Wrapping up the Adventure- Dagbamete

Living in the village of Dagbamete for a few days was definitely an experience I will never forget.  My goal was to experience anything and everything, I ate and learned how to cook some food, participated in many ceremonies, visited the diviner, received a village name, and learned how to drum and dance.  This cultural immersion was an amazing experience and I feel as though I experienced everything possible and more!

Ampesi (boiled yam) and Palava Sauce, my favourite meal!

My sacrificial chicken

Participating in a session with the diviner provided many learning opportunities.  Courtney and I poured libations to our father, and sacrificed money, a bottle of alcohol and chickens at the shrine.  Overall it was a unique experience I will not soon forget.

Pouring libations

Village naming ceremony (pouring libations)

Participating in the naming ceremony was also an experience I was glad I did not miss out on.  While the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 6:30 am and did not begin until 8:00 am, it was worth the wait.  It was initially humourous that I received the name Wetsa because I am the second born twin because I already had that name, but the ceremony made it official.  After the naming ceremony all the villagers recognized me by my name and it made me feel like I had a home in Ghana, a place where I belong.

Community dancing in Dzogadze 

Watching community dancing was a highlight because the entire community came out to participate.  I enjoyed learning to dance and attempting to dance throughout my time in Ghana and participating with an entire community really showed how important music, drumming, and dance are in Ewe culture.



Overall, this trip to Ghana was fantastic and provided me with too many learning experiences and memories to include in one blog.  I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure and seeing a limited amount of pictures.  Thank you and Akpe.

I spy with my little eye...

Have you ever witnessed something like this?

Yes, that is a cow riding the back of a motorcycle.  Not a common sight in Canada.

One of the many signs about protecting yourself.

Egg sandwiches were definitely a good start to any morning.  Fried fresh with fresh bread!

Watch Out For The Wildlife (Mole National Park)

Baboons by the pool.

Mole National Park was another memorable adventure.  We arrived at the hotel only to discover that the hotel was booked up.  The hotel solved the problem and Courtney and I, along with the other members of our group, were guided down a “secret path” that looked like it had not been used in a  while.  Courtney and I both thought that we were being guided into a forest to be murdered in Africa, but luckily we were not murdered.  We arrived at a nice looking house with a gate out front and then we were invited into the living room.  There were enough couches for all of us to sit on and we were not sure where we were staying or what was going on.  We thought the room we were in would make a wonderful place for all of us to sleep, although some of us would have to sleep on the floor. Then Nathan, a professor who traveled with us from the University of Ghana, told us that there are 3 rooms, so the guys will have the master bedroom because there is a bathroom attached to it, and the girls will divide into the two other rooms and share the bathroom in the hallway.  We looked at the rooms and they were the nicest we have seen since arriving to Africa.  Now this may not be a big deal to some people, but we thought it was pretty exciting.  We were staying in The Presidential Suite!  No big deal.  When people from our group ordered food or drinks from the bar we had to say which room we were in and whenever the words Presidential Suite were mentioned heads would turn.  We enjoyed our time by the pool and enjoyed cheap meals at the staff canteen, while enjoying the luxury of the air conditioned Presidential Suite in the evenings.

Warthogs by the path to the Presidential Suite

  Our first day in Mole National Park, the same day we arrived, we were sitting by the pool and were joined by some baboons.  Many people think “oh baboons they must have been so cute.”  NO!  Baboons are not cute, they are ugly and violent and they have very large teeth that could rip you apart with rear ends that look like festering blisters.  So we were joined by some baboons at the pool but they were scared off by a waiter.  Then as we were leaving the pool we came across some warthogs enjoying some grass. Wildlife in Africa is never too far away when you are in a national park.

Elephants on the walking safari

The next day we woke up bright and early to do a walking safari.  We saw many bushbuck, waterbuck, and elephants.  It was a nice safari but it did not compare with our previous safari experience; although it was good for the rest of our group to see African wildlife.

Kumasi Central Market

The crowded Kumasi Market.

A few hours at the Kumasi market were definitely enough to get a "flavour" of shopping in one of the largest markets in Ghana. This market is very difficult to describe.  It was probably the size of West Edmonton Mall with all the essential items anyone would need.  It was like an outdoor Wal-mart at Christmas time.  The rows between each booth were very crowded and full of people, we passed through the “grocery section” that contained a butcher section with fresh meat.  The butchers had wanted me to purchase some tripe but I politely refused because I don’t have a pan to cook it in, or a recipe… or a stove, or any desire to touch it.  We then headed to the clothing/ material section, then to the shoe department, and somehow ended up in the “home improvement” section where you could purchase your very own machete for “a good deal”.  I was not sure how Canadian customs would feel about me bringing a machete home so I decided not to spend my money.

