Ghana Trip
Posted by creining | Filed under Travel
I just returned from spending 15 days in Ghana. The large cities – Accra, Kumasi – are swarming and oven-baked and marked by an ever-present blanket of filthy air and traffic jams. The simplest excursion is a battle against impenetrable crowds, scorching heat and a mad, horn-blaring rodeo of cars, overloaded and mufferless trucks and tro-tros, ambling goats, and gangs of adolescent hawkers going car to car peddling everything from sweatrags to sunglasses to burlap sacks of cassava root. Following is an itineray of what I did.
4/09 (Mon) Madison / In flight
Left Madison at 7:30 AM
4/10 (Tues) Accra
Arrived in Accra at 7:30 AM
Got some breakfast at Frankies (an expat hangout)
Went to an Internet cafe
Checked in at Central Hotel (A/C, large room, hot water)
Visited the Accra Peace Corp office
Walked to lunch at a vegetarian restaurant
Went back to hotel for a shower and nap
Went to dinner at Mamma Mia Italian restaurant for pizza which was very good by American standards
4/11 (Wed) Accra / Kumasi
Planned on going from Accra to Tamale via STC (countrywide bus system), bus leaving at 8:00 AM we arrive at 7:30 AM
Wait until 12:00 PM when bus finally shows up (my first experience with waiting obscene amounts of time), find out we have tickets for the wrong day
Get tickets for Accra to Kumasi, bus scheduled to leave at 1:30 PM
Wait until 5:00 PM when bus shows up, this bus doesn’t have A/C as it should so get refund for non-A/C bus
Arrive in Kumasi at 11:00 PM, I stay at Maplewood Hotel (clean, hot water, A/C, breakfast included)
4/12 (Thur) Kumasi
Check out of Maplewood Hotel and drop bags at Kumasi Peace Corp office
Head into the city and walk through Kejetia Market as well as part of the city
Go to the Vanef station to get tickets for ‘fast car’ to Bolga
Walk through the National Culture Center where I buy an african mask and a painting
Eat lunch at Vic Baboo’s (really good fish biryani and samosas)
Pick up food at Kejetia for dinner
Cook dinner at Peace Corp office – chili, guacomole, potatoes, salad
Spend night at Peace Corp office
4/13 (Fri) Kumasi / Bolga / Navrongo
Vanef ‘fast car’ scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM and leaves at 7:45 AM
Arrive in Bolga at 2:45 PM (this was very fast travelling in Ghana, driver going 75-80 km/hr)
Take taxi to Navrongo and get some beer and Wachi (rice with beans)
Check in at Saint Lucien (small clean room, no A/C, fan, bucket bath)
Drink some beer at Cool Base Spot and pick out fish to be grilled from restaurant in front
4/14 (Sat) Navrongo / Paga / Bolga / Bawku
Visit Zenga crocodile pond in Paga, feed two chickens to croc
Head to Bolga, eat some fresh pineapple and koala nuts
Get on tro-tro to Bawku, while enroute it runs out of gas, driver goes to get gas and has to suck some out of the line
Visit Bawku Secondary School
Check in at Good Shephard guest house (clean room, A/C but not running, fan, bucket bath)
Eat at Shalom Restaurant – the best fish and jollof I had in Ghana
Walk around town a bit, stop at a couple spots and visit with Godfred
Godfred gave me a ride at night on his moto through the dirt walkways to the guest house
4/15 (Sun) Bawku
Walked around Bawku a bit more in the morning
Had red red for lunch (the best red red I had in Ghana)
Stopped at a pito spot and partook
Went to Shalom Restaurant for dinner
Godfred gave me a gift of a beautiful fugu or smock
Could not sleep, it was too hot and I had no water to drink, very miserable
4/16 (Mon) Bawku / Bolga / Tamale
Left on tro-tro to Bolga in the morning and then caught tro-tro to Tamale
Arrive in Tamale at 2:30 PM
Visited with Bill at a spot
Had dinner at the Crest / Local Spot overlooking Tamale
Bought some food for breakfast
Stayed the night at the Tamale Peace Corp office
4/17 (Tues) Tamale / Mole National Park
Had breakfast of potatoes, eggs, cheese and toast
Went to Tamale station to get bus ticket to Mole
Visited arts/crafts shops, negotiated (from 180 to 140 cedis) with a guy to make 4 cloth bags from material I picked out
