Epic Roadtrip "into the Heart of Africa" - First big day

Incredible times…days never to be forgotten…and not always easy for the kids, who refer to this as our "roadtrip into the heart of Africa."

We just finished our 2^nd full day in Mole National Park. We spent most of our time the last two days either looking for or at animals, chilling in our modest room at Mole Hotel, or eating by the pool. We’ve seen some great wildlife action: a big troop of baboons right out our back door every night and morning, green and red monkeys, wart hogs, monitor lizards, bush bucks, water bucks, and birds and bugs of all shapes, colors and sizes. So far we’ve seen no elephants…but it has been amazing otherwise...as I'm sure Heather will soon blog about!

The drive up on Friday was an epic driving day. We left Cape Coast at the crack of dawn at 5:30am – 30 min later than we hoped. The drive to Kumasi was wonderful and full of excitement and some nerves not knowing what to expect (for all of us, each in our own way). 

We hit traffic on the outskirts of Kumasi, but were in such high spirits from the thrill of new landscapes (beautiful hills and small mountains, vast horizons of trees of different heights, etc.) and the adventure of it all that it hardly phased us. We spent about 2 hours in Kumasi getting the transmission fluid changed in the Pilot at the Honda dealer there, then were off (in more traffic) and headed for Tamale.

It took us another 5-6 hours on surprisingly good roads and some great conversation to get to the village where we turned off for Mole NP. We spend the last 90 min of driving as the light softened and yellowed on a dirt road that alternated between bad and good. 

"Whoa! Check out that termite mound!" We heard this a LOT and tried to track the tallest we had seen...easily 15 feet tall, maybe more.

This stretch was particularly memorable for me because we drove past several mud hut villages bustling with evening activities. The kids and Heather were pressed at the windows soaking up totally new sights. We talked about how the families in these villages make money and food. It was one of the first times I’ve been able to really get the kids engaged in thinking about the kind of work I do and why I do it. It was magical in several ways. It was great to see Heather and Hannah trying to snap photos of the villages and termite mounds…because when I’m without them in places like that I am constantly wishing Heather and the kids could be there with me to soak it all up. To actually HAVE them with me was truly special.

After about 30 min of bliss – great light and great sights, high spirits and anticipation for our destination, lots of laughter about the bouncy and rutted dirt road – daylight started slipping away and Heather got noticeably more nervous. We always try to avoid driving at night and it was a bit unsettling to not know how much further we had.

As it turned out, the last hints of daylight had just faded when we pulled up to the entry to Mole NP. 30 min later we were hauling bags into our room and ordering dinner. Whew! 13 hours out, about 11 hours on the road, 390 miles from the Ghanaian coast to the far north. We were all exhausted…and Rock immediately started complaining about the fact that we would have to somehow log the same number of miles back to our Cape Coast Bungalow…and we weren’t even to Burkina yet! It is hard to convince a 10 year old boy about the virtues of road trips…but there were several great moments where – lost in the experience and sights / sounds / smells – he forgot entirely about being cooped up in a car.

Ghana Mama - Mom's Water Post

This post was meant to be published weeks ago: 

So, the kids have both posted about water. I believe it's my turn. Here is a short list of water-related, um, experiences I've had here:

1. Drinking:  In Morocco, Trav and I chose to accustom our gut to tap water. We paid dearly the first two weeks, but were fine the remainder of our time there. Here: we drink bottled water, or from the more colloquial 'water sachet'. We do so for health reasons, which were verified recently by a new friend here (Ghanaian) who uses a water purifier/distiller: "We drink purified water because if you don't you could easily get typhoid from tap water.". Um, yes. We will continue drinking bottled/purified water.

2. Dishes: no hot water. So I have to boil water after every meal in order to wash dishes. :) Just try THAT for a day, or a week, or....!

3. Food: I bleach (with a bleach/water solution) every item of produce that crosses the threshold of
 our home.

4. Laundry: it's done by hand (so far, hoping to change that in the next month or so); using two buckets and yes, my hands. I have been known on more than one occasion to pass off the over-flowing bag of laundry to Sobonzzee, our 'butler' of sorts. He's our maintenance contact w/ the University (the fan and lights have gone off periodically), 'know-er' of all random Ghanaian gadgets, ant-killer products, etc., and has asked if I would like help w/ laundry. Inside I screamed "Yes!", but my verbal response? "How much?".  Really, who the heck cares? I need help w/ this laundry pile!

5. Showers: (see no.2) Yes, we're taking cold showers. And,  no, I don't like it, for those of you who just had to ask the question .

6. Coconut water - to die for. Way better than Zico, people. Aaannnd it's way more fun to purchase and enjoy. Walking on a beach, coconut palms swaying in the tropical breeze, man w/ machete near a pile of freshly picked young tender coconuts, slice, slice, guzzle, crack, eat. The whole experience, friends. The whole experience. Come and see for yourself!

Our Third First Day of School

School finally started for the kids today - after two false starts and a teachers' strike. The first first day didn't happen at all. The second first day ended in a crash-and-burn disaster for Hannah, who vowed never to return to the school again. We successfully backed her down from that stance and negotiated a perfectly reasonable alternative: She would only return to the school when the teachers started teaching. (In a union-busting sort of move, the Head Master decided to hold school without the teachers: "We'll just have a few 8th graders teach the 7th graders." Are you kidding me!?)

 After three weeks of latent anxiety about how (and whether) the school year would play out this year, the third first day of school injected some hefty anxiety into all of us. I went to meet Hannah as her school let out. I waited off to the side, under a tree – my lame attempt to be inconspicuous - and watched as kids poured out of the classes and spilled out of the compound. 

After a minute or two, I actually got a bit worried and wondered if I might find her back in the Head Master’s office in tears. Then, I spotted her (not hard). She saw me first and by the time our eyes connected, she was already smirking. After a split second of eye contact, her smirk cracked into a smile – a beautiful, priceless, melt-three-weeks-of-anxiety-away kind of smile! She was bubbling with little tid bits: her science teacher was funny; a kid asked lots of questions about her freckles; one teacher calls her ‘Americana’; the toilets wouldn’t flush and were disgusting! Etc. I was on a higher high than she was.

Then, we met Heather and Rock – and Rock was bubbling with tid-bits too: breaks are crazy ‘cause everyone fights; math is hecka easy; Sir Narah is nice; the washroom is right next to our classroom! Etc. 

We drove the kids to Cheez Restaurant for a drink (Three Alvaros and a Sprite for Rock). We let the kids tell us all about their day for 20 minutes. It was absolute bliss…because it was mostly positive.

Hannah and Rock ran into my office to meet me and walk home later this evening – and my, how things had changed. Hannah was in tears over a ‘Religious and Moral Education’ (RME) homework assignment and clearly exhausted and overwhelmed. After a meltdown, a hot (bucket) shower calmed her down. She finished her work and is now sleeping soundly.

Highs and lows…and several more days of serious adjustments. I REALLY hope there is something in all this that will help develop character.

Ants

We are learning a lot about ants here. The kids are getting tired of hearing me say, "Ants rule the world," which I say every time I loose an ant battle in the kitchen (usually involving bread).

There must be a dozen different species of ants in our little 'chalet' at any moment...and a few specimens on each of us, dutifully hunting for food. Most inside ants are small - some are tiny. Outside they get big - very big.

I'm under strict orders from every baseball dad in Davis to play baseball with Rock while we're here. And Rock is enforcing those orders strictly. This evening, we took our gear to a crude soccer pitch nearby that looked like a good place for throwing pop flies, grounders and a bull pen. It was a good place, but I was dressed more for Davis Little League (i.e., flip flops) than a crude soccer pitch in Cape Coast.

A ball got past me and rolled behind me to some brush near a red dirt mound under a giant tree. By the time I got to the ball - maybe 5 seconds - it was besieged by dozens of giant ants. The ball was almost as black as it was white. As I bent down to pick it up, I noticed wide trails of ants of all sizes marching in all directions, all around me. I quickly threw a ground ball to Rock and danced a high step jig out of the ant battle field...but I wasn't quick enough. I had dozens of ants of all sizes marching on me and attacking me and my flip flops. Several had sunk their mandibles so deeply in the cork of my flip flops that even a strong flick wouldn't dislodge them.

After three more overthrows to the red mound, I announced that practice was finished.

Planning to read some of E.O. Wilson's work on ants this weekend. They rule the world.

