DESPATCH #5

My Year of Abundant Wealth (Portrait) & 5 Other Short Stories.

(1)

Meet Angela*. She’s a giggly, bubbly schoolgirl, who requested I took her photo. A lot of the girls here love posing for photographs - & of course as soon as the camera turns on them, it’s hand on hip, & out comes the pout. Tyra would be so proud, there’s an excellent example of smizing going on here**.

* Probably not her real name. A lot of people play around with a couple of names: an African name, & then another (usually Western) name. One of the kids who helps out at The White House bar & restaurant calls himself Gilbert. I love the playfulness of it!

** Reference to America’s Next Top Model lingo: smiling with the eyes.

(2)

The main street at dusk.

A little different to my usual view of Balham High Street. Ho is situated between 2 mountains; Adaklu to the South is regularly hiked by tourists, something I plan to do my final weekend here.

(3) Hillview.

A popular chop bar, located at the end of the main street towards the hills in the North. One thing you notice here is that there is little to none outside lighting. You have the street lights lining the streets, but the restaurants will usually be lit up by the light from the bar or kitchen. This makes it somewhat difficult to see what you’re eating, especially when you’re eating sans cutlery! I had my second serving of banku here, reckoning I should give it another try after my first attempt. It came served with a spicy tomato & okra stew, plus a sizeable portion of tilapia fish. Already on the table were a number of bowls, plastic carafes filled with water, & squeezy soap. After the hand washing, you get stuck in: unwrap the banku & twist off a portion, dunk in the stew, & pull apart the fish. It’s a messy job, but totally worth it! The fish flakes off the bones so easily that the concept of a fish knife would clearly be redundant here.

Again, another couple of kids keen to have their photo taken, getting a little star-struck in the light of the flash!

 (4)

The Wli (Agumatsa) falls.

Reportedly the highest in West Africa. Situated within the village of Wli Agorviefe, & on the border with Togo, the trek to the falls took us through a rainforest abundant with fruits, wildlife, & lots of ants!

Coffee beans, & cocoa:

Mind the gap! (please excuse the mosquito bitten feet: the reason I should have packed 2 cans of Deet!)

The main attraction:

Numerous bats hang off the cliffs by the falls. The Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary, in which the falls lie, was initially set up to help protect the bats. Their high-pitched shrieking greets you alongside the crash of the water into the pool below.

Our guide informed us that this particular tree is the type that gets transformed into the beautiful & sturdy wooden furniture crafted by the locals.

(5)

Cuteness overload, at the Tafu Atome Monkey Sanctuary.

With a bag of bananas in hand, the monkey-whisperer kid led us out into the trees & began making monkey calls, a tight, pursed-lip sound. Shadows in the trees soon shifted shape to become mona monkeys, who reside exclusively in this part of Ghana. Climbing & swinging delicately between the leaves & down the branches, the monkeys came out for their fair share of breakfast. We took turns holding the banana at arms length; I didn’t hold mine too strongly, so it was gone pretty quickly! Such expressive little faces, you can’t fail to fall in love with these friendly creatures.

(6)

Miscellany. 

Fast food, Ghana style. Ghana time = when it’s ready, & certainly not before. After 2 weeks of pretty heavy food - rice, fried plantain, roasted yams, meat & fish, stews & sauces – a guilty indulgence at local ‘fast food’ hangout KCS. After a 40 minute-expected wait, I wolfed the pizza down, indigestion not once crossing my mind. It was super delicious, much nicer than Domino’s, & I’m pretty sure this was independent of any external circumstances!

{all photos by me}