We awoke to a brilliant, if slightly cool,spring day. Breakfast was at 8 am. Jeannie was sitting in the sun outside on the long stoep reading, George watching the weaver birds in the trees beside the swimming pool and Brenda and I came last. We wandered into the dining room/lounge and found a long wooden table beautifully set. Coffee, orange juice,fruit salad and yoghurt, beautiful grainy bread, eggs, bacon, mushrooms waiting on a hot plate, home made preserves and creamed butter...all laid out waiting.
We met Louis, Retief's partner, who chatted to us and helped Retief serve. What a delightful couple! We had been offered a packed picnic lunch the night before as we were setting off across the mountains to St Albert. Needless to say we accepted and later discovered a feast of salad, cherry tomatoes,dressing, sandwiches, chicken, pathe, tuna salad, biltong, coffee and Coke. We were being pampered and we loved it!
We were given an affectionate send off as we left and invited to join them for a braaivleis (BBQ) that evening....again we accepted. We left Calitzdorp and headed towards the mountains. As we climbed in altitude we were driving through sheer red rock faces with bright wild flowers wedged between crevices. The road dropped ominously hundreds of feet on one side but the views were breathtaking. We seemed to climb for ever, each rocky peak hiding others, our ears popped!
Eventually we started going down hill and we were soon in prince Albert, a typical but beautiful little Karoo town. Tree lined streets, lots of coloured faces with traces of Koi and San in their features, young people in the universal outfits we see on the streets at home, small shops and no highrises or malls (fantastic!!) just old houses with wide verandas and bright flowering bushes in the neat gardens. As always the township a short distance away but with neat brick and clay houses with small gardens and children playing soccer in well kept sports fields...always the sounds of voices laughing, shouting, talking. Much more life going on it seemed in the coloured community than the white.
I am using the word 'coloured' as in 'Cape coloureds', used only in this part of South Africa...as opposed to Bantu or Black...left over from unofficial and official Apartheid for many years. There is such an exotic mixture of races in the Cape: Koi, San, Bushmen, (the original inhabitants who were wiped out with the coming of the white man) Malay, Portuguese, Dutch, French Hugenot ,English and on and on....everyone who ever landed on this fertile land and brought disease, knowledge, hard work, produce,patience and desperation to this 'new' (to Europeans) continent, fell in love with it's beauty and opportunity and stayed.
The Karoo is immense scrub-bush country with farm upon 'invisible' farm....ostrich, sheep, cattle, goats, maize, wheat. Such huge acreage that the boundaries are difficult to see amongst the mountains, kopjies, dams and windmills. Every now and then an oasis of eucalyptus and gum trees surround a low homestead with cats and dogs lounging...often no sign of human habitation although it's obviously there...somewhere! It is wonderfully quiet country apart from the wind sometimes and the shouts of children.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
South Africa
Where to begin? Imagine this: Four excited people, a Toyota Corolla and the open road! Our destination? Calitzdorp, a five hour drive from Cape Town in the Klein Karoo. Under the shelter of Table Mountain, the so familiar guardian which kept watch over me for so many years of my young life, (my boarding school on its slopes), we four pack away our back packs (could be the first line of a new song) into the spacious boot/trunk (bilingual now!) and fasten our seat belts for the long ride. George takes the wheel and keeps it for the next five days.
We speed out of Cape Town, past the townships, looking a little more ordered than last year, minimally more prosperous....still a HUGE discrepancy in this country between rich and poor...and out into open country, farm lands and vineyards. We climb over the mountain ranges which separate this lush scenery for the scrub and brilliant wild flowers which carpet the Karoo in the spring....if the rain has come which it had finally after 3 years of drought. Dense splashes of colour: reds, mauves, purples, all shades of yellow to orange..bringing to vivid life the usually arid scrub. I had never seen the Karoo in the spring and this year it put on an incredible show for us!
We had had our Calitzdorp booking cancelled at the last moment and I had to make a pretty quick decision as to where we would lodge. I liked to look of a place called The Soeterus Guest House: it had luxurious looking bedrooms and provided breakfast and other meals should you want them. We arrived in the typical little Afrikaans Karoo town shortly after 5 pm and drove down a dusty unpaved road to find the Soeterus. Here it was, a high gate and a sudden sharp turn to a steep driveway and down into the car park. A young sweet faced man came to meet us 'Retief?' I asked and it was. Dark hair, gentle brown eyes and a welcoming smile....we had corresponded hurriedly and briefly. He immediately offered us tea or coffee and took us to the dining/lounge which was high and roomy, a converted shed most beautifully done with a bamboo ceiling and rough rafters, old locally made 'Dutch' furniture, a door into Retief's kitchen.
'Come with and I'll show you your rooms' he said in typical abbreviated South African fashion. We had almost identical twin bedded rooms, again high ceilings and stone walls, warm wooden furniture, sophisticated curtains and padded head boards and a small vase of garden cut flowers....perfect!
We showered and changed and rushed to meet Trevor and Joan Teeton (Joan and I were childhood friends) who had arranged dinner for us in the Zamani restaurant in Calitzdorp. It was lovely to see them again after nearly 10 years (yes we had all aged!) and we had a nice home cooked dinner in a cosy combination of store and dining room. Good conversation with Joan but so sad to hear of the loss of a mutual school friend to cancer. Phillida, who had, with Jean and Sally, arranged such a fantastic buffet lunch for my Shongololo group (remember Frances?) at Jean's lovely home on the sea front in Boulders. We had coffeed together, the four of us, two years ago at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town...as Sally said to me on the phone this morning 'Well Maggie it's our age, we seem to be dropping like flies!' Nice thought!!