Kakum National Park Canopy Walk

This experience was one I would recommend to anyone who has the opportunity.  Whether it is in Ghana, Canada, or any other country around the world, it is definitely worthwhile. 

The Canopy walkway at Kakum National park was amazing.  We did not arrive early enough in the morning to see birds, but the trees looked beautiful and the butterflies were visible.  It was great being able to see the forest from a different point of view.

Street Food

One major highlight of this entire adventure was wondering where my next meal or snack would come from.  The night market on campus provided me with my dinners for approximately the value of $1 Canadian.  Joloff, plantain, and Gari have become my favourite dinner, along with a pineapple for dessert. Buying cookies was also an exciting adventure, especially when it was off of a tray from someone's head from my seat in the tro-tro.

Enjoying some maise in Cape Coast.

The amount of food and variety of food available on the street is also impressive.  You can purchase sugar cane, maise (wild corn, usually grilled and dipped in salt water), cookies and almost any snack you can think of.  Who needs a convenience store when you can buy everything by just walking up one street and down the next?  Even if you just want a quick snack there is always something for sale on the side of the road.

Accommodation Adventures - Cape Coast

We have been staying at the international students hostel on campus which is very beautiful and well kept.  Our weekend trips  involve us leaving the hostel and staying at guesthouses and hotels.  This is the outside view of our guest house in Cape Coast. Our room was very nice. Courtney and I had a double bed, a bathroom with a toilet that flushed, and our room was a bit larger than many of the others that were staying with us.  We also had the luxury of our balcony not facing a garbage pile so we did not have any weird scents coming into our room at night.  We did however have a bathroom without a light.  But don't worry, our bathroom had a window located right above the toilet that faced out to the hallway located behind us.  Luckily the glass was sort of frosted, but it was difficult not to get stage fright when people were socializing in the hallway so sometimes we would wait until later in the night to use our bathroom, although then we did so in the dark because the light was burned out.  Other than that our room was wonderful, and we believe others may have thought so as well because on our first night there we had a knock at our door followed by what sounded like someone trying to open our door with a key.  We decided not to answer it because it was late at night (only 10 pm- but it seemed later because it gets dark around 6pm) and our group usually announces who it is, but the knockers did not announce who they were.  There was then another knock followed by more fidgeting with our lock and we said “Just a minute”, to which the person on the other side responded "No,no,no, bye". We initially thought it was someone trying to break into our room, but one of our friends had saw people with what looked like a key trying to get into our room at that time and asked what they were doing, to which they replied "just fixing the lock".  Now this is strange because our lock was not broken nor did we ask anyone to fix it.  Plus we thought if they were going to fix it they would have told us when we arrived that it was going to be fixed, but at 10 pm on a Friday night, who would fix a lock that wasn't broken?  Make of it what you will.

Sammo Guest House in Cape Coast

For the most part our accommodations were reasonable and very well priced.  A majority of them involved toilets that flushed, fans, and beds, so we could not complain about the price.  As long as we had a bed to sleep on and a roof over our heads we were pretty happy.  

Kokrobite and Drumming

Kokrobite was definitely a highlight of the trip. Our group drummed, laid on a beach, worked on reading review cards, and just relaxed.  Culture night and Reggae night at Big Milly’s Backyard were also highlights involving dancing and enjoying the music. We also enjoyed a concert by Mustapha Tetty Addy. It was great seeing a master drummer perform.  It was a wonderful concert and I really appreciated the performance, even though I did not know what I was listening for in the music, it was nice being able to sit back and enjoy the music.  

After a weekend away at Kokrobite we returned to the University of Ghana to listen to some more lectures and learn more drumming patterns.  Drumming everyday is making us very good.  We are able to make music as a group and now we are able to play more than just the drums.  My favourite instrument is the drum because I am just beginning to understand and get it, although the axatse is slowly becoming one of my favourites.

Kat, Sherri, and Katie trying their hands at different instruments

Buduburam Liberian Refugee Camp

A view of Buduburam from the rooftop patio of the local restaurant.

