Livin' it up!

So some exciting adventures have been had, and because sharing is caring, I thought I'd jot them down and share with you all - aren't I lovely? :-)

 

The past few days have been filled with glorious scenery and a real collection of new experiences. One of the most momentous moments occurred on Friday. Iris and I decided, rather late in the day actually, to embark on another trip into Accra. Iris' reasons for going were really quite trival matters - meeting up with a friend who is going to visit her in Holland, heading over to immigration to renew her visa and make sure she isn't kicked out of the country etc. My purpose, however, was a much more serious mission - the purchasing of a shiny glass jar of heaven, commonly known as Nutella. I won't share how much it cost us, I'm truly embarrassed, lets just say it'd be enough to buy my dinner with for near to three weeks. Ouch! But oh glory be, it is just delightful :) Another Accra moment was eating at a scrumptious vegetarian place owned by a Brisbane girl. Hommus to die for (but not as good as the nutella!)

 

Next highlight was trying to travel with eight others. We have a really great group, all girls and much fun, but it can get tricky trying to make plans...actually to make any sort of decision! As such, we ended up almost stuck in a forest, in the middle of no where, for the night. It was dark, we were too late to get accomodation and there was a general agreement that the night had a very Blair Witch Project feel about it. Thankfully we had trotro drivers who were happy to cart us to the closest accomodation (Hans Cottage Botel...yes thats botel not hotel, apparently it isnt just a spelling mistake but over all the uniforms and signs and what not).

 

We made the journey much more memorable with lime cordial and strawberry gin, however our minimal planning skills left us with out any cups - though where we lack with planning things, we make up for in resourcefulness - strawberry gin and lime cordial were mixed in an empty popper box, an icecream wrapper and a cookie packet. Hans Cottage was lovely and the restaurant was built over this small lake with real baby crocodiles in it - crikey mate!

 

This morning (Sunday) we packed up and returned to where we were almost stranded the night before - Kakum National Park. The park has Africa's only canopy walk, a rope and wood suspension bridge trail 40m above the ground and one of the most beautiful rainforests in the world. Its true, I'm scared of heights, but the beauty of it was overwhelming enough to forget any previous fear. If we can get our act together we are going to head back in a few weeks time and camp up in the trees on one of the platforms. Should be amazing! And being there in the early hours of the morning, you are more likely to see some African wildlife (we only saw butterflies...but very pretty butterflies at that).

 

After Kakum and some more trotro madness, we went to Elimina, a coastal town made famous by the ex-slave castle and fort on the shore. The castle is architectually beautiful and painted white all over with black shutters and trimming. However the place quickly loses its charm after listening to the tour guide. We visited where they held the slaves and heard about the tragic conditions the slaves, especially the women, were kept in. Historically, the coast of Ghana was spotted with slave forts, where the Dutch, Portugese and British (often under the guise of Christianity) traded other human beings, usually after destroying any sense of humanity held by these individuals. The moment that most disgusted me was walking in and through the church building right in the centre of the castle's courtyard. It made me think back to Amazing Grace, the film about William Wilberforce, and to actually be at a site so important to the trade - wow, very thought-provoking.

 

One disappointment was having a camera without charged batteries, but I'll definitely try and get some photos off the others. The view from the top of the castle was amazing, right along the coast and back to the township, all bright and colourful and busy, full of old style colonial portugese buildings and markets and gondala style boats along the river that weaves straight through the middle. Seriously, Ghana is beautiful!

 

Okay internet time is ticking away and my belly says its dinner time, so signing off for now but will be back soon as there are many more stories to share! much love, Laura xx