We all dropped into bed and asleep within seconds that night...we had planned an exciting day on Saturday, South African Heritage day.
We speed out of Cape Town, past the townships, looking a little more ordered than last year, minimally more prosperous....still a HUGE discrepancy in this country between rich and poor...and out into open country, farm lands and vineyards. We climb over the mountain ranges which separate this lush scenery for the scrub and brilliant wild flowers which carpet the Karoo in the spring....if the rain has come which it had finally after 3 years of drought. Dense splashes of colour: reds, mauves, purples, all shades of yellow to orange..bringing to vivid life the usually arid scrub. I had never seen the Karoo in the spring and this year it put on an incredible show for us!
We had had our Calitzdorp booking cancelled at the last moment and I had to make a pretty quick decision as to where we would lodge. I liked to look of a place called The Soeterus Guest House: it had luxurious looking bedrooms and provided breakfast and other meals should you want them. We arrived in the typical little Afrikaans Karoo town shortly after 5 pm and drove down a dusty unpaved road to find the Soeterus. Here it was, a high gate and a sudden sharp turn to a steep driveway and down into the car park. A young sweet faced man came to meet us 'Retief?' I asked and it was. Dark hair, gentle brown eyes and a welcoming smile....we had corresponded hurriedly and briefly. He immediately offered us tea or coffee and took us to the dining/lounge which was high and roomy, a converted shed most beautifully done with a bamboo ceiling and rough rafters, old locally made 'Dutch' furniture, a door into Retief's kitchen.
'Come with and I'll show you your rooms' he said in typical abbreviated South African fashion. We had almost identical twin bedded rooms, again high ceilings and stone walls, warm wooden furniture, sophisticated curtains and padded head boards and a small vase of garden cut flowers....perfect!
We showered and changed and rushed to meet Trevor and Joan Teeton (Joan and I were childhood friends) who had arranged dinner for us in the Zamani restaurant in Calitzdorp. It was lovely to see them again after nearly 10 years (yes we had all aged!) and we had a nice home cooked dinner in a cosy combination of store and dining room. Good conversation with Joan but so sad to hear of the loss of a mutual school friend to cancer. Phillida, who had, with Jean and Sally, arranged such a fantastic buffet lunch for my Shongololo group (remember Frances?) at Jean's lovely home on the sea front in Boulders. We had coffeed together, the four of us, two years ago at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town...as Sally said to me on the phone this morning 'Well Maggie it's our age, we seem to be dropping like flies!' Nice thought!!
We all dropped into bed and asleep within seconds that night...we had planned an exciting day on Saturday, South African Heritage day.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Rough Day
Huge seas today as we plough our way towards South Africa. The ship is rolling, pitching and shuddering and quite a few passengers are feeling under the weather with colds, fevers and just plain sea sickness. So far, touch wood hard, I'm fine.
I have been thinking of Troy Davis in Georgia today. He has been incarcerated for 22 years and in spite of protestations of innocence will be executed at 7 pm tonight. I believe there is something cold blooded and savage about execution no matter whether it is by hanging or by lethal injection. A person's life is being snuffed out by another person...to me that is just as much a murder as that committed by a deranged killer.
I feel pride that Canada no longer has a death penalty...only then can we be sure that an innocent person is not killed by law.
Brenda has not been feeling 100% for a couple of days but I think may finally, after alot of sleeping (Gravol induced) today, have licked it. I hope we are all well for our visit to South Africa. Looking forward to greeting Jeannie but not to losing Brenda. Everyone wishes she could stay on for the whole voyage...with Evelyn Hannon who has been such a joy to spend time with. They will be flying to Toronto from Jo'burg together via Zurich.
Today is rather a blah day, lots of waves and white caps out at sea, lots of rocking around inside, rehearsal at 5 pm (I am now the prompt!) for our acting class and finally a drink at 6 pm in the lounge. George and I have been going to bed early after watching Alan Bennett films in our cabin. Great fun!
Tomorrow we have a "girls night out" with our extended family, Emma, Rachel, Gerry and Lilly, plus Brenda, Evelyn and me. We shall start off in our cabin with soft drinks and go on to supper in the garden dining room but have to disperse for the Logistical Pre-port in the Union. Also at 7 pm there will be a performance (dress rehearsal) of the African play I am prompting (yes Michael wants me there sitting at the side)! They will perform it in a township school on our first day. They will have to cope without me then! Meeting Ali and Geoff in the Table Bay Hotel before setting off for Calitzdorp where we shall be staying on a guest farm and meeting Joan and Trevor Teeton for dinner. Ali and Joan and I all went to school together!
2 more sleeps!
I have been thinking of Troy Davis in Georgia today. He has been incarcerated for 22 years and in spite of protestations of innocence will be executed at 7 pm tonight. I believe there is something cold blooded and savage about execution no matter whether it is by hanging or by lethal injection. A person's life is being snuffed out by another person...to me that is just as much a murder as that committed by a deranged killer.
I feel pride that Canada no longer has a death penalty...only then can we be sure that an innocent person is not killed by law.
