Travel Announcement

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I am on a one week backpacking trip, I have always felt like going on one and the opportunity presented itself this week. Places i want to cover
-Tumu (Upper west region)
-Navrongo
-Paga
-Bolgatanga
-Bawku
-Garu
(All these places are in Upper east)
-Tamale
(Northern region)
All these places are in Ghana and since I'm already on the trip I will be writing posts on the first point beginning today. The good, the bad and the ugly....

                                                                             Ntikumah

Meat eating and Calorie counting

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I can’t count a day passing by without me consuming meat or some type of animal protein of some sort. Its either beef, chicken, liver and what have you. There are so many khebab joints here in Wa selling delicious grilled meat with sizzling aromas while pouring bottles upon bottles of oil over grilled beef, mutton and what have you. I can tell you that this hasn't been the healthiest lifestyle but who cares about healthy when your mouth is having a good time. And physically, over indulgence in this type of eating is really showing on me making me pot bellied, i’m currently bursting at the waistlines, meanwhile i tell myself tomorrow "i will work out" with an elaborate plan (sit-ups, squats, run, push-ups, 4.5 kilometre run, the whole works) but this work out session is yet to happen. Now I have this trick, where anytime I go the khebab seller these days, all i  buy is grilled liver at least it seems a bit healthier. It came to a point i wanted to try fish but i walked through the market and i could not find fresh fish to buy although once in a while you get lucky and a fisherman brings some from the dam. All the fish available are frozen fish from a cold store which is not something i really like.
Therefore whiles reading about how i can eat better, i chanced upon articles which deal with the concept of 'calorie counting' which is basically about measuring the amount of calories in one's diet and having a ceiling to avoid overeating. Maybe i would give it a shot, gradually counting the calories with every piece of red meat i put in my mouth. But i can bet you 99% of my 'khebab dealers' would not be able to tell me the amount of calories in a stick of khebab.
So i ask how much calories does 3 sticks of liver and cold bottle of beer contain?

My weakness

My favourite Khebab guy

My liver just the way i like it

Time consciousness through Islam

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“Allahu Akbar”, once you live in a predominantly Muslim dominated community you hear this a lot ahead of every call to prayer. Islamic prayer (Salat) is traditionally said 5 times a day, which is spread throughout various time points during the day. Islamic prayer has had an impact on the way i live my life since i moved to Upper west of Ghana especially the capital Wa which has quite a substantial number of Muslims. Why? Because the “call to prayer” helps me see my life unrolling right in front of my eyes thus making me get a better sense of how i’m spending my days.

Living in predominantly Islamic neighborhood you hear all the five calls to prayer. “Allahu Akbar” literally translates as “Allah (God) is Great” and precedes most of the calls to prayer. First of the prayers is the “Fajir” i often hear the call at 5 am whiles the prayer is said around 5.15-5:30am this is a call for me to wake up myself and pray, meditate and have a moment of self-reflection after which i plan my day. I have read so many times on how 'early risers' are more efficient and very effective. This has somehow proven to be true for me  I usually plan the day mentally to have a fair idea of the things i want to achieve throughout the day. Because knowing the kind of person i am, “your typical type-A, has too many ideas, excited about everything and ends up doing nothing” it’s really helpful to have focus and a goal. 

Then there is the afternoon prayer called “Zuhr”, the prayer is said around 1.15 -2pm but I personally call it “go get lunch” prayer. Whiles eating my lunch which is usually fufu, i check up on my mental to-do list to see what i have been able to get done in the past 6 hours and gear myself up for what is left to be done.

The third prayer is known as “Asr” said around 3.15 -3.30 in the late afternoon, at this point i label my to-do list a going down the drain chore because technically my “working day” is grinding to an end. At this prayer point, my eyes and my body are just begging me for a nap since i woke up early. This is the point where I cancel “go to the bank” off my to do list and push it to the next day. Meanwhile,i’m texting my friends asking where are we 'hanging out' in the evening.

6.10pm call to prayer known as ”Majud” this is where the technical part of my brain is gradually making a beeline for the finish whiles my right brain comes alive. HAPPY HOUR? YES!!!

6.15-11.30pm prayer is the final prayer called “Isha” this is such an important prayer call for me because it just reminds me to take stock of my life and reflect over the success and the missed opportunities, the defeats and how i can  live a better life. And the fact that it is in a wide range just signifies that there is still time to do what you really want to do nothing is ever too late.

So next time when you hear “Allahu Akbar” from a distance, Muslim or not it’s a clarion call for proper time management…

Thanks to Zainab for helping me out with this one...

My worse travel experience... Yet!!!

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It was a normal Sunday,  it rained a bit in the morning and the weather was gloomy, i had just returned from Tema to the Upper west region where i spent the Easter holiday. Took the night bus from Accra on a Saturday and got to Wa the capital of the Upper west region of Ghana then onward to school because school had reopened. Being a teacher in Lassia which is about forty kilometres from Wa, you have two options of getting there either taking a tro-tro (minibus) which plies the road which is one of the most uncomfortable ways of public transport to Lassia because four people have to sit on a seat actually meant for three people with some passengers sitting on the roof of the bus. Seriously its either that or going on a motorbike. But i don't have a motorbike,this is where my luck beamed in. A friend of of mine had come to Wa and was leaving for Lassia that day so i could join him.. Coming from Tema and going to school for the first time since reopening of the term, i had a lot of stuff with me likewise him, because he had come to town to buy a few things and go back to the village. So we sat on the bike and tied our stuff to the 'carrier'  section of the motorbike. We set off around 6.00 pm a typical motor bike ride from Wa to Lassia lasts about 40 minutes, the ride was ok though a bit uncomfortable but at least it was better than sitting in an overcrowded public bus. We left Wa at 6 pm it was already dark so onward we went, we rode for about 25 minutes without any hitches passing 'Varimpere' one of the villages on the road to Lassia.

