We left on the Spring Tour 2010 trip on March 3rd. The Adult Education Department makes the trip up north every year, but basically anyone is invited. There were about 60 people on the trip over all, 15 of which were college-aged Oburuni’s, and all the rest were older adults. We were told to meet at 5AM. So up I woke at 4 and scurried around in the dark and rolled my wheelie suitcase through the dirt road towards our meeting spot, all the while beating myself up over the fact that I forgot to bring a bed sheet (a lot of hostels here don’t have bed sheets. Ew!) Of course, with typical Ghanaian time, we didn’t even end up leaving until 7:30! We had to wait for a couple of sleepy stragglers. There were two buses: one large tour bus and one smaller mini bus. We drew lottery to decide which bus to sit on, because apparently a lot of drama occurred in the past over seating arrangements. FINALLY we were off!
We started the tour on campus at Legon Hill which overlooked a lot of Accra, including Haatso, Agboba, Madina, Adenta, and further to the Akwapim Hills. We observed the rapid urbanization in Accra, which is quickly overtaking the natural hills of Akwapim. Ashley and I knocked out the moment we got onto the bus because we both only slept about 3 or 4 hours that night. Here are a few things I learned in between sleep, Ghana is green! As we journeyed through Akwapim and Koforidua I was refreshed by the change in scenery of luscious green forests, which is quite a contrast to Accra’s minimally green surroundings. Sadly, Ghana is battling with deforestation, which is occurring in order to make room for concretization and farmlands.
The group listening to a quick lecture on the hill
Then we stopped in Koforidua (? I think…) for lunch. 2 hours into the trip, Ashley had already started complaining that she really needed to eat banku. The moment she said banku, I knew I was in for it. She recently developed a newfound obsession over the Ghanaian dish, which is basically a sticky sour dough made from fermented corn/cassava that is served with soup and meat, and is eaten with your hands. She is crazy about banku. It doesn’t help that she craves it at every meal. It also doesn’t help that she has the fastest metabolism I’ve ever seen. So the moment she steps out of the bus she’s hunting down some banku. I for one had only tried banku once before the trip and wasn’t a huge fan of it. We walked all over town and finally found a small chop bar (cheap limited menu restaurant that usually just serves banku, fufu (basically the same thing as banku except the dough has a different consistency and taste), and some form of rice (jollof, white, or fried). We shared a ball of banku with groundnut soup, okru, and chicken. I gotta quietly admit, I kinda started liking it a little. Ok fine. A lot. Needless to say, I ate a lot of banku during the trip.
Unflattering picture of me eating banku. The banku is in the right bowl. Ground nut soup and okru are in the left bowl.
Then off we went through Kumasi, where Ghana’s trademark cloth Kente is made. We stopped for a short lecture about plate tetonics and global warming, where we had a great view of the Kwahu Mountain. We headed towards Sunyani, our destination for the night. Sunyani is less urbanized. Unfortunately it’s also undergoing a transformation towards urbanization, so more deforestation. We stayed at a worker’s college that is actually a part of the University of Ghana. An interesting experience to say the least. The place wasn’t finished being built, there was no running water, and the very hot and poorly ventilated small room I stayed in had about 12 bunk beds crammed inside. Sleep was pretty awful.
The next day they told us to be ready by 6am so I put my alarm clock on at 5:20 and I was packed and ready by six. Unfortunately I always forget we are on Ghanaian time so I don’t think we left until 9 or 10ish. That is a frustrating yet common theme throughout the trip. Oh! I also tried kosi for the first time that morning! It’s basically mashed beans rolled into a ball and fried. It looks like a dougnut hole. Yum!!
Baby goats practicing their head butting at Sunyani worker's college. Too stinkin cute.
Some more excerpts from the report I wrote (you can kinda tell by my writing which sections of this entry were just "copy +paste." )
Continued to observe rainforest depletion, and more dry grasslands. We learned that farmers in the area migrate from the Upper West Region to intentionally create savannah land. In order to sustain savannah crops meant to be planted in the Upper West such as groundnuts, yams, maize, etc, such crops require the blazing sun in order to prosper. Because of this, farmers will rid the land of trees (mostly via fire burning, which we observed a lot of during our night drives) in order to eliminate shade, which hinders the growth of savannah crops. There are currently no existing policies for assigned/segregated planting. Additionally, tick plants are high competitors, keeping other plants from growing properly on the land. We enter the transitional zone, where the land is neither savannah nor forest, but somewhere in between. We continue on into a region of savannah woodland (as opposed to savannah grassland), where the land is largely savannah, but still sustains scattered trees.
Our next stop was Konsia, where we visited and interacted with the people of the village. We met with the chief of the community and got to discuss some community challenges that include obtaining portable water and a well. We discussed the government’s plan for all children to receive IT skills, however, many people in the village have never seen a computer. Even if they were to obtain such devices, it would be difficult to acquire electricity to utilize them. In regards to healthcare, the people must travel to the next town to see a doctor. Most community members here are Christians or Muslims. They don’t practice traditional religions. Entertainment includes radios, football, and occasional spokespersons that come to educate and speak to the town. The people plant tick trees in order to produce timber. They give the timber to the government and receive compensation in return. They also have laws to control premarital pregnancies. A likely punishment is a fine charged towards the parents of the pregnant individual. They talked for a long long time, unfortunately they spoke in some other language (Twi I think?), and my friend Immanuel got bored of translating after a while, so I only obtained the above information. All the Oburunis, not being able to understand what was going on, went into the village to interact with other community members. I met a few women and children pounding cassava. They allowed me to give it a pound, and they couldn’t stop laughing while I was doing so. I also played with a baby girl who was extremely malnourished given her big belly and protruding bellybutton.
Konsia village woman pounding what appears to be pepper
Konsia village kids
Konsia village huts
Konsia villagers pounding casava
Then off to Forikrom where we visited the Forikrom Bote Shrine and Magic Cave. They were more like rock formations than caves. Reminded me a lot of rock city in Mt Diablo. We hiked through the formations and miraculously enough, my knees weren’t doing so bad! The scenery was gorgeous. Then off to Nkwanta village where they harvest biki (sp?) beans and honey. These communities are called “Little London” since the British introduced such skills as honey production to the rural areas. On our way to our final destination, we stopped by a beautiful mosque. They people allowed us to climb on the spokes that protruded from the walls and even allowed us to go inside with a small fee (of course. Even though you’re not supposed to go into a mosque if you’re not Muslim…).
Forikrom rocks
Decked out in beekeeping gear
Mosque
This was taken at a different village we visited that specialized in making gari, a sandy, tangy topping that is added into many Ghanaian foods. Here is a woman stirring gari over a fire.
Arrived in Wa at another worker’s camp with the best sleeping accommodations during the entire trip! Only 8 girls to a room, WITH a ceiling fan, running water, and showers! It felt like a 5-star hotel. The downside about the first two days of the trip was the fact that we didn’t spend as much time as I’d liked to at each site. We kinda just stopped, said hi to people, chatted with a few villagers, took a few pictures, had a short lecture, got back on the bus and drove to the next destination. I wished we stayed longer at each site so we could properly take it all in. No real deep connections with the villagers we met, no time to fully appreciate the scenery we saw. I felt pretty rushed at every stop. Hence the dry, tasteless bread at the base of a delicious sandwich.
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