Brenda has not been feeling 100% for a couple of days but I think may finally, after alot of sleeping (Gravol induced) today, have licked it. I hope we are all well for our visit to South Africa. Looking forward to greeting Jeannie but not to losing Brenda. Everyone wishes she could stay on for the whole voyage...with Evelyn Hannon who has been such a joy to spend time with. They will be flying to Toronto from Jo'burg together via Zurich.
Today is rather a blah day, lots of waves and white caps out at sea, lots of rocking around inside, rehearsal at 5 pm (I am now the prompt!) for our acting class and finally a drink at 6 pm in the lounge. George and I have been going to bed early after watching Alan Bennett films in our cabin. Great fun!
Tomorrow we have a "girls night out" with our extended family, Emma, Rachel, Gerry and Lilly, plus Brenda, Evelyn and me. We shall start off in our cabin with soft drinks and go on to supper in the garden dining room but have to disperse for the Logistical Pre-port in the Union. Also at 7 pm there will be a performance (dress rehearsal) of the African play I am prompting (yes Michael wants me there sitting at the side)! They will perform it in a township school on our first day. They will have to cope without me then! Meeting Ali and Geoff in the Table Bay Hotel before setting off for Calitzdorp where we shall be staying on a guest farm and meeting Joan and Trevor Teeton for dinner. Ali and Joan and I all went to school together!
2 more sleeps!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Silver Wedding Anniversary
18th September 2011
Silver Wedding
Twenty five years is quite a milestone isn’t it? I didn’t mind marking the occasion last night because for us it has been a turbulent but exciting journey.
George and I met first I think at an audition or rehearsal, not sure which, in 1979, at McMaster University for a play written by the university librarian, Walter Reedy. It was called Losers Keepers and was about the Celts…Walter himself was Welsh. I have to confess that I found the play confusing, it was a collection of strange and comic scenes. Fortunately I was cast as the Welsh mother in a mining family. The set was the interior of the small miner’s cottage: the front room…combined kitchen dining/living room. George was cast as my husband, my youngest daughter Fiona was asked to play our daughter….a foretaste of things to come! This turned out to be the most realistic and ‘normal’ scene in the play. I loved the entrance music…We’ll keep a welcome in the hillsides…”, whatever I sounded I felt Welsh as I walked on stage.
George and I didn’t get on particularly well, I thought he mugged too much and he thought I was a prima donna…something no one else has ever accused me of! What I considered practical questions which I asked our director, David Inman, George thought proved my prima-donna status! One had to do with the basic furniture for heaven’s sake…I believe his mind was already made up! Anyway he was engaged to someone else and preoccupied so apart from playing husband and wife on stage we had little interaction off it.
I met him again at an audition for ‘Hamlet’ when I was auditioning for the role of Gertrude. That play came to naught and we never heard why. There were at least three drama groups functioning at the University in those days and our paths crossed numerous times over the years. Both our marriages ended in divorce and we were cast together once again in Charlie’s Aunt at the Players Guild in Hamilton…I playing the ‘real’ Aunt. That was in 1984.
After rehearsals we would wander off to the nearest pub, sometimes with other cast members but often on our own. We had a few drinks and long conversations and then George would see me on to the Dundas bus. On one occasion having been asked to a work colleague’s wedding I asked George to accompany me not particularly wanting to go on my own. I had given up my car to save money so borrowed an old cloncker from a neighbour in the Co-op we shared in a huge old Dundas house . It was an automatic but one had to drive it as a standard which I had got down to a fine art. George was impressed with my success in making the car go at all and offered to lend me his Le Car whilst he was on summer holiday in Europe. I accepted gladly and had to remind myself how to drive a standard correctly which I had not done for many years. It was such a generous offer and enabled Fiona, her friend Katie and I to drive to Southampton (In Ontario) and have a lovely holiday ourselves beside Lake Huron.
George , my great friend Audrey Diemert and I had taken to going up to Toronto together to see plays and movies so we had become friends and enjoyed each other’s company. When he was returning from Europe Audrey and I had gone together to pick him up at the airport. On this occasion Audrey suggested that I should go alone and I protested…why should I? I asked….’Because I think he would like that’ she replied. I was taken aback having noticed no preference on his part for my company. Besides I hated that drive to the airport, it was confusing and very fast and I needed her company. No said my most amenable friend, I had never known her so uncooperative. So I picked George up on my own and he seemed fairly happy to see me.
One night George called me at home where I was snuggled up with Fiona watching TV. ‘Would you like to come to the Dominican Republic with me?’ he asked. ‘Sounds lovely’ I replied ‘But there is no way I can afford it’, ‘Oh I’ll pay’ he said ‘I would enjoy your company’. I asked for time to think about it and conferred with Fiona, Audrey and my friend Liz Inman. Their combined opinion was that I should accept ‘But’ said Liz ‘Don’t hurt George!’ what? I thought…this is my friend telling me not to hurt a man! I was stunned. It was not my habit to do so and I still have trouble understanding the warning! However, Liz had known George for many more years than I had so I overlooked the remark.
We had an eventful holiday in the DR. First of all I lost my reading glasses on the beach and we could not find them in the sand….this meant that George started reading to me in the evenings which I loved. The second point of interest was that I was in 7th heaven being in the tropics again amidst swaying palms and sunny skies. George didn’t like our room and the constant and fairly strong breeze, in fact was disappointed with the place. I hadn’t had a holiday like this for some years and it was like a gift from the Gods…I was as happy as I could possibly be with everything! Last but definitely not least George became very ill with vomiting and diarrhoea…as did about 50% of the visitors at the resort. I was fine! There was a doctor on site fortunately so she visited George and put him on an antibiotic. He had somewhat recovered by or last day and we flew home.
