Sene River

 

Last Sunday we took a drive to Mframe to see if we could find some fresh fish to buy.  The last time we went in December, this Sene River was full and covered all this area that you can see here, becoming part of the Volta Dam.

Although it is the rainy season now we haven't had enough rain and the river has still not reached full capacity. The water is now at least 50 metres away from where it was the last time and according to those in the know, at least 150 meters from the year before.

Neil found a scale of a fish and realised it must have been a massive fish.

He tried his hand at throwing a fishing net but it unfortunately got caught on one of the boats, so he untied it and gave up.

 
                                                                         

This okra farm was under water the last time we passed by, so we didn't see it.  It is a very nutritious vegetable and apparently the leaves can be eaten as a salad as well.  The Ghanaians mix it with soup, tapioca, cassava and "fufu", a yam that is boiled, pounded and stirred until it is thick.
 

 

The okra pod grows at the top of the plant and when more mature, it has ridges along its length.  It is also known as "lady finger".  It is a highly nutritious vegetable, usually eaten while the pod is green, tender, and immature.   It takes about 45-60 days to get ready-to-harvest fruits.



 The pods are handpicked while just short of reaching maturity and eaten as a vegetable.

 

We stopped off at the chief's house to ask if he knew of any fish to buy.  He welcomed us and insisted that we sit down and chat for a while.  I have learnt a little "Guan", the language in Bantama, and said "Mah chee, ingowaji?"(Spelling?) (Good morning, how are you?) but was told with much kind giggling behind their hands that their dialect is different.  They are from the Volta.  Their business is fishing while Bantama's is farming, so ooops!!!

 

The chief's wife and children were laughing and smiling at me and when I asked if I could take a photo, they were thrilled and then put on their South African 1920 photo faces! So that's where Kingsford gets it from!

 

The chief promised to let us know when the fish are available, so Tony wrote his telephone number on the wall in charcoal in between the other graffiti.

 

Unfortunately we had arrived too late for the fresh fish, as they had already started to smoke their catch-of-the-day in the oven, with their chillies drying on the lid at the same time.

 

 They had also salted and dried these fish just like our biltong.

 

The telephone poles that had been delivered before the election have been erected and some have already been connected!

 

Neil asked permission to bring a fishing rod back from South Africa in order to catch fish in the river.  The chief was accommodating, so that could be a fun thing to do one Sunday.