Then my friend said the bike was acting a bit funny, the steering bar of the motorbike was a bit unstable so we should stop and check the back tire of the motorbike. As it was dark already, i switched on the torch on my phone to check it out and there it was a puncture. What were we supposed to do, next village was about 14 kilometres away the one behind us was also about 11 kilometres away. 

We finally had to settle down to two decisions, either we walked to the next village me carrying the things and my friend pushing the motorbike or my friend hitch hiking on a passers by motorbike to the next village to call a mechanic. We decided the latter option will be the best that i stay back in pitch darkness with our stuff  whiles he hitchhiked to call the repairer. the making of this decision was obviously the easiest part now the hardest part was getting a motorbike to hitch hike. very single rider signaled to stop would did not stop. May be they were scared we were robbers and were planning to attack them. in the meantime some of the folks living in the village before and after us passed by sitting on bicycles, when they saw us stranded they approached us and asked whats going on, we told them about the puncture, "can they please call the mechanic in their village to come to our aid?" We requested. In about thirty minutes whiles my friend was fruitlessly trying to hitchhike one of the passers by who saw us returned with a mechanic.

We now had to untie every load from the motorbike so that the mechanic could fix it. Meanwhile we were very hungry so ventured into the forest to gather some wild fruit, luckily, shea fruit was in abundance so we ate a few and was alright. It took the repairer about 45 minutes to fix the puncture but we could not go yet, because after fixing the puncture the mechanic has to inflate the tire before we can go and his pump was not functioning this meant we had to follow him to his village in order to properly inflate the tire. But tying all the load to a bike whose back tire is semi inflated to a village 14 kilometres away would be of no help at all. We decided to hide all of our things inside the forest woods a place where nobody could find them since it was dark anyway so that we can  follow the mechanic to his village for him to properly inflate the tires. 

We got to the mechanics village about 8pm and they offered us water which i quickly gulped because i was parched all the fruit eating had made me really thirsty. the mechanic then got to work, all he had to do was find a functioning pump out of his collection of pumps to inflate the tire but it took about 30 minutes to finally find a "fully functioning" pump". At last the the tire was inflated and we were good to go.

After thanking them profusely we sat on the bike and returned to where we hid our things to pick them up and move onward. that is where another drama began, we couldn't find the location where we hid the things. It was just pitch black so i marked the place by counting the trees to the village whereas my friend also had his way of marking the spot but someway somehow we both couldn't find the tree where we hid the things. It took another 15 minutes of searching with my improvised mobile phone torch light behind big trees we could see before we finally found the things. I brought some pastries from Tema and it was part of the things we hid in the forest. Ants and various creeping animals have smelt the aroma of the cake and were all over the pastries therefore we had to de-insectify the pastries before moving on which took about 10 minutes. We finally tied all our belongings to the bike and slowly but surely, moved to Lassia where we arrived safely at a quarter past 10.

My boring (not so boring) village life

Tweet I have been living in Lassia-tuolu for the past 8 months now it has been an amazing experience but sometimes it gets boring. Village life is soo fun till you're tired of it and you want to move on. Do i want to move on? ahh Yes!! partly because national service is slowly coming to an end and also because i want to tour other regions of Ghana.

Things i like about village life 

1. Cost of living is relatively lower
2. I get to ride a bicycle everyday 
3. Chit chatting and the sense of community
4. No rush/no rat race lifestyle

Things i don't like

1. Going to the bore-hole for water but good muscle exercise though
2. Excessive bugs and mosquitoes
3. Inability to access petty groceries like bread
4. Sachet water, drinking water, pure water or whatever is called tastes like satan makes it.

Being a teacher, my weekdays are not that boring. I go to work during the work week ie monday-friday the real boredom starts on the weekend especially now i've read all the books some three or four times over and watched all the movies. Only the internet keeps me company these days but the internet speed is approximately 2.2 seconds  faster than a tortise sleeping is a better option but i'm no sleeper so will find me fruit picking or taking pictures like these

Statue of st. Ignatius of Loyola

Bore hole water my "nemesis"

Wa: A Photo Essay

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Wa is the capital of the Upper west region of Ghana and i've been there a number of times. I can't resist  taking shots of places or things that interest me anytime am there. Although part of a democratic Ghana, the town of Wa has a traditional ruler who is known as the "Wa-Na". Upper west is the youngest region in Ghana this makes Wa Ghana's youngest capital town therefore it still looks like a growing city and there's not much to see . I particularly like the way the town is well laid out and the streets are tarred. Over the months, i've taken scores of pictures of this nice town, from the numerous motorbikes that you find on the street to the popular breakfast meal "parkyeremah" to the heavenly smells of khebabs (barbecue) on sale whiles drinking jugs upon jugs of pito (locally brewed beer) not forgetting a lively market scene. Wa is definitely worth a visit...

                             

A beautiful day by a beautiful dam

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One of the places i have lots of pictures on is the beautiful dam 15, i cannot really tell why its called dam 15 though and when i inquired from the locals no one could really tell me. Dam 15 can be found near Lassia in the Wa west district of the Upper west region of Ghana, there is no day i pass by without taking a picture of it. On a normal day, you will find kids swimming whiles young ladies wash their clothes and fetch some of the water into pots to take home.You will also find a young guy trying to catch some fish which is usually little pieces of tilapia and mud fish. The tilapia goes down really well when fried. The dam has made surrounding landscape very lush and green, it is just very pleasing to look at.

                 

Lovely images of the dam

Kid taking a swim after doing her laundry, can you spot the fisherman trying to catch some fish?

                 

Sunset by the dam