George had been visiting Hvar in Yugoslavia for some years and was preparing to go again in the following summer. I decided to take out a loan from the bank and follow him there during my own much shorter holidays. I flew to Munich and then on to Split by train and from there took a beautiful ferry ride to Hvar. There as we drew nearer I spied a figure sitting near the harbour sitting on the rocks reading a book….George. I met his friends and loved the place and the ambience. We were married before the next summer when we both visited again. Shortly afterwards the war broke out and we have never been back….I think George still misses it.
George proposed to me on a camping trip to the Algonquin Park in Ontario. We had been camping overnight on an island with my little dog ‘Fiki. We awoke to rain and a strong wind but decided to try to make it back to the centre from which we had rented our canoe. It involved at least two portages and a few hours on the lake…it was rough and choppy and, between paddling hard, I held up one of G’s shirts to act as a sail and speed us along! Eventually, tired and wet, we decided to tie up the canoe and rest on a smooth, pancake shaped rock. We each had a swig of reviving brandy and George proposed. I had a splitting headache, was hungry and irritable and I couldn’t at first believe my ears. Then I thought that if he could ask me to marry him seeing me at my worst; no make up, possibly scowling, hair like a birds nest….then I should accept quickly before he changed his mind. So I did!
We were married on the 18th September 1986 in the Hamilton registry Office on James South. Only my daughters and a few good friends were present: Sheona, Tessa (our photographer) and Fiona, Audrey Diemert, Bob Johnston and Gerard Valee. We held our tiny reception lunch in the Winking Judge, a pub nearby. Not an auspicious start perhaps but here we are, still together 25 years later!
Silver Wedding
Twenty five years is quite a milestone isn’t it? I didn’t mind marking the occasion last night because for us it has been a turbulent but exciting journey.
George and I met first I think at an audition or rehearsal, not sure which, in 1979, at McMaster University for a play written by the university librarian, Walter Reedy. It was called Losers Keepers and was about the Celts…Walter himself was Welsh. I have to confess that I found the play confusing, it was a collection of strange and comic scenes. Fortunately I was cast as the Welsh mother in a mining family. The set was the interior of the small miner’s cottage: the front room…combined kitchen dining/living room. George was cast as my husband, my youngest daughter Fiona was asked to play our daughter….a foretaste of things to come! This turned out to be the most realistic and ‘normal’ scene in the play. I loved the entrance music…We’ll keep a welcome in the hillsides…”, whatever I sounded I felt Welsh as I walked on stage.
George and I didn’t get on particularly well, I thought he mugged too much and he thought I was a prima donna…something no one else has ever accused me of! What I considered practical questions which I asked our director, David Inman, George thought proved my prima-donna status! One had to do with the basic furniture for heaven’s sake…I believe his mind was already made up! Anyway he was engaged to someone else and preoccupied so apart from playing husband and wife on stage we had little interaction off it.
I met him again at an audition for ‘Hamlet’ when I was auditioning for the role of Gertrude. That play came to naught and we never heard why. There were at least three drama groups functioning at the University in those days and our paths crossed numerous times over the years. Both our marriages ended in divorce and we were cast together once again in Charlie’s Aunt at the Players Guild in Hamilton…I playing the ‘real’ Aunt. That was in 1984.
After rehearsals we would wander off to the nearest pub, sometimes with other cast members but often on our own. We had a few drinks and long conversations and then George would see me on to the Dundas bus. On one occasion having been asked to a work colleague’s wedding I asked George to accompany me not particularly wanting to go on my own. I had given up my car to save money so borrowed an old cloncker from a neighbour in the Co-op we shared in a huge old Dundas house . It was an automatic but one had to drive it as a standard which I had got down to a fine art. George was impressed with my success in making the car go at all and offered to lend me his Le Car whilst he was on summer holiday in Europe. I accepted gladly and had to remind myself how to drive a standard correctly which I had not done for many years. It was such a generous offer and enabled Fiona, her friend Katie and I to drive to Southampton (In Ontario) and have a lovely holiday ourselves beside Lake Huron.
George , my great friend Audrey Diemert and I had taken to going up to Toronto together to see plays and movies so we had become friends and enjoyed each other’s company. When he was returning from Europe Audrey and I had gone together to pick him up at the airport. On this occasion Audrey suggested that I should go alone and I protested…why should I? I asked….’Because I think he would like that’ she replied. I was taken aback having noticed no preference on his part for my company. Besides I hated that drive to the airport, it was confusing and very fast and I needed her company. No said my most amenable friend, I had never known her so uncooperative. So I picked George up on my own and he seemed fairly happy to see me.
One night George called me at home where I was snuggled up with Fiona watching TV. ‘Would you like to come to the Dominican Republic with me?’ he asked. ‘Sounds lovely’ I replied ‘But there is no way I can afford it’, ‘Oh I’ll pay’ he said ‘I would enjoy your company’. I asked for time to think about it and conferred with Fiona, Audrey and my friend Liz Inman. Their combined opinion was that I should accept ‘But’ said Liz ‘Don’t hurt George!’ what? I thought…this is my friend telling me not to hurt a man! I was stunned. It was not my habit to do so and I still have trouble understanding the warning! However, Liz had known George for many more years than I had so I overlooked the remark.
We had an eventful holiday in the DR. First of all I lost my reading glasses on the beach and we could not find them in the sand….this meant that George started reading to me in the evenings which I loved. The second point of interest was that I was in 7th heaven being in the tropics again amidst swaying palms and sunny skies. George didn’t like our room and the constant and fairly strong breeze, in fact was disappointed with the place. I hadn’t had a holiday like this for some years and it was like a gift from the Gods…I was as happy as I could possibly be with everything! Last but definitely not least George became very ill with vomiting and diarrhoea…as did about 50% of the visitors at the resort. I was fine! There was a doctor on site fortunately so she visited George and put him on an antibiotic. He had somewhat recovered by or last day and we flew home.
George had been visiting Hvar in Yugoslavia for some years and was preparing to go again in the following summer. I decided to take out a loan from the bank and follow him there during my own much shorter holidays. I flew to Munich and then on to Split by train and from there took a beautiful ferry ride to Hvar. There as we drew nearer I spied a figure sitting near the harbour sitting on the rocks reading a book….George. I met his friends and loved the place and the ambience. We were married before the next summer when we both visited again. Shortly afterwards the war broke out and we have never been back….I think George still misses it.
George proposed to me on a camping trip to the Algonquin Park in Ontario. We had been camping overnight on an island with my little dog ‘Fiki. We awoke to rain and a strong wind but decided to try to make it back to the centre from which we had rented our canoe. It involved at least two portages and a few hours on the lake…it was rough and choppy and, between paddling hard, I held up one of G’s shirts to act as a sail and speed us along! Eventually, tired and wet, we decided to tie up the canoe and rest on a smooth, pancake shaped rock. We each had a swig of reviving brandy and George proposed. I had a splitting headache, was hungry and irritable and I couldn’t at first believe my ears. Then I thought that if he could ask me to marry him seeing me at my worst; no make up, possibly scowling, hair like a birds nest….then I should accept quickly before he changed his mind. So I did!
We were married on the 18th September 1986 in the Hamilton registry Office on James South. Only my daughters and a few good friends were present: Sheona, Tessa (our photographer) and Fiona, Audrey Diemert, Bob Johnston and Gerard Valee. We held our tiny reception lunch in the Winking Judge, a pub nearby. Not an auspicious start perhaps but here we are, still together 25 years later!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sailing day...
Of course when we arrived at our lovely open air dining room, sharp at 6.30 am, there were no people, let alone breakfast. I made my way towards the kitchen and bumped into Abigail. She clapped her hand to her mouth and turned to run shouting "I will fetch them!' A few moments later she reappeared followed by the whole kitchen contingent and they cooked us the fastest meal ever....eggs and toast, apple juice and coffee. We departed from our beautiful haven soon afterwards heading now towards Akosombo for one night and then returning to the ship the following day.
We travelled on a remarkably smooth road. When I remarked on its good condition William said "This was the government before the last. they were trying so hard to improve things in Ghana. If you want to compare that regime with the last one, look at the parallel road which we took from Tema. Those potholes tell you at once about that government....they were terrible, corrupt through and through." An interesting analogy for the two differing presidents too, one conscientious and one corrupt. William approves of the present President but thinks he needs more 'courage' to clean up the corruption and malaise which has 'infected' the Ghanaian people.
It was on our way to Akosombo that we passed a horrendous bus accident which had taken place a few hours before. The fronts of each bus were destroyed and burnt going back about a third....seats crumpled and blackened. I remarked to Brenda that there must have been loss of life. She picked up a newspaper the next day in which the head line read '22 people killed in bus crash on Kumasi to Accra road'. The driving in Ghana as I mentioned before is chaotic and insane. How there are not many more accidents I cannot tell but what we witnessed filled me with amazement and fear.
We had a very, very early 'lunch' of coffee, snack and washroom break at 10.30 am...the same restaurant we had patronised and waited so long in on our way north. They remembered us and moved minimally more swiftly!
We arrived at the Akosombo Dam in the late afternoon and were shown around by a young man, Fred, who was a Legon university engineering student working his holiday there. We were driven right above the dam, looking down on 6 huge pipes, 6 enormous water gates and the 'embankment' dam. My eventual photos will illustrate this better. Suffice to say that this was our most impressive sight in Ghana. It supplies electricity to 99% of the Ghanaian people, to Togo and Benbin and Bukina Faso and the Cote d'Ivoire, also a small part of Northern Nigeria. Certainly there has been a huge amount of aid from Canada in the form of experts and engineers and the fact that we were Canadian thrilled Fred to bits. I was interested to see on the top of a hill opposie the dam the house which Kwame Nkrumah built for himself...what a view he had of the dam, built partly during his regime.
We spent the night right on the river in a rather pretty little hotel. We sat that night on our balcony, drinking wine and eating supper, and feeling so fortunate to have experienced Ghana as we had. In the morning (after sharing a Queen sized bed...they had no 'twins') we drank our tea and coffee on a gazebo built out into the river right opposite our cottage. We set off for Tema after breakfast at about 8 am.
We arrived back in Tema shortly before noon and bade fond farewell and gave many, many thanks to William for being such a wondeful mentor and guide for Ghana. We realised when we heard other adventures how extraordinarily lucky we had been.
We both heaved a sigh of contentment as we sailed through our on-board security check and walked into our 'home'....welcoming and cool! The gangway was level with the quay on the second deck making our boarding smooth and easy.
