Duffy’s family came and went like a tornado of activity in our humble house–except this tornado leaves luxury items in its wake. Among the new additions are some track lights for the kitchen and an oven with a range. We also have a new fan, but Bridget has barred us from using it because it’s the dead of winter here and cold enough as it is. Now in her defense it is actually cooling down quite a bit, and the other morning I was so chilled in bed that I got up and brought my top sheet out of storage.
Sailor solidarity. The boats we saw on the way down were much more ornate than the ones we usually see on the beach.
Also as a result of the Tillemans visit, a house-wide cruise was arranged with the good folks down at meet me there. I think Sammie and Duffy have done it before, so they set it up. We took a boat from Anyanui down to the mouth of the Volta River and across to Ada, which is apparently pretty ritzy, then came back to a sandbar island for a picnic, and then returned home. The cruise was quite a bit of fun. The Meet Me There band was contracted out for the afternoon, and provided mood music. I love this band and have apparently worked my way well-enough in with them that I can come take drum lessons in Dzita if I want. Anyway their fee is usually a couple cedis each plus free alcohol, and this time seemed to be no exception. They drummed and sang for the whole cruise, and were still at it when we left Meet Me There. That’s about seven hours of music, interrupted only by a brief nap and lunch when we had our picnic.
At this point in the jam session he was pretty sauced. Also the strap on his drum broke, which is why he is holding it between his legs.
The boat was a very large canoe, similar to the style used for fishing. We had 26 people on board with room for more. Perhaps more notable was that we fit 24 of those people into a single 11-seater van for the trip to the docks. We were waiting for what I assumed would be two vehicles to take the group plus the band, but I assumed incorrectly. 24 people, three coolers for food and booze, and all the drums fit into a single tro-tro. Try and tell me that the Ghanaian public transit isn’t efficient. As for the picnic, the food was good and our desert island was pretty awesome. To be fair it wasn’t really deserted; there were some fishermen working in the distance. We walked down to one end where the Volta actually meets the sea–what a turbulent spot. It was very cool but I didn’t get a picture. In the other direction our Meet Me There guides found some fishermen who had a sea tortoise on it’s back and were planning on killing it. They eat them here when they can, and also just kill them because they destroy the fishing nets.
Penny for your turtle?
An endangered species just doesn’t stand a chance. Someone in our crew bribed them to let it go, although I think we could have just flipped it and pushed it out to sea ourselves without any need for the money. Hopefully there are parts of the beach that are protected for these guys because they definitely don’t have a chance here in the Anlo region. The beaches are fished constantly and otherwise patrolled by people who would love to have some turtle stew or a turtle egg omelet. Bridget’s friend Josephine told me that when I come to her town we can have tortoise, but I kindly declined. After that we climbed back aboard our tiny ship and sailed away. It’s really a beautiful spot down there and I’ll have to go explore Ada a bit more when my parents come. I’ve heard there is sport fishing out of there and would like to take my Dad when he comes.
Next up will be another Ewe lesson so stay tuned. Also make sure to check out all the pictures of the cruise on flickr because there are some awesome ones from this trip. Can’t take credit for all of them though, Antonia and Tobias were all over it and were gracious enough to let me share their camera, as well as their pictures once the adventure concluded.