Ghanadians have arrived back in Canada!

The Dugbarteys are back in Victoria and planning our next adventure!

We survived our 31 hour trip home...we are so blessed that our flights and immigration/customs experiences went so smoothly in Ghana, Amsterdam, Seattle and finally back here in Canada!

An awesome trip, can't wait for the next one!

Waiting for a taxi van at Victoria International Airport.
I hope you have enjoyed the blog and if you ever want to chat about Ghana feel free to email me at tonyjodidu@gmail.com. A humongous thank you to all the folks in Ghana who helped us to have the best adventure yet!

WE MISS YOU GUYS ALREADY!!!!

Leaving on a jet plane...

We are heading to the airport this afternoon for a 9pm flight...you have to check in earlier here.
We will fly to Amsterdam and have about a 5 hour lay over then on to Seattle for another 3 hour layover then home to Victoria....we should be in Victoria late afternoon on Wednesday.

We are sad to leave everyone here and the life of leisure we have been living for more than 6 weeks....back to reality....

Gordonhead United Church Donation Part Two

A few days ago we presented gifts to New Achimota International School from Gordonhead United Church. It meant a lot to Charity to give the gifts to this school because she has spent some time in their classrooms and has gotten to know the teachers and students.

Too close...future super model :)

This is Nana...the cutest little toddler...when we handed him a soccer ball his smiled was filled with joy...too cute!

Charity is presenting Emma with a gift and Emma is planning how she can keep Charity as a student.

Charity in the nursery...

The New Ride...

When we first arrived in Ghana six weeks ago we were planning on using taxi or tro tro to get around. Tony didn't think he would be comfortable driving after such a long absence.
We found that Grandma had fixed up her old car for us to use so we gave it a try. We are thankful for the use of the old red car...it has allowed us to travel all over Ghana...the lack of air conditioning has allowed us to feel the heat and the smell the smells of the road...we are thankful...

But today we are saying a big Thankyou to Tony's sister Margaret and her husband. They will be arriving in Ghana on Friday and have shipped a Honda Pilot for them to use while they are here.
It recently arrived and they have been gracious enough to let us use it for our last few days. So, these last two days we will drive around feeling like royalty in our own private little bubble.
We took a quick ride around the block and it was so exciting. The tinted windows block the hot sun and the loud street noise...when we arrived back the outside air felt like a sauna.
There are benefits to both the old ride and new ride and we are thankful for both....

Madina Market...

This morning I was watching Korkor prepare her breakfast and I realized that I hadn't been in a real food market . There are many western style supermarkets in Accra now but the place to be is the "market".
So, Korkor offered to take me to Madina Market which is about 10 minutes drive from their house. The bonus was that this is Sunday and many of the sellers don't work on Sunday. When I saw all the empty stalls I realized that had I come on any other day of the week I would have been overwhelmed by the crowded market.
The market is a colourful place with more good smells than bad.
It was fun to watch Korkor buy veggies and salted pigs feet! It was interesting to see how things were measured. The woman selling the spicy peppers had 3 different sized tin cans, she mentioned the price for each size can. The cool part was that every seller overflowed their cans or gave a few extra items.
There wasn't much bargaining involved, they set a price and if you are willing to pay you buy it. You might say "oh, for that price you should give me a little extra"...and they do.
This girl works in the market as a "kaya yo"...which means carrier woman. She appeared out of no where when we were purchasing our first item and then she followed and carried everything we bought. When we were finished she loaded the things into the car and we gave her a tip.

I bought some single packs of spices from this stall...the woman was happy for me to take a photo of the stall but she moved out of the stall because she didn't want to be in the photo.

This lady is selling salted pigs feet...I was surprised that they weren't stinky and there were more flies around the tomatoes than the meat.

This is the spicy pepper lady with the tin can measuring cups. She is also selling "garden eggs" which are the white veggies in the right corner of the photo...they are a type of eggplant.

On the way home I had to take photos of JodiLyn Enterprise....as many of you know my name is Jodi Lynn so I was quite thrilled to find a shop that shares my name. It is more common to have religious names for businesses, like God is Great Spot, My Blessings Food Shop, The Lord is My Shepard Fitter...etc.

More Food...

We have been eating constantly for the past 6 weeks...we have found some favourite foods and some favourite restaurants....

This strange looking hotdog doesn't enter into any of the favourite categories and was a reminder that you never know what you might get if you stray from local dishes on a menu...some menus offer all kinds of "continental dishes". Although they sometimes look like you might expect they often don't taste like you would expect...it is generally safer to order Ghanaian dishes unless you have heard that a particular place sells good pizza or something....plus if you are desperate for "foreign food" you can get french fries at most restaurants that all taste good...but then there is the ketchup issue...even Heinz ketchup tastes different...it is imported from either India or South Africa (I guess the tomatoes are different there)...laughter ....the local ketchup is called something like Magu and it is different but good.

