Today we desided to take a look at cape coast market. I heard that we should set of a day for the market, because it's so huge. When we arrived we saw a long track full of small stalls filled with vegetables, fruit, some kind of clothes, toys and food. It was a colorful market. It was many people there. When they saw us white people come, everybody wanted to sell us som stuff! I couldn't resist their deer eyes, so I bought a lot of "crap" with very good conscience of course!
This have been a instructive day, I got a new insight in their lifes. Have they could stand in the sun heat all day without any breaks and have they could provide for themselves and their family with selling some fruits and vegetables!
Around 70 per cent of Ghana’s urban residents live in slum conditions, SEVENTY PER CENT! It's unbelievable, and you don't understand how serious the problems in the slum are, before you see it yourself. The people in the slums have to fight to survive everyday! Everyday is a struggle, and when they go to bed alive it means they've just crossed the finish line. But next day, they have to start over again. Just think of how lucky we are, we can go home, eat, take a shower and go to a warm and comfy bed. We can take a break from it all. They can't. People die in the slum everyday, some people in the slum can kill for something we would call a piece of trash. Just a small bite of sheet metal is a good start to build a "house". And they can kill for a small bite of sheet metal.. When you go there, you want to take the people and the children back home.. You want to feed them, clean them, give them clothes and teach them things. But you can't, you can't save the world.. But you can help someone.. Now, when I'm writing this, I have so many impressions, and I just don't know what to do with them. I have learned something today, a lot actually.. Don't take anything for granted, and know how lucky you are! Well, I'm tired, sad and angry.. The world is so unfair. And I don't know how to explain my thoughts.. So, next time I will bring some happy thoughts from lovely Ghana, I hope..
See you soon! - Lone
"A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread."
- Georges Bernanos
I asked the touristinformation what we could do here in Kumasi, and they told me about a lake, called Lake Bosumtwi, 35km south from Kumasi. The lake is surrounded by crater and it was created by a large meteorite strike that took place around 1.07 million years ago. The lake is very big, and almost 90 meters deep. The crater around the lake is larger, with crater walls rising to 600m and covering an area of 49km². This is the largest natural fresh water body in Ghana, and is filled by rainwater. The legends say that in 1648 an Ashanti hunter named Akora Bompe from the city of Asaman was chasing an injured antelope through the rainforest. Suddenly, the animal disappeared in a small pond. It was as if this body of water wanted to save the animal's life. The hunter never got the antelope, though he settled close to the water and started catching fish. This place he named "Bosomtwe", meaning "good antelope". This story suggests that at that time the lake level was very low. The large dead trees standing offshore in the lake is also evidence of this, for they are over 300 years old. Enough facts, we talked to a local old lady and she said that the lake was a kind of mysterious, so we couldn't swim there, but it was so hot outside.. To our suprise it was a lot of african people and tourists swimming in the lake, so we swimmed although the old lady told us not to. If something creepy happens to us we'll shure tell you!
The travel was a kind of hectic and boring. We started early and took a flight to Oslo, and waited there for two hours. After that we took a flight to Amsterdam. We slept over at the airportmotel and it was a night full of butterflies in my stomach. Early dayafther we took a BIG plane to Ghana. The whole flight took cirka 13 hours + a night in Amsterdam.
We took a taxi to the motel, and got suprised over how beautiful it was! A crystal blue pool, a romantic resturant, a lot of pubs and of course the heat and sun.Everybody was very placable, and wanted to help us with everything. We was so exhausted afther the long travel, so we took a lazy day at the pool.