We ended up stopping at Buduburam twice during this Ghanaian adventure.  The first time was a little stressful with the artists from the Giving Voice to Hope C.D. project wanting to know about the progress of the C.D. project, how sales were going, and when they would receive the rest of their money.  Unfortunately, we did not have money to give them, but knowledge was provided about the difficulties associated with the music industry in Canada.  If anyone would like to support these artists please purchase the Giving Voice to Hope C.D. from the University of Alberta.

It was a great experience meeting some of the artists and talking with them about what they want to do with the money from the C.D. sales.  A majority of the artists want to return "home" to Liberia, although they have lived in Buduburam for a majority of their lives.

Our second time was more successful with good news about C.D. sales and the allocation of funds.  The artists were happy to see us.  We also made a donation to CYE, which also helps empower children and youth living in Liberia and Buduburam.

Our Tro-tro

There are these "23 passenger" vans in Ghana called tro-tros.  We fit 13 of us into this van with a little bit of room to spare but still wonder how 23 people can fit into this vehicle.  We have a tro-tro for our group to drive us around.  It is a nice yellow(school bus) colour on the outside with a  green horizontal stripe down the side.  There is a lot we could say about this "reliable" piece of machinery that has become our "bus", but we do not want to frighten you.  

Here are some of the basics of our wonderful tro-tro:

•   Seatbelts... oh seatbelts... I don't think it has any, but who needs them? 
• Our "guide" tells the driver where to go and sits beside the "sliding door".  The reason for the quotations on "sliding door" is because it slides to let us in and out, but may not fit the definition of a door.  The door on our tro-tro does not close sometimes/ most of the time, but when it does there is definitely applause for the great accomplishment, which usually takes about 4-5 minutes of continuous slamming/ sliding.  Unless we are driving on the highways, our guide usually just holds it closed with his arm on the handle outside.  It is nice sitting beside him or behind him because you can get a view of the road and sky as you are driving...what a cultural experience. 
• Another great thing about our tro-tro is when it is out of fuel. We had to fill it up the other day, and the ignition was running the entire time.  This was a little disturbing because of all the warnings in Canada about turning off your ignition as you're filling it up, but here it's an anything goes thing...as long as it goes when you are done.  We also learned that our little tro-tro would not have been able to go after we filled it up if the engine had been stopped. 
• Another thing we learned about our tro-tro on July 4 is that it will always be parked at the top of a hill, with rocks or bricks blocking the wheels to keep it at the top of the hill.  Safety First, because you don't want it going down the hill with no one in it (We believe they use emergency brakes on cars in Canada for situations like that... we don't know about the situation with the emergency brake, but sometimes ignorance is bliss). 
• Our tro-tro takes a little time to get started, so as we are in it and it is rolling down the hill the driver tries a couple of times to get it started and it usually starts.  We have not hit anyone yet while starting the vehicle, but it was a close call with the curb marking the end of the parking lot the other day, but it finally started so our driver had control of the vehicle again. 
• Sometimes our tro-tro is like a Canadian in this weather and gets overheated, so a little pit stop on the side of the road is taken and some water is poured under the hood and then we are good to drive again.

 So that is the adventure of our mode of transportation as a group for the next few weeks!  This may seem a bit scary, we still love it.  We later discovered that our tro-tro is made by Mercedes Benz, definitely a reliable brand! 

Football Night in Ghana

July 2, 2010

Today we met up with our group from Edmonton and learned a bit more about what we will be doing.  We went on a campus tour which was great.  

We went out this evening to watch the Ghana Black Stars play in the World Cup. We went as a group to the theatre to watch the game but after making it through a giant crowd/mob of people we discovered the tickets were sold out.  A little disappointed, we decided to find a place with a TV so we could “experience the culture".  There was a fast food chicken joint with TV's so our group had three tables and we watched the game.  Unfortunately, the Black Stars lost in a shoot out but it was a good game, especially when they were winning.  The atmosphere in the restaurant was insane, indescribable( very similar to when Edmonton was in the Stanley Cup Finals a few years ago!).  It was really exciting and full of energy, it was hard to not smile.

The Adventure Begins

July 1^st, 2010

The Ghanaian adventure begins on campus at the Legon Campus of the University of Ghana!  We wandered around today to explore campus and almost joined in a party celebrating a win in court.  We were offered palm wine by some very friendly gentlemen, but politely refused to make sure we would be able to find our way back to the dorms.