It was good to flop down in our cabin, throw all the dirty clothes into the laundry and finally be horizontal on the bed! And it was good to see George again.
Today, on our 25th wedding anniversary I give silent thanks that 47 years after I lived in Ghana I have been able to return, seen new parts and loved every minute.
We travelled on a remarkably smooth road. When I remarked on its good condition William said "This was the government before the last. they were trying so hard to improve things in Ghana. If you want to compare that regime with the last one, look at the parallel road which we took from Tema. Those potholes tell you at once about that government....they were terrible, corrupt through and through." An interesting analogy for the two differing presidents too, one conscientious and one corrupt. William approves of the present President but thinks he needs more 'courage' to clean up the corruption and malaise which has 'infected' the Ghanaian people.
It was on our way to Akosombo that we passed a horrendous bus accident which had taken place a few hours before. The fronts of each bus were destroyed and burnt going back about a third....seats crumpled and blackened. I remarked to Brenda that there must have been loss of life. She picked up a newspaper the next day in which the head line read '22 people killed in bus crash on Kumasi to Accra road'. The driving in Ghana as I mentioned before is chaotic and insane. How there are not many more accidents I cannot tell but what we witnessed filled me with amazement and fear.
We had a very, very early 'lunch' of coffee, snack and washroom break at 10.30 am...the same restaurant we had patronised and waited so long in on our way north. They remembered us and moved minimally more swiftly!
We arrived at the Akosombo Dam in the late afternoon and were shown around by a young man, Fred, who was a Legon university engineering student working his holiday there. We were driven right above the dam, looking down on 6 huge pipes, 6 enormous water gates and the 'embankment' dam. My eventual photos will illustrate this better. Suffice to say that this was our most impressive sight in Ghana. It supplies electricity to 99% of the Ghanaian people, to Togo and Benbin and Bukina Faso and the Cote d'Ivoire, also a small part of Northern Nigeria. Certainly there has been a huge amount of aid from Canada in the form of experts and engineers and the fact that we were Canadian thrilled Fred to bits. I was interested to see on the top of a hill opposie the dam the house which Kwame Nkrumah built for himself...what a view he had of the dam, built partly during his regime.
We spent the night right on the river in a rather pretty little hotel. We sat that night on our balcony, drinking wine and eating supper, and feeling so fortunate to have experienced Ghana as we had. In the morning (after sharing a Queen sized bed...they had no 'twins') we drank our tea and coffee on a gazebo built out into the river right opposite our cottage. We set off for Tema after breakfast at about 8 am.
We arrived back in Tema shortly before noon and bade fond farewell and gave many, many thanks to William for being such a wondeful mentor and guide for Ghana. We realised when we heard other adventures how extraordinarily lucky we had been.
We both heaved a sigh of contentment as we sailed through our on-board security check and walked into our 'home'....welcoming and cool! The gangway was level with the quay on the second deck making our boarding smooth and easy.
It was good to flop down in our cabin, throw all the dirty clothes into the laundry and finally be horizontal on the bed! And it was good to see George again.
Today, on our 25th wedding anniversary I give silent thanks that 47 years after I lived in Ghana I have been able to return, seen new parts and loved every minute.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Goodbye Ghana....
We were indeed the only visitors to the Lake Bosomtwe Paradise resort. It was lovely to walk around this beautiful place and have it all to ourselves except for the very laid back staff. I say laid back because they had time to play table tennis and drafts off the dining room area. They chatted and laughed , watched the TV which was behind their service counter and in a rather languid manner brought us breakfast and supper. They were wonderfully friendly and we exchanged email addresses before we left. I asked Abigail, the young woman serving meals to us 'Would you like to travel?' and she responded 'It is my dream!' It was also William's dream and the Legon university student's who showed us around the Akosombo Dam. He was more specific: because many of the expatriots who are working on the dam site are Canadian, Fred's dream is to come to Canada and study engineering.
We spent our first morning relaxing. It was great to take our time and have no deadlines....not until 1 pm anyway when we were to meet William at the car. We would go to lunch at noon and have plenty of time. We read our books on the balcony, looking out at heavy dark skies which threatened to drown our afternoon in Kumasi, and our visit to the bead market.
We turned up a little late for lunch so ordered a Ghanaian dish of Red-red (spicy beans and onion), fried plantains and chips...easy and quick we thought. It came after about 40 minutes. William shook his head in disgust and wandered outside to wait for us. He was fortunately very forgiving and always blamed the Ghanaian side of the equation. We set off for Kumasi...the big city.
Brenda had some requests: beads for her daughter and a Ghanaian football jersey for her son. So we first searched for the soccer jersey and eventually found one the right colour and size. It started to rain! Brenda kindly offered to share her umbrella but I decided to soak up and enjoy the moisture. We continued our searches whilst drops of water and sweat drenched my hair and face...what a sight (I should say 'fright') I was!
After also finding a bottle of wine we headed off to the bead market which only operates on a Thursday so we were in luck. What a colourful sight it was: tables loaded with all shapes, sizes and colours of beads. A feast for the eyes. We wandered slowly round and made our individual choices. There were Brits there and it was good to hear their accents! It struck me that, unusually, we had not met one person or group from Semester at Sea...and we never did until the shuttle bus back to the ship in Tema.
Our next stop was the Coti waterfalls. This was about an hour's drive away and William casually informed us that there were 125 steps down to the Falls and of course....back up again. I inwardly groaned...it was hot and humid and I felt that my asthma was not far off. In the event I managed the steps easily down and slowly up. William and Brenda were kind and patient so all was well.
