Tamale, Yendi, Ho, Kumasi, Elmina, Accra; Ghana
Posted by pertorkelson | Filed under Ghana
Trip to the north (16th-22nd March)
16th of March – This day we stayed in Tamale, we visited an aunt of Mr Abu and Issah and were roaming around the city. There aren’t any really big tourist attractions in the city, but we liked it very much anyway and also our accommodation was very nice; Gariba Lodge.
17th of March – I started this morning by browsing the Internet at our hotel; Gariba Lodge. The internet connection at their place is the fastest one I have experienced during my time in Ghana, the speed while browsing was sometimes above 100 kb/sec. After breakfast we were picked up by our rental car driver; Stephen and we passed by a few relatives and friends in Tamale before heading for Yendi. When we arrived in Yendi, we first visited a cousin of Mr Abu and Issah, a very nice guy who took us to our accommodation for the two nights in the Yendi. It was a guesthouse for military men and district assembly men. In the afternoon we visited several relatives of Mr Abu and Issah, we drove around in town. It’s just like my mother told me; “you will never get this opportunity getting invited to so many different Ghanaian homes if you are a normal tourist” and it’s definitely true. In the evening we had dinner at the same place where we had lunch, it was a place called “Your Restaurant”. The place didn’t look anything special, but they served very good food and the staffs were service minded and friendly. That night I experienced the warmest night since coming to Ghana, it was awfully warm. Our driver Stephen, Mr Abu and Issah slept outside under the bare sky.
18th of March – The morning started by having breakfast at Your Restaurant which served really nice breakfast. From there we got the opportunity to visit the regent of the Dagomba kingdom; Kampakoya Naa Abdulai Yakubu Andandi. Both I and mamma truly enjoyed meeting the regent, he is a very simple and kind man. After leaving the chief’s palace, we then continued our visits to different relatives in Yendi and outside of town to a village. In the village, one of the boys took us to the only dam where they fetch water which they drink, shower in and wash their clothes with. It’s sad to see, but the water was extremely dirty and unhygienic. After all the visits, we then drove back to our guesthouse to rest for awhile before going for dinner at Your Restaurant.
19th of March – Started the morning with breakfast at Your Restaurant, and then we continued our journey going south through Bimbilla, Nkwanta, Jasikan and we finally arrived in Hohoe. The road from Yendi and almost all the way to Hohoe was bumpy and dusty, but most of the time ok. I’m glad we had a car with air condition, so we didn’t have to have the windows down like when we had the Opel Astra rental car (without any air condition). The place we stayed in Hohoe was called Matvin Hotel, and we had lunch there before going to Fesi to see some pottery and a shrine in Abgenoxde. On our way home in the evening, we passed by a village called Alavanyo, there we met Dicky Poison, a man who was drunk and told me; “do something before you die yo, do something before you die yo”. We ended the evening by having lunch at a lodge near our hotel.
20th of March – We continued our trip and passed by Amedzofe, a nice village close to the second highest peak in Ghana; Mt Gemi. From there we drove to Tafo Abuipe, a small village known for their Kente weavers. We just stopped quickly, before continuing down to Ho where we checked in at our hotel in the afternoon. After a nice lunch, all of us relaxed in the swimming pool. Our hotel, Chances Hotel, was located in a very nice area with the Kalabaka hills in the back. We all truly enjoyed our stay; the food, swimming pool and the peacefulness.
21st of March – After a short drive in the town of Ho in the morning, we then went to the Volta Dam and had a guided tour. The guide was around my age and most definitely the rudest Ghanaian I have met. He started the tour by telling me and Mr Abu; “Let’s go! Let’s go!”. I asked; “are you the tour guide?” and he just replied; “Let’s go! Let’s go!”. We then found out that he was the tour guide and Mr Abu told him, you are the guide, you should take the lead and I got very annoyed with him too and more or less shouted at him; “now you listen to me, you don’t start off the tour by being in the way you are, you are supposed to be polite and guide us!”. I don’t know if it was too much sugar in the blood, but I can’t stand people like him. Everything he said was right, everything we said was wrong. Enough about this idiot. Lake Volta is the biggest artificial (man made) lake in the world, and the hotel where we stayed was next to the Volta river. Akosombo Continental Hotel was a very nice and peaceful place, being in the Volta region gave me feelings like being outside of Ghana, it felt like we were abroad. We had a great late lunch on the river and then we spent hours in the swimming pool. The hotel also had several different animals in its garden; crocodile, monkeys, birds etc.
22nd of March – Left Atimpoku early this morning to get to Koforidua, to meet Mr Abu’s and Issah’s sister Hamida. In Koforidua, I and mamma bought some necklaces in the beads market. From Koforidua we continued our journey back to Kumasi, and when we were getting close to Kumasi, then our rental care started getting problems. I was very glad that we got home to our apartment, because we had suffered enough during our trip. Our driver, Stephen, stayed the night as the mechanics needed more time to repair the problems. In the evening we went out and had dinner at Roses Guesthouse.
5 days back in Kumasi, at work: we visited Latex Foam to discuss about sleeping mattresses for the orphans and submitted a proposal letter, we have also received 200 mosquito nets through UNICEF, we have together with my mother donated clothes to female and male orphans at Nuriya Islamic School in Adukrom that used to belong to her and me.
Mail: I have received postcards from mamma, my grandparents and a friend in Stuttgart (Maria, I finally received one!).
Trip to the coast (28th of March-
28th of March - On Wednesday, around noon, I and my mother rented a car and driver who took us to our hotel in Elmina; Elmina Beach Resort. We arrived in the afternoon and had a late lunch. I was here last year in November together with a couple of friends and I have great memories from this place since last time. I also love coming out to the ocean, and the hotel itself is a real nice place.
29th of March – This day we toured both the Elmina Castle and the Cape Coast Castle. Especially the tour guide at the Elmina Castle was very good and the castle looked very nice as they had been renovating it. After hours of visits to the castles, we then returned to our beach resort and relaxed.
30th of March – Went to the Kakum National Park this morning, did the canopy walk, but I’m very glad of the tour I had when I was here in November, because we were given a lot more information and also back then we were not around 30 people like this time.
31st of March – I was sick and weak this morning, so we left Elmina around 11:30 and were driven to Accra in about 2-2½ hours. We arrived in our hotel; Labadi Beach Hotel, had a lunch in an outdoor restaurant and I then just relaxed for awhile. Later in the afternoon I was in the swimming pool for a short while. In the evening we had a nice and quiet dinner in hotel. The hotel is very nice. I was still feeling weak in the evening.
1st of April – This morning I was feeling a little better, but still I’m not 100%. I have been out by the swimming pool and am going to have lunch soon. I still feel weak. Tomorrow evening mamma leaves Accra, Ghana and returns to Europe on Tuesday.