Ghana Part 4: The Green Family Heritage Tour

The trip to our final destination, Bolgatanga, kicked off with a fizzle...  A 9am departure time was delayed because our bus driver was asleep after just completing the trip FROM Bolga the night before.  Apparently there was only one driver.  10am came and went... 11... 12... 1... and then finally around 2:30pm the bus started north!

The stationary bus...

We bumped and swayed upcountry well into the night.  Around 11:30pm I woke and we were unceremoniously dropped in a dark parking lot.  A taxi took us to the Christian Social House where we were assigned a room with questionable looking beds.  Too tired to really care, we draped whatever we had down under us and passed out until morning.

We woke and shared a massive bowl of what can best be described as a delicious Mexican jambalaya and embarked on the 

"GREEN FAMILY HERITAGE TOUR!"

Comparing our Lonely Planet map to a map that Lindsey's father, David, drew based on 30 year-old memories, we walked in the general direction toward the 'Green Compound.'  David had made a note to look for the road that had a 'school or hospital or church' on the corner.  Riiiiiiight.  After walking for some time we turned off the 4 lane highway (which apparently was a dirt road when the Greens were there) and kept a vigilant eye peeled for anything that might give us a clue where Peggy and David once lived.

Hospital this way!

The dusty roads and dry brush gave no clues.  We were armed only with hand drawn map and a half dozen photocopied Polaroids.  With no clues, we enlisted local help.  We asked an old woman if she knew where the huts were.  She was half def and had cataracts we soon discovered.  She called her friend over.  Her friend called her brother over and so on until we had attracted a crowd of 20+ people all discussing what these crazy 'obrunis' were doing.  Finally a man in his early-forties (making him around 12 when Lindsey's parents lived there) recognized the buildings! 

Following our leader

He led us through the Bolgatanga suburb, up dirt paths, through backyards and finally through some trees where we broke into a clearing to the GREEN COMPOUND!!! We found it!  The distinctive round concrete huts with corrugated metal roofs stood abandoned, but they stood nonetheless! 

The Green Compound
David and Peggy lived in the hut on the left.

We shot a couple of pictures and made our way back towards town for a celebratory beer and lunch!  For Lindsey this was a sweet little glimpse into her parent's life.  They would have been about her age when they lived in Bolga and while the city has changed dramatically in the past 30 years, there was a surreal feeling that we broke through that tree line and stepped into 1982.

I still can't believe we found their home.

Value.

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. They are Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends and have proper rest.

Value has a value only if its value is valued!”

Bryan Dyson
Former CEO Coca Cola

Ghana Part 3 - Eden

We said goodbye to the humid coastline and ventured north.  After only a few short days with my travel companions it became evident that the world appeared differently through my eyes than it did through theirs.  We were greeted by a hand-me-down fleet at the public bus station in Cape Coast.  We road in pools of our own sweat and our butts were numb within the first hour of the five hour ride up Swiss-cheese roads to Kumasi.

Kevin, Lindsey and Julia were blown away that there was a public bus station where buses left on time!  The numbness and sweating is to be expected.  I strive to have patience like this when life is not perfect.

Kumasi is a fascinating city filled with rich Ashanti culture, art and delicious street foods, which if Lindsey’s mom asks we didn’t eat!  In Kumasi the place to see is the market - we had heard it was intense.  When we arrived we discovered the market itself had long ago graduated beyond the market confines and ballooned into the surrounding streets!  The market and radiating streets all blurred together in a mosaic of yams the size of a baby, every African country’s soccer jersey, dismembered animal parts and leather sandals.

The leather sandal making was the coolest!  As we walked through the narrow market alleys the landscape evolved from market to factory.  Young men carved away at hunks of rubber.  The rubber was then hammered on to wood and the soles took shape.  The straps were fashioned and attached.  The assembly line ended and sandal vendors took over. We walked 100 yards and witnessed firsthand the creation of Ghanaian sandals from creation to sale.  This blew my mind and I love how simple, local and resourceful it is.

The next morning we pieced together a series of cab and tro tro rides until we eventually arrived at Abono, the closest town to Lake Bosumtwi.  Our cabbie tried to rip us off so on principle we hiked the last 5km to the Rainbow Garden Village.  We were the only ones there.  Sweaty and tired we showered and ordered food and lots of beer.

When the sun rose, I was wide-awake.  I drank two Nescafes and reflected on our journey thus far.  It was so peaceful.  It may have been the ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ labels on the outdoor latrines but the Rainbow Garden Village was felt like a little slice of Eden.  I felt so safe and at home at this place.  Runt kittens chased strange bugs, a goat bleated and a donkey brayed.  Young men fished with nets off boats made of driftwood and the rest of the world disappeared.