Friday, February 24, 2012

Day 11: NOTHING IN PARTICULAR - EVERYTHING IN GENERAL


...Low key double 'R' day...

Spent the day reading & relaxing... as opposed to the other days relaxing you might ask?...same but different day.... 

Tomorrow promises to be a fairly full long out-of-town road trip so opted out of the usual Friday night beach.  Re-visited the Irish Pub for dinner.  Enjoyed a very good "Irish" Prawn Currie.

Prepared our supplies for tomorrow's early morning departure....(essentials recommended: camera with extra battery, lots of water, good supply of toilet tissue and hand sanitizer...and I would add after the bouncy ride over frequent speed bumps - high impact sports bra).

...that's it, that's all....lots of good pictures tomorrow...

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Day 10: PLANNING MY ESCAPE


...Another beautiful sunny hot, humid, cloudless day . A light breeze cools me while I plan my first big solo adventure out into the big city of Accra....

1. First priority will be to secure reliable, safe transportation:

Spoke to the hotel taxi man last evening.  Discussed prices.  I can hire his services for the day for a fixed fee plus gas costs. I now have his name and contact #. 
I also had a very pleasant discussion with the hotel concierge this morning who gave me some very good ideas of places to visit and a city map.
Since arriving I have gotten into the habit of asking opinions...the server at dinnertime: what is your favourite dish, favourite dessert. So far I have not been disappointed. 
So I asked the concierge, out of these 4 similar venues which would you suggest. 
He replied that all but one were similar but the one he suggested was 'unique'. Interest piqued!
Now have his name and contact#.
...check...

2. Prioritize what I would like to see:

We had a great overview of the city last weekend, highligting the main tourist attractions. Weekends, when the guys don't teach there are day outings planned outside Accra.  So if this can include seeing monkeys I will be very happy. TBD.  So my plan is to include on my little expedition, a little culture and a little shopping or a lot of both - whatever I can fit into 1 or 2 day outings.
...check...check...

3. Make my list according to location:

All 3 the places I would like to visit are in the same area of Accra and not far from our hotel. They all fit the above interest criteria
...check...check...check


As tomorrow is the beginning of our weekend (remember Triple 'S' Days?), there may not be much blogging.  Big trip to Elmina and we may get to see some monkeys at the Tafi- Atome Sanctuary.  Big TBD for the monkeys but I remain hopeful.




Wednesday, February 22, 2012

DAY 9: CHANGE OF PLACE - CHANGE OF PACE



...Tonight was supposed to have been Tex Mex night but the proposed restaurant  in Accra was closed...



...so as an alternative to our hotel restaurant which has served consistently good food, five of us headed down the road on foot to La Palm Royal - a hotel that boasts a casino, more dining variety and what appears to be luxurious surroundings...

 

...we dined at their Royal Dragon and the food and service was excellent.Wine not so much...

...good food...good company...another good day...

...still smiling... 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

DAY 8: DIFFERENT DAY - SAME PARADISE

...I have this strange sensation that I am living in a dream that keeps repeating.  Not unlike the Bill Murray character in the film Ground Hog Day but without his confusion and frustration...


My mission today -  to capture a photo of the evasive lizard.  I have seen them a number of times but have never been fast enough.  So after breakfast I headed for the pool. Again deserted (have noticed that hotel guests don`t seem to appear until early to mid afternoon).




Looks like a good spot. 
On previous days I have noticed the little guys sunning themselves against the walls or on empty lounge chairs.



!!!Success!!!


Such beautiful colours!


After a light snack I headed for the beach for a different perspective.  One of the beach 'artists', Nii, sold me this painting (acrylic on canvas). A test of my bargaining 'skills' . From his initial asking price of 100 Ghana cedi we settled on a final price of 40 which is equivalent to about $20 CDN.  Still not sure where we will hang it but I love the colours.


...my place...

...good surf today...

...poor boney beasts look good ....from a distance...

....sat on our balcony for a while and realized we have a date palm outside our room... 

