Homeward Bound

There are thousands of Mango trees in Ghana, perhaps planted by the British.  They are a wonderful source of not only delicious fruit but also supplying a thick umbrella-like canopy all year round. 



One can find them virtually outside each hut as well as plantations of them around this area.












If one wants to know where the Ghana man is...."he is sleeping under the Mango tree" is the common answer and there is proof all around.  The coolest place to be unless one is lucky enough to have air-conditioning!

The past week was very exciting for the Bantama junior school children.  More than a thousand scholars of ages 9 to about 14 years from a radius of about 16 kms arrived on Monday.  They were here for a soccer and athletics competition. They left on Friday afternoon.

 

The spectators had a marvellous time supporting their teams.

 

 

 

And here is a penalty shoot out.......(get ready, holding our breaths and our team-mates).......

La duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuma! Our team scored and we all rush onto the soccer field!!





                                                                                              Gundi and Genie and their special little creature Porkles.

 

 

It sometimes take days to complete a new post for my blog. There is many a time when there is "No Network" or a very weak signal.   I have a mobile WiFi gadget that I use to obtain connection. I cannot get a good signal unless I hold up the modem high in the air or stick it in the top louvre of the window.  Then it works fairly well if the small battery is full. If it is empty, then it needs to be plugged in to the computer to recharge but the connection is very short so I lose signal.

I have worked out that if I place the computer on a chair that is on the table and then stick a book through the rungs of the chair and balance the modem on a book, it sometimes works. Then I have to stand up and type and that is not ideal with ageing back!

 

 

My third attempt at rocket, lettuce and swiss chard yielded a few more delicious leaves.  Tuna, Provita and rocket for lunch! Yummmmmy!

We drove to Atebubu on Sunday morning to buy eggs and tomatoes. I took a photo of the local cattle and their huge horns to show you. At last there is some greenery and a few puddles of water around for the animals now that we have had some rain.

 

 

Arno had asked us to buy him some mangoes in Atebubu and on the way home we went to the office to drop them off. Arno loves Genie and had her on his shoulder when she urinated on him!! We haven't learnt her language yet and in retrospect, she had been telling us that she wasn't happy about something....but we're getting there!

 

On Sunday afternoon we were told that Martin (remember him?) and a few other people were coming to the office to collect a vehicle and then going to check on where they plan to plant sugar cane.  They arrived at lunch time and met Gundi and Genie. The man on the left, Mark, told me that his grand-parents and parents were living in the Congo when he was born. They lived in a very remote area and his mother was lonely and adopted two mongooses (!) but one then died. He was thrilled to meet Gundi and took photos of him to show his mother.  It was a happy moment for me to think of another lady in a secluded area who found much joy in her own little Gundi. 

 

 

On the way back they planned to stop off to have a quick bite to eat at the office and then travel back to Kumasi. (They had left Accra at 7 am that morning.) So Porks and I thought we'd pop across to chat to them. They got back from their scouting at 7pm.

 

Sarah had stayed to cook them some supper.  It must have been good as there was not a thing left on their plates.  Either that or they were very hungry.  We conversed with a multi-national group of people and shared a drink with them while they ate.  I had made a chocolate cake for them for pudding.

 

 

We met Mark from Belgium (originally Congo) and Enoch from Zimbabwe. (Graham!)

There was also Carla from Mexico and Peter Cheshire (good name for him) from London. (Angie and Muffy!)

 

Peter again and Martin from good ol' South Africa!  I asked the guys when they thought the first people might be moving to our area to begin their project and they thought it would be before the end of this year!  Yay, more company!

           See what Martin brought just for me?...................a bottle of 12 year old Glenfiddich!   
                                                 Wow!  So lucky me! Thank you Martin!

This will probably be my last post before I leave to go home on Friday.  I have managed to mostly keep my chin up for four and a half months, thanks to all of you!  Porks is travelling with me to Accra.  We will do a shop for here before I fly out at 22.30hrs. He will then sleep at the Hotel, shop for the cold and frozen items in the morning and then drive back with John. I fly overnight and arrive in Johannesburg early Saturday morning before continuing on to Durban and Kelly. Andrew flies up from Cape Town on Kelly's birthday the 2nd April and back again on the 9th.  I fly back to Ghana on the 16th April but we are not going to talk about that yet!

If I have time in between talking, eating, laughing, hugging, playing, loving, talking, smiling, bathing, shopping, talking, hugging, dancing, and talking....I will continue with my blog called  "Awifeinghana" but I'll really be    "Awifebackathomewithmychildrenfriendsmotherinlawanddogsbutunfortunatelywithoutmyhusbandinmybeautifulcountrysouthafrica."