we quickly
headed out of Accra to the Palm Hills Hotel in Akropong – a place I stayed with
my mom 2 years ago! J
Bri and Ash got right back into Ghana life with a bowl of fufu and cows feet
for dinner! Jay jumped into the fray and we all ended up having fufu and
groundnut soup for lunch the next day!
After a short stay in Sunyani it was off to Mole and
Larabanga where we had a short visit with Ibn (local Assemblyman) before
heading to Tamale. Of course before leaving Mole we had to take a safari walk.
It was one of the best that I had taken with a lot of interpretation provided
by Adam and animals doing different things. Hope you enjoy the photos.
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Amanda Moore at Mole National Park |
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Checking out the elephant diet...through poo! |
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Looking like Jane of the Jungle at Mole! |
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Termite Mound |
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Elephant teeth |
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Bush Buck |
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Wart Hog Parade! |
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Bush Buck with deformed horn |
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Elephant blowing bubbles |