Monday, February 20, 2012

DAY 7: OPENING CEREMONIES at KAIPTC


 
...Today was the first official day of training for Francois...


..held at the Kofi Annan
International Peacekeeping Training Centre...

...I was asked to attend and take random shots of the ceremony including the official group photo...
(dear Canon, please don`t fail me)






...while the room was being prepared to receive the students and dignitaries, Francois helped me get the light settings right...

...Brig. Gen. Kusi...
...opening welcome speaches...


...HE Trudy Kernighan,
Canadian High Commissioner...

...TOSC...
Tactical Operations Staff Course
2012





...coffee reception...

...class begins...


...following classes there was a Meet & Greet BBQ in the evening for students and instructors...


...cool & comfortable inside the bar...


....warm & humid outside...


...hot & delicious local cuisine...


...and finally - this little cutie (grandson of one of the bar staff) - who was quite willing to let me take many shots of him as long as I would let him see the results...he enjoyed the game as did I...

Sunday, February 19, 2012

DAY 6: TRIPLE 'S' DAY: SUNDAY & SUN & STAR

...I am told this is the golden rule : 
"any days starting with `S` translate to a day at the beach (sun), and some nice cold
Star beer``.

..I did a little blog update after breakfast with Francois, installing myself comfortably on the terrace...



...every Sunday there is a brunch buffet set up at the outdoor dining room...


...today, the chef was preparing roasted lamb and other delicious looking dishes...but as we have settled into a comfortable routine of dining well at the breakfast buffet, a snack miday, then supper, we headed on to our now favourite beach spot instead...


...our trusted 'art dealer brothers' arrived to take us to their 'studio' so we could decide on a souvenir to bring home...

...lots of Ashanti artifacts...


...this was our choice...Francois thinks maybe teak with some sort of metal inlay around the faces...stands about 24" high....it's very old (dealer said it belonged to his grandfather although I now understand that calling someone a family member is a very loose concept)...how to get it home will be another issue....didn't really think this one through...but we both REALLY like it.


...Francois got a leg massage...  
...tech guy for the course got one too..while texting naturally...
...and me saying 'no thank you' to a beach pedicure for the tenth time...
...lots of colourful characters around today...

...lots of people swimming...



...lots of good wind...

...lots of musical entertainment...





...and when I tried to capture some agressive activitiy on film, Francois told me it was time to return to our nest...

Saturday, February 18, 2012

DAY 5: TOUR AROUND ACCRA


....Today I was able to tag along with the guys on a tour around Accra....

One of the members of the team lived in Ghana several years ago so we were lucky to have him as our personal guide. 


Freedom Square


Fort James & walk through James Town





...this place is so beautiful yet heartbreaking at the same time...so colourful...so many smiling faces and `hello Canada`...our driver (himself from James Town) warned once: `please stay with the group`...I wanted to stop and take pictures of so many things...



fishing canoe
notice the size in relation to the kids 

making bricks and blocks on the beach


displays of fresh things for sale along our walk through a part of the village gave new meaning to open air market

 






James Town Lighthouse


28 m tall...so many stairs
view from sea 60 nautical miles

I made ìt 'almost' all the way to the top..initially forgeting (or ignoring) my fear of heights...the last few 10 steps, a rickety ladder. My view from my 'almost' top was almost as panoramic as the others who braved the ladder. I shook for a good fifteen minutes after decending

view from the top


view of the bay breakwater

Francois Onatop
(double-O reference)
Flagstaff House
...we couldn't enter to take pictures but our driver did a great job of slowly driving by with only a little horn blasting from traffice behind...

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
Burial place of Kwame Nkrumah, first president and first prime minister of Ghana

To complete the tour we were treated to a cold drink at the Officers`Mess

Francois and his Ferret

trees black with fruit bats




And to finish the day, a supper at an Irish Pub.  No Irish beer on tap but the food was as good here as any Irish Pub (outside of Ireland of course)