Made lunch, grilled cheese and avocado
Went to get cloth bags before the Mole bus left, the guy couldn’t get the material so no bags
Went to station for 2:00 PM bus, it left at 3:00 PM
Arrive at Mole at 8:00 PM and checked in (fan, sometimes A/C, bucket bath)
Had dinner of fish and chips
Had dip in the pool before bed
4/18 (Wed) Mole National Park
It rained the night before so no elephants at watering hole
Went on 6:00 AM safari for 2 hours, saw warthogs, kob antelope and roan antelope
Ate mushroom omellete for breakfast
Dip in pool
Rented bikes and rode to Larabanga to see Mosque from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Went on safari at 3:30 PM and saw the same wildlife along with baboons but no elephants
When arrived back at hotel there were elephants at watering hole
Had guide take us back down to get closer look which was amazing
Dip in pool
Dinner of vegetable pasta that wasn’t very good
4/19 (Thur) Mole National Park / Techiman / Nkoranza / Fiema / Kumasi
Bus left Mole at 4:00 AM headed to Tamale
Got off when bus reached the Tamale-Techiman road to get tro-tro south to Techiman
Took tro-tro to Techiman
Took taxi to Nkoranza, ate yam and sauce, then taxi to Fiema to the Monkey Sanctuary
Went on tour of Monkey Sanctuary and saw Colobus and Mona monkeys and some really neat trees
Got lift in bed of pickup (along with two women and alot of mangoes) back to Techiman
Took tro-tro to Kumasi which was terrifying as it was dark outside, the roads were dusty and the driver didn’t seem to care if he lived or died
Arrived Kumasi at 8:30 PM
Stayed at Peace Corp Office
4/20 (Fri) Kumasi / Sekondari / Busua
Left Kumasi for Sekondari at 7:30 AM
Got on tro-tro in Sekondari headed to Busua
Took taxi with rastas into Busua
Got a two bed hut for two nights at Alaska Beach Club (sometimes fan, shower) which was right on beach
Had a few beers and good vegetable pizza for dinner
Went swimming in ocean under a clear starry sky
Went across the road to another hotel to play a couple games of pool
4/21 (Sat) Busua
Got up early to take pictures of sunrise
Went for swim in ocean
Got some fresh juice from a guy selling it
Went for a swim
Walked to Dixcove and back
Bought lunch of tuna from Nannah (local restaurant fish guy)
Sat by beach and read and swam
Drank some beer at Swingers Spot
Bought dinner of fish from Nannah
4/22 (Sun) Busua / Tekoradi / Cape Coast / Anomabu
Left early on tro-tro for Tekoradi
Took tro-tro to Cape Coast
Took tro-tro to Anomabu midday and ate at Anomabu Beach Resort, very good vegetable pasta
Swam in ocean a few times and went body boarding
Tro-tro on way back to Cape Coast caught on fire (this happens alot)
Ate dinner of red red at Elmina Castle Restaurant
Stayed at Kates house (fan, bucket bath)
4/23 (Mon) Cape Coast / Accra
Woke up by very loud roosters very early
Took tro-tro to Kakum Park
Went on tour of Kakum Park
Waited a long time for tro-tro back to Cape Coast
Ate lunch at Cape Coast Cafe
Went on tour of Cape Coast Castle
No time to visit Elmina fishing boat area
Took tro-tro to Accra
Arrived in Accra at 7:00 PM
Checked in at Central Hotel (A/C, large room, hot water)
Ate dinner at Frankies
4/24 (Tues) Accra / In flight
Left for airport at 6:00 AM
Airplane departed at 10:30 AM
Arrived at JFK at 6:00 PM
Slept at airport (not recommended)
4/25 (Wed) In flight / Madison
Airplane left at 6:00 AM
Arrived Madison at 10:00 AM
Beer recipes
Posted by creining | Filed under Food
I’ve brewed beer a few times and these are the last two recipes I’ve used. I would like to brew a fruit based beer this summer, maybe watermelon.
Honey Ale – simple beer that has just a mild hint of honey
4 lbs Alexander’s Pale Malt Extract
1 oz 5.4% alpha acid Cascade pellet hops
1 oz 3.6% alpha acid Saaz pellet hops
3.5 oz Wyeast #1056 American Ale yeast (also known as Chico)
2 lbs light clover honey
Cream Stout – creamy tan head with a sweet roasted malt flavor
1 lb roasted barley grain
4 lbs Malt Extract
1 oz Fuggles hops
1 oz Hallertau hops
1 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast