Crocodiles, Lizards and all things creepy…..
It’s been great visiting family and friends in Ghana. It has turned out to be an ideal R&R stop as it has forced us to rest and re-group after leaving London in such a whirlwind. We are blessed to have such friends and family who are willing to accommodate us for this time and also to help to clean and rearrange the mess we left. We will be eternally grateful to you all.
A part of our stay saw us in Elmina, near Cape Coast for a few days. It was a beautiful and quiet break from the hustle and bustle of Accra. The bus ride to Cape Coast was surprisingly fast and smooth. Granted the bus left approx. 20 minutes late, but the roads were quiet, hardly any traffic and pot- hole free.
Map of Ghana – Cape Coast to the west of the capital Accra – along the coast obviously.
The infrastructure has been improved since we last experienced it 4 years ago. We decided not to take pictures of the journey, as the scenery is so much like Jamaica. For you all from Ja. just imagine the scene through Santa Cruz, or Westmoreland or St James. The only difference is we (in Ja.) have more mountains on the horizon and there are gullies beside all the winding heart-stopping ‘tracks’ called roads ( for example the Ginger hill road). The road to Cape Coast was like a highway through Jamaica, flat and mountain-free and somewhat safer.
Our friends’ hotel was situated in a green, ‘cool’, quiet area. The food was sumptuous and we had the whole hotel to ourselves. He had a great collection (they seem to like his rock garden) of lizards – all varying sizes and colours and behaviour! We got some good ‘up close’ (but not too personal) pictures. Everyone seemed ok with these lizards running around and they seem to come out approx. 8-10 a.m. Any other time and its too hot/cold. I think I can tolerate them for that time.
Lizards – female and the differently coloured male….and dem very big!!!!!!
We visited the Crocodile park, which turned out to be a house/ restaurant on stilts with water all around and the crocs (babies and adults) all free to roam (too near for comfort) around. This was the closest I had ever come to one so huge and I never want to experience that again!!! We had our meal - hastily- and made a literal run for the hills!!!!!!!! Only to find the cursed things were allowed to wander freely near fields by the roadside.
It’s been great visiting family and friends in Ghana. It has turned out to be an ideal R&R stop as it has forced us to rest and re-group after leaving London in such a whirlwind. We are blessed to have such friends and family who are willing to accommodate us for this time and also to help to clean and rearrange the mess we left. We will be eternally grateful to you all.
A part of our stay saw us in Elmina, near Cape Coast for a few days. It was a beautiful and quiet break from the hustle and bustle of Accra. The bus ride to Cape Coast was surprisingly fast and smooth. Granted the bus left approx. 20 minutes late, but the roads were quiet, hardly any traffic and pot- hole free.
Map of Ghana – Cape Coast to the west of the capital Accra – along the coast obviously.
The infrastructure has been improved since we last experienced it 4 years ago. We decided not to take pictures of the journey, as the scenery is so much like Jamaica. For you all from Ja. just imagine the scene through Santa Cruz, or Westmoreland or St James. The only difference is we (in Ja.) have more mountains on the horizon and there are gullies beside all the winding heart-stopping ‘tracks’ called roads ( for example the Ginger hill road). The road to Cape Coast was like a highway through Jamaica, flat and mountain-free and somewhat safer.
Our friends’ hotel was situated in a green, ‘cool’, quiet area. The food was sumptuous and we had the whole hotel to ourselves. He had a great collection (they seem to like his rock garden) of lizards – all varying sizes and colours and behaviour! We got some good ‘up close’ (but not too personal) pictures. Everyone seemed ok with these lizards running around and they seem to come out approx. 8-10 a.m. Any other time and its too hot/cold. I think I can tolerate them for that time.
Lizards – female and the differently coloured male….and dem very big!!!!!!
We visited the Crocodile park, which turned out to be a house/ restaurant on stilts with water all around and the crocs (babies and adults) all free to roam (too near for comfort) around. This was the closest I had ever come to one so huge and I never want to experience that again!!! We had our meal - hastily- and made a literal run for the hills!!!!!!!! Only to find the cursed things were allowed to wander freely near fields by the roadside.
The restaurant sitting in a ‘croc’ infested ‘pond’.
So, if we really decided to run for the hills via the field we would have a very very rude meeting indeed. These crocs are not little. They look large enough to swallow a small adult (like J!!!!!!!) whole. We couldn’t put Little J down for a moment without watching her every move, because ‘…management is not responsible for any accidents or incidents and parents should supervise their children…’. I tell you, no way Jose. That’s the first and the last time for us.
We then decided to go to Elmina slave castle to take pictures ( since the last time we were here we did the tour - plus we thought a fidgety 2 year old wouldn’t want to hear about the misdeed of her father’s and mother’s great great great great grandparents). We were sad to leave but it reminded us that Ghana has many interesting places to see.
Elmina Castle – the beginning of the Middle passage
Little J has really acclimatized. She doesn’t sweat as much anymore even though she’s busy playing, running and jumping etc. She’s barefooted most of the time and really enjoying her
cousins (and vice versa), even though she does most of the bossing around! She’s eating most of what is put in front of her and even asks for ‘fufu’ when she’s hungry! We think if she had her way she would ask to stay in Ghana. We’re actually thinking this may be a great idea – eventually. We just need to look around for good international schools and maybe we will decide to stay for her prep school days. We’ll see. How things change. We never thought we would ever be saying this because our thoughts were to send her back to England for her education when she’s older. That plan is already beginning to unravel. God works in mysterious ways.
Little J has really acclimatized. She doesn’t sweat as much anymore even though she’s busy playing, running and jumping etc. She’s barefooted most of the time and really enjoying her
cousins (and vice versa), even though she does most of the bossing around! She’s eating most of what is put in front of her and even asks for ‘fufu’ when she’s hungry! We think if she had her way she would ask to stay in Ghana. We’re actually thinking this may be a great idea – eventually. We just need to look around for good international schools and maybe we will decide to stay for her prep school days. We’ll see. How things change. We never thought we would ever be saying this because our thoughts were to send her back to England for her education when she’s older. That plan is already beginning to unravel. God works in mysterious ways.
We have made contact with Michael’s former colleague and friend who is a pharmacist here in Ghana. He was so impressed with our decision to work in Sierra Leone and has promised to help with a software to capture management information. This is very promising and God’s doing because one of our major tasks would be to set up a management information system for the hospital. God is great!! – who thought we would find a solution to one of our key needs in Ghana?
We are a few days to starting the real leg of our journey and it really feels a little like an adventure now. We have no clue of how the place looks, who will meet us (hopefully he’ll have a card with our name) and where we will stay for the first few weeks. We just know the flight time and date, and the name of the hotel. We have limited ourselves to 3 suitcases, 20 kg each and again we are praying hard for a miracle to fit all we think we need in 60 kg. It’s mind-boggling.
We would be leaving Ghana with very pleasant and fantastic memories but then we’ve always known that. We intend making the country our ‘base’ for the next 24 months so we may pay periodic visits just ‘to get away from it all’, think, plan, re-group and strategise. We will keep you all updated as much as possible. Prayer warriors – continue doing what you do best. With every blessing.
M, J and (a very Ghanian) Little J.
Bird nests overhanging the croc infested pond
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