Roger, Kelly and I left at 6.30 am to get to King Shaka Airport in time for the flight to Johannesburg.
Kelly and me at King Shaka, with my red suitcase and a couple of pinkish ones bought for taking extra South African comforts to Ghana.
A selfie before we boarded.
This one's for you Hayls.
Kelly and I met up with Andrew for breakfast at Oliver Thambo Airport after he flew in from Cape Town.
Like father, like son. Waiting to board.
Alweer! On the flight to Accra.
We enjoyed our delicious Italian chocolate from special Jenni.
A happy Porks met us at Accra airport. We checked in to our hotel and then went to the Holiday Inn for dinner.
The following morning, we had breakfast and then went shopping. We then sent our excess bags as well as our groceries back to Bantama in the vehicle.
We took a taxi to Lambadi Beach Hotel for brunch and to show Kelly and Andrew some of the highlights of Accra. We saw the Mall, Woolworths and the Tete Kwashi market where Andrew bought this fancy Ghanaian shirt!
On the beach outside the hotel
We wondered how old these ornate doors were.
That evening we contacted Dave Howland, from Accra Sublime Party fame to join us for dinner. Dave suggested Mama Mia's Pizzeria. We caught a taxi and went through some very dodgy areas only to end up at this little oasis.
We jumped into Dave's car for a ride around and went to Monsoon for a nightcap. Oh my, why don't we live in Accra?
We are so thrilled to have met Dave as we would never have found these joints without a South African chaperon/chaperone.
The excited boys had an ice-cream.
We found a Sark Supporter in Accra!
We ended up at Kaya's, a little restaurant with beautiful decor. And we parked.
This table base is made from the roots of a tree. Fabulous idea and so effective.
Little fairy lights in between the branches shone through to the glass table top.
They even supplied a citronella candle and some ant mosquito body cream. This table was made from stacked sticks.
Relaxing in the chairs after a long hard night!
And again in the outside hanging chair.
The last stop that evening was to try and draw money at the Accra Mall but to no avail. Nigeria were celebrating their 54th Day of Independence on the 1st October and were partying all over the city.
Dave, Kelly and I were keen to explore more but the men in our lives had had enough!
Dave informed us that he is celebrating a birthday party on the roof top of this green building at the end of November!
We had a good night's sleep, clearly some of us not enough, and waited until it was time for breakfast.
We went back to Tete Kwashi market to buy more souvenirs. After the sardine-tin-like taxi drive we renamed it the Squishy Squashy Market!
Leaving our hotel to go to the airport.
We arrived a little early so went across the road from the airport to Aerostar to have something cold to drink.
There was music playing and this flexible little Ghanaian lady was happily dancing.
These two lovely ladies were sitting near us and Kell and I went to talk to them. Gina, is married to her British husband. They export yam. Queen Nana, who, with her German husband, co-jointly own and run this pub/restaurant, Aerostar.
When they found out that we are from South Africa, Queen Nana told me that her best friend, Mimi, works in Umtata.
Well, you could have blown me over with a feather! I sat next to Mimi on one of my flights back to South Africa. She had a headache and as we boarded at 22h30 and she wasn't feeling well, we didn't have much time to chat before we went to sleep, so I did not include her in my blog. I
so regret that now.
Heeeeere's Mimi!
The band then started playing and the singer asked us to come and dance with them. They were filming a music video, so we might be famous!
Autographs will be available at a fee!
My little girl is so game and dives into life at every opportunity.
After goodbyes to the Aerostar community, we boarded our flight to Kumasi.
Porks sat by himself.
A selfie of the girls. See my little necklace, Bridgie? It's close to my heart!
On the way from Kumasi to Bantama we found the spot where Bafanabafana spend their time!
We bought this crunchy biscuit which tasted like cooked ground nuts.
We still don't know what this is called but it was a mealie meal type cake, wrapped in plastic and then plantain leaves and boiled.
It tasted like sour dough.
We arrived back at our house on Thursday evening. On Saturday night, we had a braai and invited Deon again for rugby and supper. Unfortunately Porks only watched the last 15 minutes of the SA vs NZ match as he was working.
"Chesty" brought us a punk pineapple!
Our Andrew's 30th birthday is on the 19th October and we will not be together as a family, so we had an early surprise party for our kind, loving, compassionate, thoughtful and empathetic son and brother!
Happy 30th Birthday our darling Andrew!
We love you so much!
Cutting his birthday cake.
The cheeky bloke opened his card and shook it over the table to see if anything was inside!
Andrew's "
HippoThomas!"
There were three in the bed and the little one said "aaarrrrrrr". Buddy wormed his way into Kell and Andrew's hearts and he loved them right back. The children had to share a room as the other room's air conditioning is "spoilt" as Ghanaians say.
My animal lover spent every opportunity he could with his buddy Buddy!
On one of the afternoons, we took the children to see the plantation and the dams.
One of the first trees planted by Porks two and a half years ago!
On Wednesday, we drove to Kwame Danso to show the children the market and passed this butchery with a goat's head - its on the right near the back.
Miller, one of the tractor drivers, told Porks that his, Miller's, baby had been born on the 24th September. If it was a boy, with permission, they would have named him after Porks; Allen. It is a girl, so they asked if they could name her after ME! We visited them in their home in Kwame Danso.
Rachel, she pronounced it Rahel, and her two other little girls Eunice and Beatrice.
Little Sharon in her mosquito netted cot.
Totally relaxed two week old Sharon.
Rachel then presented me with a special photograph of her sweet little baby taken on the 7th October, the day before we met her. A very wise and alert looking little namesake!
Kell and I took a quick ride to Atebubu on the Thursday to see the shopping facilities there and in the rice fields, were scarecrows, called "Statues", as well as metal flags to frighten the birds away.
Kell at the Atebubu market.
Deon had already left for South Africa on the Wednesday so we had another braai on our lonesomes on the Thurday night, the last night before the children left.
We said goodbye to Porks and Buddy and travelled together back to Kumasi.
I tried to get in as many last pictures of my darling children before they flew home.
In the car.
In the airport terminal for drinks.
In the waiting area where I left them. They were originally booked on the 2.10pm flight but at check-in we were told they were on the 2.45pm flight. I still had to travel the four hours back to Bantama with the driver, so I very reluctantly left them at 1pm, capably looking after each other.
When I got to the vehicle, I was told that we had to back into Kumasi city centre to pick up some tyres. On the way through the city I found this little school. Co-incidentally Kelly teaches at Ridge School in Pietermaritzburg which was founded in 1967. This Ridge school was founded in 1966, so its one year older!
The traffic through town was horrific and it took us more than 2 hours to get in and out, I was a little irritated until I realised that it was time for the children to fly to Accra. So I got my camera ready and voila! Right on time Kelly and Andrew flew over the city while I was watching out for them. It made the traffic jam a positive experience after all! Thanks Kumasi!
If one uses one's imagination, one can see my two precious children looking out of the window!
Sadly, here endeth the happiest week of my Ghanaian experience!