When Francis came to Canada he was telling me that Turkey Butt was a delicacy in Ghana...he bought some to show me but I let him eat them! You know that fatty part of the turkey that you might toss while you are carving your turkey....well, they deep fry it and people say it is quite tasty.

This is chicken and jollof rice which I order most of the time in Ghana, this one was a little different because there was sauce on the chicken but lucky for me it wasn't loaded with pepper.

This is fufu with chicken in ground nut soup. Fufu is a doughy substance that is made by pounding cassava into a flour like substance and then cooking it with water and stirring it constantly as it fluffs up into a dough ball. You eat it with your fingers. I like fufu and I've had it in a few restaurants. Making fufu is labour intensive but I've seen several billboards advertising easy fufu where you buy it as a powder. Fufu is one of the most common foods in Ghana.

This was our included breakfast at the resort in Ada. Pineapple juice is popular and tasty in Ghana. It is common to have baked beans with eggs for breakfast...and it works!

This is Oliver enjoying some stew...he has been quite happy with all the stews and rice.

This was my dinner one night at Asutsuare, ...fried fish (usually Tilapia) is very common here..I chose the tail because I don't like looking at the eye of the fish when I'm eating it.

The yellow item is plantain, I had mostly had fried plantains before but these ones are boiled in chunks with the skin on then they just peel the skin off and serve them..they are tasty and healthier.

The white doughy ball is banku, it is made from corn so it looks similar to kenke....the difference is that kenke is fermented and banku isn't...I like banku but I steer clear of kenke....kenke is very popular here but I think it takes time to develop a taste for fermented corn.

The stuff that looks like salsa is very similar in taste...it is tomato and peppers and onions together...it flavours the banku (you wouldn't normally eat kenke or banku or fufu without a stew or soup). They do sell a type of kenke with sugar that looks like a ziplock bag of brown liquid...it is the fast food breakfast in Ghana and you can buy it on the street....but I haven't tried that one.

Charity was proud of her dinner the same night...water and banku...she didn't want fish or plantains but we were later able to get her to add some stew to her banku...she has actually been quite adventurous in her eating because she loves to socialize with the kids in the house and they have been sharing something interesting foods with her.

This is one of the charcoal stoves that they use for much of the cooking...I took this photo because I found it surprising that they were using it inside the kitchen on the floor.

This is a mega size pot of Banku that was being prepared for the school children in the backyard. The large metal poles on the side are for lifting the pot on and off the fire. It takes two women to lift the pot.

This is Joyce stirring the banku, it is hard work...especially when the temperature outside is over 30 degrees to begin with! Charity and Ruby enjoying their lunch...

Chicken and chips is a safe bet at a restaurant.

We have found some delicious pizza here...we haven't tried some of the interesting topping though...it seems tuna is a common choice?

Although bottled water is expensive we have mostly used bottled water or drank soda (hopefully we haven't got any cavities)...but most people in the country drink their water from plastic bags....they are available everywhere and a truck will even deliver them to your house...the city is alive with girls shouting "pure water"...they carry it in a metal bowl on their head which also contains ice to keep the water cool.

We have tried the bagged water a few times and haven't had any problems so I think for the most part it is safe these days...and it is much cheaper and easier than buying and carrying bottles.

The kids love the bags of water but I haven't quite got the knack of tearing the bag with my teeth, drinking without spilling and finding just the right angle to set an open bag down on the table so it won't spill...each bag has 500ml of water.

Back To Bojo...

We had such a great time at Bojo Beach on Thursday that we went back today with our friends. There were a few more folks there since it was Saturday but the weather looked uncertain in the morning so that may have kept the masses away.

Oliver was in the waves the whole day...until we dragged him out to leave.

On the weekend they use a larger boat to accommodate more people.

Charity and Maku having a beach soccer game.

Ruby's cute little sandy bottom.
Kiki enjoyed her first dip in the sea.

Maku was so happy to be at the beach...
We didn't realize a big wave was about to hit us...

This photo is a line of fishermen in the mist down the beach pulling a rope to pull in one of their fishing boats...

This is the beach area from the mainland...

We were in the water for hours today jumping in the waves...we will all have fond memories of this place when we head home in a few days.

Bojo Beach

Bojo Beach is located just to the west of Accra. It is beautiful and on this Thursday it was nearly deserted. To reach the beach we took a small canoe that a young man navigated with a pole. We were impressed by how quickly he could move the canoe even against the current.

I was happy to relax with a coca cola.... But, not to many colas because I didn't want to have to use the "urinal"...

Tony and Charity found jellyfish and eels along the beach...

Splashing around was super fun...

Pure joy in the waves...

School kids were using the beach to get home...

Fishermen were tossing their nets...

Fun times!

The evening commute at Bojo Beach...

I've been seeing these crows everywhere but I was finally able to snap one...the crows look beautiful with their white chests.

Evening was coming as we crossed back from the beach...