A long weekend

Whew, quite a while since the last post. On Thursday Kags and I headed north to Ho, a town in the Volta region. It was one of the most Western feeling towns we'd been to with street lights, nice bricked side walks and (interestingly enough) the least friendliest people (almost no one said hello, or even Obruni). From there we went North to a monkey sanctuary. The tro-tro actually dropped us off at the junction to the monkey sanctuary. The taxi wanted too much money to take us the last few miles so we prepared to walk, and then (as often happens in Ghana) strangers came to our aid. A pickup truck stopped and let us ride in the flat bed. The ride was great, getting to see lots of scenery and the closest thing to an amusement ride you'd get. They wouldn't even accept money from us.

The monkey sanctuary was great. We got to feed the Mona monkeys who live around the village. The villagers see them as sacred and protect them. Apparently a few years back Christianity had eroded the mysticism surrounding the monkeys and they started getting killed by villagers. Then Peace Corp saved the day by setting up an ecotourist setup and educating the town about how it could help them to preserve the monkeys. We also heard some African stories from an old blind story teller (the village has kind of a commune feel so everyone must contribute to his own abilities). We also ran into a very nice couple who were also visiting the region (he was Ghanaian and she was American) which made for some interesting conversation. While we were there we walked to a small village that had a ton of Kente weavers. The fabric was beautiful and the looms are something to see (pictures to be posted when I get home). Most of the weaving is done outside with the brightly colored thread strung up to 20 feet away. The loom involves hand motions and foot motions to get the thread woven right, and they do different patterns. I got laughed at for trying to take pictures of some of the goats that were head butting and playing.

Then we headed up to HoHo to see the waterfall. It is apparently West Africa's "largest" waterfall and it was very nice to sit and feel the spray. There was a bunch of school kids there on holiday and it added to the experience. The teenagers were swimming and playing in the waterfall pool and were enthusiastic without bothering us. One group of guys insisted that we take their picture and send it to them, but when we finally did they set it up so the waterfall isn't even in the photo.

Then yesterday we headed to the beach for a relaxing day before our flight home. Unfortunately the "beach resort" we picked had a pretty rocky beach that wasn't good for sun bathing or swimming. But we did get to see a great drumming/dancing/singing demonstration put on by a local youth group. They had dances from all over Ghana and the kids were very cute. They all had Kente decorated clothing.

We spent much of the day getting back to the hostel at Korle Bu so we could pack and check out. Now we're heading out to one last dinner at the luxurious Shangrila before flying out. By this time tomorrow I'll be back in the US.