This is my Life…

24^th of February – It was just after 03 am, I had been hearing the sirens from the fire service for 10-15 minutes. I looked out of my window and I saw some orange, yellow and red light; there was a fire not far away from our apartment building. I went to wake up Mohammed and also Mr Abu and Issah woke up. We all went out on the balcony to watch it. It felt almost surrealistic. Where the fire was there was lumber and wooden houses. The fire service couldn’t come close enough to the fire, because all the buildings are standing so close to each other, so we saw 3-4 cars from the fire service driving back and forth, trying to get as close as possible to the fire. I witnessed the fire for about 1-2 hours, before I went back to bed. What a night it was. 

1^st of March – I went to Accra in a rented car together with Issah and Mr Abu to meet my mother at Kotoka International Airport who arrived at 18:15. I’m very glad that she is here visiting and that she gets to see how I live and work. Since my mother arrived in the evening, we then decided to stay one night in Accra as the majority of the drivers on the roads are not competent enough and are driving in a very risky way. We stayed in a hotel called Hilltop Hotel and had dinner in the evening together with Zach (Mr Abu’s and Issah’s brother). It was nice to see the road between Accra and Kumasi as I haven’t been on the road since October last year. Even if we stayed in Accra for a short time, it was nice to go there. Accra is a much bigger city and more metropolitan, compared to the cool and slow Kumasi. 

Mamma in Kumasi: during her first 8-9 days in my home town we visited family and relatives, and we went around the city to different areas. She got the opportunity to experience the celebration of Ghana 50 years (6^th of March); during the day before and the night of the Independence Day we witnessed big fireworks up in Roman Hill. On the Independence Day I was out with mamma and Issah at Miklin Hotel and had a nice dinner. The following day the three of us went by tro-tro out to Lake Bosumtwi, which is the second time for me (I was there in October). Mamma also witnessed a big fire on Friday the 9^th of March, it was burning a lot in Kumasi Central Market. It was the second big fire in two weeks close to where we live, it is almost surrealistic to see it with your own eyes. 

At work: Office (administration work), monthly meeting with the orphans, sent out appreciation letters to donors etc. Mamma has been following along during our project rounds.

Trip to northern Ghana (11^th March-)

11^th of March – I, mamma, Mr Abu and Issah started our journey last Sunday. We had rented a car from a friend, which unfortunately has problems every now and then. The first day we had to go with the car to some mechanics in Techiman. We arrived after dark to a rest house in Boabeng, and I was very happy when we had arrived, and it was even better when we were served a very nice dinner with pasta together with a stew made up of tuna and vegetables.

12^th of March - The rooms we had were nice, and the following day I had great pancakes for breakfast and it was the first time since I got to Ghana. That morning we went three minutes by car to the Boabeng Fiema monkey sanctuary and we had a guided tour in the village of Boabeng, where we got the chance to see the nature and watch the mona monkeys and colobus monkeys. I enjoyed the tour, because there weren’t any other tourists around. We continued our journey from Boabeng up to Kintampo, where we went to see the Kintampo falls (waterfalls) which were in a quiet and peaceful area. The big waterfall was beautiful. The guesthouse where we stayed in Kintampo was very nice too, probably the best accommodation I have had so far in Ghana with very clean rooms. 

13^th of March – There was problem with our rental car in the morning, so it had to get fixed at the mechanics. We left Kintampo around 11 o’clock and continued our journey up to Fufulsu and Damongo, and the road between these two places was very bad for our old rental car, so we had a flat tire and one of the absorbers broke. When we got to Damongo, we then had to go to another mechanic to repair some broken parts on the car. Later in the evening, we did arrive to Mole Motel where we stayed in Mole National Park and before going to bed we had our dinner. 

14^th of March – 6:30 in morning, that’s when our safari drive started. We went on a two hour drive in Mole National Park and saw; elephants, warthogs, bucks, python, monkeys etc. It’s always nice to go on a safari drive and I always appreciate seeing elephants out in the wild. After the two hour drive and breakfast, then we left for the village of Larabanga to see the oldest mosque in Ghana (dated back to 1421). After one hour in Larabanga, we then returned to Mole Motel and I relaxed in the swimming pool the whole afternoon together with Issah and mamma. 

15^th of March – We left this morning and drove very slow on the bumpy roads back out to the main road between Kumasi and Tamale. Since our rental car is too weak and has suffered a lot, we therefore had to go in an average speed of 15-25 km/h for about 4-5 hours. You can just imagine the feeling of a slow drive on bumpy and dusty roads. Later in the afternoon today, we arrived to Tamale and we are staying here for two nights in a nice place called Gariba Lodge just outside of the city. I like being up here in the Northern Region, it’s different from where I live in Kumasi, but it is also warmer, today we had above +40 degrees Celsius and the last couple of days it has been 38+ and above, so it’s warm and dusty right now. 

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