It’s hard to believe that we have been in Ghana for 5 weeks and that this was our first real ‘leisure’ day out. Last night we experienced a huge tropical thunderstorm with lots of thunder, lightning and rain so the air was clear and fresh and the day relatively cool. We set off on our bikes with a picnic comprising a bottle of water and a packet of Crawford’s shortbread biscuits. 5km of dirt track later we arrived at the Black Volta River which forms the colonial era imposed border between Ghana and Burkina Faso. We just missed the ‘ferry’ across the 30 m wide river to the French speaking ex-colony of Burkina Faso on the other side. Whilst at the ferry crossing we received a Skype call to our mobile from Safi and the Horrockses in Cornwall; it was such a good thing to happen, the mobile reception was excellent and we exchanged ‘Father’s day greetings etc – it was really quite surreal. Ghana is rapidly developing its mobile communications networks; telephone lines hardly exist in the Upper West Region where we live; we hope that it won’t be too long before we are able to get Internet access here in Lawra, maybe within 12 months?We returned home after a plethora of conversations with many Dagaaba (the local residents): working in the fields, relaxing by their villages, travelling to and from church, and with a group just winding down after a ‘funeral’ in Dykpe (just 1 km from the river); the deceased was the 90 yr old mother of George, a Guidance Counsellor at the local secondary school where we live. We were invited to meet George and the local ‘band’ gave us an impromptu performance on their Xylophones and drums, a very special privilege which we captured on camera. So, a very good ‘first day out’ rounded off with Guinness and Coke in the Evergreen Garden Bar, an avocado and orange lunch at home and a good home made beef curry for supper!
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