Two days at the lake with Tim, Carol, Ashley, Jeremy, Justin and Joanne on the last weekend in August. The perfect get-away, beautiful Lake Bosumtwi is less than 25 miles from our home in Kumasi. With so many project people coming to town to participate in business meetings the last weekend of this month, it was decided to spend the previous weekend at the lake for a bit of R&R and some pre-meeting meetings.
GET OUT OF TOWN
We rode to the lake with Jeremy, Justin, Tim, Carol and Joanne (not pictured) and were later joined by Ashley. Bob arranged roomy transport from Eric for the trip. Both Jeremy and Justin often use these vans, locally known as tro tros for transportation and Jeremy has aspirations towards becoming a tro mate some day. Our trip routed us past the infamous Garbage River which is choked with plastic packaging.
AHHHH!
We didn’t need a sign to tell us to slow down. Just driving down the road to Lake Pointe Guest House served to relax.
BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER TABLE
We ate all our meals and held meetings in the spacious open-aired dining room at Lake Pointe. Bob sits in front of a fruiting star fruit tree. Carol enjoys hot cocoa with the aid of a Giantthermocool thermos.
BREADFRUIT AND BOUGAINVILLEA
If you look closely, you will see the upright green, round fruit growing on the breadfruit tree. The fruit is much smaller and lighter in color than the enormous leaves. Interestingly, the flower of the bougainvillea is not the brightly colored leaf but the interior stamen-like structures.
SIMPLE FENCING
Simple construction using readily available materials such as bamboo in this case can be both effective and beautiful.
ELODIE AND FAMILY
Camille took advantage of our trip to the lake and joined Elodie for a ride over at Green Ranch. Along the way, we met her husband, Kojo. We proceeded to ride through town, across the soccer field (detouring around the speeding ball and running players) and all the way over to Lake Pointe and back. It was an ambitious two-hour trip but we made good time by trotting, cantering and even galloping a couple of times down the dusty dirt roads. Back at the ranch, we relaxed with lemonade and tea in the company of Elodie and Kojo’s happy little boy. In order to walk me back down to the road, Elodie tied her son onto her back with a big square of fabric and a two deftly tied knots.
Both Bob and Camille rode with Elodie last month. To see this story, please click on: The Green Ranch
THE OLD AND THE NEW
On an early morning walk, Camille was taken by the juxtaposition of old and new cultures exhibited by a bamboo fence with a metal Coca-Cola sign tacked to it.. A moment later a male Pin-tailed Whydah with his strikingly long tail and red colored beak landed on the fence.
PIN-TAILED WHYDAH
The same male Whydah in full breeding plumage. These birds are very common around the lake and we have read that, like the Common Cuckoo, the females lay their eggs in the nests of Estrildid Finches. Unlike the Cuckoo, Whydahs do not destroy their host’s eggs.
COCOA FARMERS
Their are approximately two dozen villages around the lake and we noticed many cocoa trees with ripening pods from the main road around the lake. It appears that the villagers get their calories from fish, cassava, coco yams, banana, plantain, chickens and goats and depend on the cocoa beans for a cash crop. While many of the villages straddle the main road, numerous paths lead road into the bush, presumably to other villages.
COCOA DRYING
Camille halted her horse, Venus to capture these images of cocoa beans drying in the sun. Cocoa is Ghana’s second largest export after gold and before lumber.
SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND
Army ants, seeking and finding. When finished consuming, they resume their hunting formation and march on.
ROCK AGAMA
This colorful lizard is a male Rock Agama in breeding attire. The female dresses in a brown camouflage and awaits the attentions of her suitor.
____________________________________________________________
[Latest] * [Troutsfarm] * [FS2BD Project Progress] * [Central Market] * [Local Color] * [Fun with Tamara] * [Around the House] * [Bosumtwi Revisited]
____________________________________________________________