The twin falls were absolutely stunning falling sharply down about 400 ft with a smokey mist rising over the swirling pool below. There was a small beach with whispy trees and a welcome coolness in the shade. We stood riveted, it was such a soothing therapeutic sight and we were reluctant to leave.... I was naturally postponing the inevitable climb back to the car!
Climb back we did and returned to Bosomtwe, stopping only to take photos of some incredible views over 'our' lake! We had a supper of boiled yams and Palava sauce....delicious! The sauce contained spinach, tomatoes, beans, onions and spices: the boiled yams were like white round slices of a very crumbly bread....strange but a perfect accompaniment for the sauce.
We went to bed at about 9 pm that night tired and relaxed....after a glass or two of wine! We left instructions for our 6.30 am breakfast as we were to make the 250km journey to Akosombo for our last night.
I really will finish this tomorrow! George is sound asleep and my lids are heavy. The computer lab is going to take a look at my connection to my pictures tomorrow and see why I cannot get them to the blogsite. I truly hope to be able to add some soon.
For now Kwaheri, sleep well!
We spent our first morning relaxing. It was great to take our time and have no deadlines....not until 1 pm anyway when we were to meet William at the car. We would go to lunch at noon and have plenty of time. We read our books on the balcony, looking out at heavy dark skies which threatened to drown our afternoon in Kumasi, and our visit to the bead market.
We turned up a little late for lunch so ordered a Ghanaian dish of Red-red (spicy beans and onion), fried plantains and chips...easy and quick we thought. It came after about 40 minutes. William shook his head in disgust and wandered outside to wait for us. He was fortunately very forgiving and always blamed the Ghanaian side of the equation. We set off for Kumasi...the big city.
Brenda had some requests: beads for her daughter and a Ghanaian football jersey for her son. So we first searched for the soccer jersey and eventually found one the right colour and size. It started to rain! Brenda kindly offered to share her umbrella but I decided to soak up and enjoy the moisture. We continued our searches whilst drops of water and sweat drenched my hair and face...what a sight (I should say 'fright') I was!
After also finding a bottle of wine we headed off to the bead market which only operates on a Thursday so we were in luck. What a colourful sight it was: tables loaded with all shapes, sizes and colours of beads. A feast for the eyes. We wandered slowly round and made our individual choices. There were Brits there and it was good to hear their accents! It struck me that, unusually, we had not met one person or group from Semester at Sea...and we never did until the shuttle bus back to the ship in Tema.
Our next stop was the Coti waterfalls. This was about an hour's drive away and William casually informed us that there were 125 steps down to the Falls and of course....back up again. I inwardly groaned...it was hot and humid and I felt that my asthma was not far off. In the event I managed the steps easily down and slowly up. William and Brenda were kind and patient so all was well.
The twin falls were absolutely stunning falling sharply down about 400 ft with a smokey mist rising over the swirling pool below. There was a small beach with whispy trees and a welcome coolness in the shade. We stood riveted, it was such a soothing therapeutic sight and we were reluctant to leave.... I was naturally postponing the inevitable climb back to the car!
Climb back we did and returned to Bosomtwe, stopping only to take photos of some incredible views over 'our' lake! We had a supper of boiled yams and Palava sauce....delicious! The sauce contained spinach, tomatoes, beans, onions and spices: the boiled yams were like white round slices of a very crumbly bread....strange but a perfect accompaniment for the sauce.
We went to bed at about 9 pm that night tired and relaxed....after a glass or two of wine! We left instructions for our 6.30 am breakfast as we were to make the 250km journey to Akosombo for our last night.
I really will finish this tomorrow! George is sound asleep and my lids are heavy. The computer lab is going to take a look at my connection to my pictures tomorrow and see why I cannot get them to the blogsite. I truly hope to be able to add some soon.
For now Kwaheri, sleep well!
More Ghana...
The storm continued unabated....fork and sheet lightening, the odd deafening clap of thunder, and the rain...what magnificent tropical rain, I LOVED it! William seemed unfazed as we bumped over non paved rocky roads in an almost solid blackness. 'Everybody goes inside and they turn off all their lights' William said and he was right, not a soul was to be seen anywhere and there were no comforting lighted windows. I couldn't believe I had remarked to George in the morning 'I wonder why we need a four wheel drive?' Had I totally forgotten West African roads.
Aside: I drove all over Nigeria with John in an ordinary Vauxhall over some pretty shoddy trails and unpaved roads. Driven always during working hours by a company driver, Johnson. He was perhaps my greatest friend in Nigeria because we spent many happy hours together talking, talking....waiting for John to conclude business in some out of the way agency or simply food shopping in the market. More important he was a superb driver and I shall not forget the first time he told me to 'Belt up Madam, this is a rotten road!' I should add that he was the most gentle and respectful of men. I remember him especially when I plunged into the crowded Onitsha market (the biggest in Africa?) where he had warned me white women did not often go. He was always one step behind me, or in front if he perceived any sort of threat be it an aggressive seller or someone asking me a ridiculous price. Oh Johnson where are you now?
Another Aside: We have just crossed the Equator! The captain warned us of the bump and the visibility of that significant line if we looked overboard down upon the water?! It was exactly 15.05 pm Saturday 17th Sept..both Brendas and many others were dunked in the pool this morning. Father Neptune watched over all the procedures, green from head to foot..alias Captain Jeremy Kingston. There was a head shaving ceremony...don't worry Frank, Brenda's hair is still all there!
