Ghana Adventure

 After that relaxing day at Dalens, we’ll relaxing for some of us, we left right after breakfast for the coast. Our destination was a beach house we had rented rooms in right near Elmina. It was so neat to get there and sit on the beach watching the waves. This beach had quite the wild water. We had rented a couple body boards and erika ans Nicholas had lots of fun with those. Dad and Merv enjoyed cooling off in the water also. I had fun sitting on a chair under the palms watching them. There were these small fishing boats pulled up on the beach with guys lounging around. Some looked like they were fixing the nets. Others were playing some sort of dice game. It’s coconut season so you could ask to have a coconut split open if you so wished. The water or milk inside is good and supposedly good for your stomach. Some like the meat… Felt bad for mom. She’s still not feeling well. She sat out with me for a while on the beach, but soon didn’t feel the greatest again. Could hardly choke ...

 After leaving Wes’ we headed out for Dalens at Kyekyewere.     Part of that road is beyond terrible. The ruts and the potholes are larger and make up more of the road than any good smooth part of the road. Got to Dalens by 10:15 or so. We brought our luggage in and soon all piled in their cruiser and headed out to see the town of Kumasi. A bustling busy city that was much more remiscent of a Bangladesh scene. Traffic amd people everywhere. Our first stop was eating lunch at an Indian restaurant. Super good food. Then we went over to the big market. A multi level indoor place. You can find all the typical market things there. Plus more. Next stop… a mall. This was a much more upscale place. Two reasons for going here were Shop Rite for shampoo and conditioner plus a few other goodies. And the shop where you can find neat African looking shirts. Not African prices though, sadly. Them folks wanted to stop and see one of the members places that’s somewhat close. So a stop at...

So after leaving Mole Park and driving several hours we arrived at          Falls. Paid our fee and the guide took us down the path to some really neat waterfalls. There was a lot of water coming over due to the rain yesterday. But it was very dirty. Almost thick with the red dirt. The first stop along the path was near the top of the falls where you could actually walk in behind them. That was really neat. The next stop was at another level where you could look out over them. Then we walked down to where you could walk across a very long swinging suspension bridge. Nicholas was not feeling well but insisted he could go on that bridge. He did. But merv had to pack him on his back to and from. The bridge went over to the other side of the ravine and back again. I declined the opportunity.  Looked pretty sketchy to me. You could also walk down a lot of steps to the bottom of the falls and climb back out. I think it was 175 steps down and 140 some up. Somethin...

 We took our first safari ride at 7 PM. Used big flashlights and looked in vain for the hyenas and leopards. But we did see bush babies, antelope, a type of cat with a ringed tail, a mongoose, warthogs, a hawk… it was a beautiful night with a shiny moon and lightening in the distance. It was a very comfortable temperature. Bed felt really good. Up early for the 7AM safari ride. Saw the elephants out at the watering hole from the lookout point before we ever left the lodge. The lodge sits on a bluff like area high over the plains and forest of the park. Down below you can see the watering hole where animals come to drink. Our morning safari was sort of a disaster as Nicholas put it. It poured rain for a while. Soaked us through and through. We saw some big elephants and got pretty close to them. Majestic! Otherwise, we saw a couple monkeys, a troop of baboons, more antelope, some neat birds. But no crocs or cats. Back to the lodge for breakfast and packing up. 

 Ok. Here it is. Several days to catch up on. It’s been very hard to get wifi or stay connected long enough to do much more than recieve some WhatsApp’s.  Back to the day we went to the escarpment. This is an elevation change that can be seen from where folks live in Garu. It takes about 45 minutes of very rough rocky roads to get there. Reminded us very much of how the road up to La Mesa used to be when we lived in Mexico. Once we got up there, we walked and climbed or scrambled up some rocks and boulders. It’s amazing to see the huge baobob trees growing out of what appears to be pure rock. It was a beautiful view from up there. Looking out over the lower elevation and across to where a small mountian peak towers over the villages. This escarpment is very close to the Togo border. Had us a picnic lunch in some shade and met the white lady who lives over there. Denise is her name. She and her husband built a compound and started a tree nursery some 40 years ago. The husband h...