Kumasi Craziness!

Continuing on the adventures of Jean and Bobby Joe in Ghana I am jumping right to Kumasi. Kumasi is the heart of Ghana. It is about a 2 hrs drive from MKV (Mensah Kumpta Village). Newmont sends a bus every Thursday for shopping. So on the bus we hopped, luggage and address in tow for another few days to explore.

We stayed at a wonderful little Inn. You can see it here. Four Villages Inn is run by a Canadian Chris and his Ghanaian wife Charity. The inn was quiet and peaceful, a big difference from the bustle and craziness of the city just a short drive away. A feature the inn offers is a guided tour of the market. Why would you need a guide? Well let the pictures talk...

We started the tour on the rooftop to overlook the market, which is a city in it's self, of over 10,000 vendors. It was an amazing view, and looked a little scary. Oh, and I need to mention, the day we chose to do this tour was a national holiday called "Farmers Day". After the general overlook, and using the rooftop toilets (50P for the toilet paper) we headed back downstairs. I think it only took a few minutes for Bobby Joe to get asked to be a wife. We entered what would be classified as a sweat shop. Yes it is hot, yes it is sweaty and yes it was filled with sewing machines.

After that we headed to the sandal area. Watched the process from the beginning to the end. It was a little more information than needed, but Comfort was on a mission to get small sandals made for her granddaughter.

Moving along we saw metal works, funeral clothes and head scarves.

We saw some not too appetizing foods...cow hooves and intestines and dried snails on a stick.

We also saw lots of beads, shopped for Kente clothe, and had a cold drink in the shade. We saw more of this market than we could have ever imagined. Comfort was fantastic, she kept watch that we were not lost. She took us to parts of the market that we would have not seen or been to scared to find on our own. This was a great time, great experience and fantastic bargains!

Adventures in Accra

The Market in Accra ~ So as I was saying, my best friend from Elko came to visit me. We were able to play around in Accra before heading back up to site. We went to the Arts Center. This is not what you would consider an arts center, it is the market. Bobby Joe was a little freaked out, but I thought it was pretty tame after the ones we went to in Cairo. We hunted for Kente cloth, but didn't end up buying any. We had a young teen boy try on a dress that Bobby Joe was buying for her mom (bought the dress after that.) What a trooper he was! We walked up and down the many rows and took it all in.

The Beach ~ Another adventure was going to the beach. For those who know me, you know I LOVE the beach. We have been here 5 months and have not gone yet. So grabbing a taxi we headed to see what it was really like. I had been told it was not safe to swim in and very dirty. Once getting there it was nice. Yes very dirty. Trash, garbage, litter everywhere. Black plastic bags washing up with the waves. Yet among the trash there were shells and people playing soccer, lovers walking hand in hand and locals doing push ups. There was the occasional person, urging us to come to sit at their tables and a few sellers of local arts. If you squinted your eye's, it could almost be resort like. In the end I am so glad we went. It was a bit of time away from traffic and people and noise. Just laughter, waves and the beach.


We had a wonderful time exploring Accra a little more. It was good preparation for our next adventure of Kumasi!

Where Are the McCann's?

I have been AWAL recently. What have I been? What have I been doing? I wonder that myself sometimes. In early November we went to Egypt. Then a few days after getting back, I has a friend visit. Yep, that's right. A friend flew all the way to Ghana to see little old me. Now I am trying to get into the swing of Christmas. So I have not gone native, I have not got lost in the bush. I have just gotten sucked under by life.