We finally arrived at the Lake Bosomtwe Paradise Resort. We were greeted warmly and our bags taken to our room.
'By the way' I said immediately to the manager 'we are very, very hungry, where may we have supper?'
'Oh Madam' was the reply 'the kitchen has closed.'!
William jumped in
"it is not yet 9 o'clock, they should not have closed'
'But there was no one here' said Samuel, the manager.
'You were expecting us?' asked William,
'That is true' said Samuel....long pause and...stalemate.
'What can you give us?' I asked 'do you have chips?'
'Ah you would like chips?' Samuel's face brightens 'And chicken?'
'Fantastic!' say Brenda and I in one voice.
'And wine?' asks my on-the-ball friend
'$35.00' says Samuel
'Wha...?' I start...
'We'll have it!' says Brenda. I told you she was great to travel with!
So we eat our first dinner ashore in our lovely big room with the fan and air conditioner belting away....aaaah, cool, wonderful....pouf! The whole lot go off, there is a dark, deafening silence. We sit there stunned, blinking into the silent darkness and I think again
'Africa bloody Africa!'
About ten minutes later the power returned and we were able to see what we were devouring....both of us used lots of ketchup! We were enjoying ourselves....we had running water, hot and cold, comfortable firm beds and we were cooling down again.
We fell into bed after supper and slept soundly until day break. We awoke almost simultaneously and drew back the curtains. There in front of us was Lake Bosomtwe, surrounded by forest covered hills. Immediately below our balcony were manicured lawns and palm trees. There were two or three fishermen out on the lake. They sat on boards of wood looking for all the world as if they were wading. They appeared to be setting up their underwater nets. We could hear bird song and there were a multitude of tiny birds, crows, kingfishers and wagtails. I later spotted vultures and we saw a few hawks. Everywhere were gekos and larger coloured lizards. Hibiscus bushes bloomed, beauganvillia, morning glory and lots of varied bushes with multi coloured and patterned leaves. I felt a cloak of pure happiness descend on me...I was back in Africa, even the air felt familiar!
More later....I'll try to finish this tonight.
Aside: I drove all over Nigeria with John in an ordinary Vauxhall over some pretty shoddy trails and unpaved roads. Driven always during working hours by a company driver, Johnson. He was perhaps my greatest friend in Nigeria because we spent many happy hours together talking, talking....waiting for John to conclude business in some out of the way agency or simply food shopping in the market. More important he was a superb driver and I shall not forget the first time he told me to 'Belt up Madam, this is a rotten road!' I should add that he was the most gentle and respectful of men. I remember him especially when I plunged into the crowded Onitsha market (the biggest in Africa?) where he had warned me white women did not often go. He was always one step behind me, or in front if he perceived any sort of threat be it an aggressive seller or someone asking me a ridiculous price. Oh Johnson where are you now?
Another Aside: We have just crossed the Equator! The captain warned us of the bump and the visibility of that significant line if we looked overboard down upon the water?! It was exactly 15.05 pm Saturday 17th Sept..both Brendas and many others were dunked in the pool this morning. Father Neptune watched over all the procedures, green from head to foot..alias Captain Jeremy Kingston. There was a head shaving ceremony...don't worry Frank, Brenda's hair is still all there!
We finally arrived at the Lake Bosomtwe Paradise Resort. We were greeted warmly and our bags taken to our room.
'By the way' I said immediately to the manager 'we are very, very hungry, where may we have supper?'
'Oh Madam' was the reply 'the kitchen has closed.'!
William jumped in
"it is not yet 9 o'clock, they should not have closed'
'But there was no one here' said Samuel, the manager.
'You were expecting us?' asked William,
'That is true' said Samuel....long pause and...stalemate.
'What can you give us?' I asked 'do you have chips?'
'Ah you would like chips?' Samuel's face brightens 'And chicken?'
'Fantastic!' say Brenda and I in one voice.
'And wine?' asks my on-the-ball friend
'$35.00' says Samuel
'Wha...?' I start...
'We'll have it!' says Brenda. I told you she was great to travel with!
So we eat our first dinner ashore in our lovely big room with the fan and air conditioner belting away....aaaah, cool, wonderful....pouf! The whole lot go off, there is a dark, deafening silence. We sit there stunned, blinking into the silent darkness and I think again
'Africa bloody Africa!'
About ten minutes later the power returned and we were able to see what we were devouring....both of us used lots of ketchup! We were enjoying ourselves....we had running water, hot and cold, comfortable firm beds and we were cooling down again.
We fell into bed after supper and slept soundly until day break. We awoke almost simultaneously and drew back the curtains. There in front of us was Lake Bosomtwe, surrounded by forest covered hills. Immediately below our balcony were manicured lawns and palm trees. There were two or three fishermen out on the lake. They sat on boards of wood looking for all the world as if they were wading. They appeared to be setting up their underwater nets. We could hear bird song and there were a multitude of tiny birds, crows, kingfishers and wagtails. I later spotted vultures and we saw a few hawks. Everywhere were gekos and larger coloured lizards. Hibiscus bushes bloomed, beauganvillia, morning glory and lots of varied bushes with multi coloured and patterned leaves. I felt a cloak of pure happiness descend on me...I was back in Africa, even the air felt familiar!
More later....I'll try to finish this tonight.
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