Ghana Mama Part 3 - Drugs, Dreams

Sept 12, 2013

Hallucinations - all night long, a couple of times a week. LSD must have a new name, Mefloquin. The malaria drug we're taking this year is producing the most bizarre dreams, some terrifying (no horror-movie nightmares, more like "I can NOT believe I just dreamed that!  Aack!), and some so beautiful they bring tears, real tears. The crazy thing is that during non-Mefloquin dreams I know I'm dreaming. It's as if I'm watching the dream on the sidelines, enjoying it, but also tapping my foot waiting for myself to wake. These dreams, these Mefloquin dreams, are vividly real. Hence the occasional "Aack!!" when I wake.

We enjoy talking about our dreams around breakfast. Recently Rockwell had a dream in which 4 of Travis' colleagues (a very specific 4, whom Travis will name at a later time) all went to Raging Waters with him and rode the water-slides 'euro-style': swimsuits pulled down over bare-butts - slip-sliding-awayyyyy.  In his words, "It was too real!"

 

Ghana Mama - Birthday Week

We're tired of chicken and rice (really, we've had that every single day since we arrived). With no real kitchen, we've eaten out (one meal) every day, and that is all they serve.  So for Rockwell's birthday the only thing he requested for food was "Please, no chicken and jollof rice." I bought a pot, an expensive bag of noodles and "Wa-Lah!" he got pasta.

Speaking of Rockwell's birthday, Sept 1: We celebrated  by going to the beach, a beautiful beach up the coast a bit, played in the surf, played some baseball (of course) and ate. He received the two gifts he requested: soccer cleats and a machete. Yes, the boy wanted a machete. It's the all-purpose tool in Ghana - it mows lawns, opens coconuts, cuts down trees, guts fish, and prunes roses (if there were roses).

this face looks way too happy to be holding a machete~

Hannah's b-day Sept 8

Hannah’s birthday weekend:  Consisted of Saturday, the 7^th, being the biggest FESTIVAL of the entire year in this region of Ghana. All the tribal Chiefs are paraded through town on raised platforms and then they meet and celebrate at Victoria Park. Afterward, we made the drive to the beach (Brenu) for some sand and fun. The waves were much bigger this week; high tide and high surf are a scary combo for the mother of a skinny girl who loves the ocean. Even the 'lifeguard' was yelling at her to come back in!  Rock prefers to steer clear of the surf and chooses instead to tumble in the waves crashing at the shore, or throw coconuts into the incoming waves (beach solo-football).  A few Fantas, fries and Frisbee later, we headed up to Baobab restaurant. The kids liked the restaurant, and because the Festival was still going on we got front row seats/ears to the passing music-truck who chose to pause right in front of the restaurant for about 30 minutes, using speakers designed only for indoor use and cranked to the maximum output.  I was grateful when they (finally!) chose to drive on. Dinner was nice, the kids were exhausted from the day, but enjoyed being out.  Hannah was a delighted 12 year old.

 

~washed up jellyfish

~Ghanaian version of a tree-hugger

September 5, 2013

Happy Anniversary to us - 17 years.

This morning Trav and I awoke and went for a quick run; came home to breakfast made by the kids, oatmeal (hard to find here) and Milo (a hot-cocoa/malt drink, sort-of). It was thoughtful and sweet of them. What we didn't know until after was that we were joined by several (read LOTS) other uninvited guests.

Hannah bought our new favorite drinks and 'dressed' them up for us. We look quite Disney-ish, don't we?

Ghana Mama Part 1

We've had an entertaining 2 weeks (almost) since our arrival. A few highlights:

The first two days in Accra - buying a car, cell phones, swimming,  and this priceless conversation between the kids:

Hannah: "Why aren't there many Caucasians here?"
Rockwell: "A what-asian?"
Hannah:  "A Caucasian."
Rockwell: "What kind of Asian is that?" 

After we left Accra, we headed west to Coconut Grove Resort - we needed a few days to re-group as a family before we dove headlong into our life here.  It was a real African paradise, for the rooms came complete w/ semi-warm water. The coconut palms fill the beaches and are beautiful; the water was nice and the waves rough and tumble - the kids getting thrown around like they were in a washing machine.

We moved into a temporary chalet at the University Cape Coast, our new home town. Initially it left a lot to be desired, but with the kids help we quickly turned it into home.