Vilcabamba Hotel Denu

... looking for, do you know, and where to find" while in togo. she asked us what we wanted-and this is the point where i realized i NEVER paid attention when we learned words for food. I also realized that it may have been nice to know phrases like "it doesnt matter" or "anything" at this point, seeing that i am so indifferent in most situations, and those phrases wouldve helped here, too. I just gestured and said "quel que choses qui ne sont pas trop chere" (things that are not too ...

Hey Everybody,


I have arrived safely back in Canada, and, as such, this will be my last update about my trip. In my last week in Ghana, I was lucky to pack in a lot. On Friday, after a morning drum lesson, Ledzi and I went to Accra for the weekend. Ledzi is studying accounting at a university there on Saturdays, and I needed to do some last minute shopping for people back home. Getting to Accra was quite an adventure, but I now I have learned to expect a little ...

Hey Everybody, Super sorry that I haven't been able to update in a while. I am now settled in Dagbamete, where I will be staying for another couple of weeks. My last update was from Tamale, the day before we drove south across the entire country. We left at 6 am, and, after a couple of bus breakdowns, arrived at Legon ... 16 hours later. Before leaving for the village, we stayed overnight at the University. The hostel's clean(-ish) bathroom gave me the ...

... to say good night (my side of the conversation generally went ‘Oui?... Mhm... uh huh... non... mhm... bon nuit.’) until such point at which he called me in the middle of the night (alright, it was like 10 pm, but this is AFRICA and people sleep at about 9). If you know me, you will know that I am, as a general rule, Not A Happy Bunny if you wake me up.

He hasn’t called me since then.

I don’t know what happened to the meat flavoured cheese.

... buy her some blood (just in case) this morning - yes, you have to buy it in advance, and yes, you have to pay for it - and there was none left.

I asked Armand, though I knew the answer (I think I wanted him to tell me something else) - 'what would happen if there's a big road accident and someone loses lots of blood, and they come here, and there is none'. Armand answered, 'you die', and laughed 'ç'est la vie'.

Tuesday morning, we went to Art Center, rather than recovering from the weekend. I called my friend, Kwame, to let him know that we were coming. I met him the previous time I was there, and he was very polite, so I wanted to make sure he was there so that he would get my business. I got some really cool drums that are called akpala. They're  hand drums from Burkina Faso. I got a brief lesson on how to play it, but I really want some real lessons. I also bought some gifts ...

On to Sunday morning…..There was a reception at Aunty's house, but it was pouring rain, and we didn’t feel like being covered in mud, so we didn’t go. We hung out at the house until the rain let up a bit, and then we went for a walk around Anyako. While we were walking around, people were talking to Seshie about me (he didn’t say anything until later, but they were all talking about my drumming…..although he still didn’t tell me exactly ...

Wow…..okay, it's July 9th, and I haven’t written anything since the funeral (I’m sorry). So here goes!

Friday afternoon, our things hadn’t arrived yet. The truck was VERY late. Seshie and Jesse had made it okay. We decided to go to the wake with the clothing we had with us, and then change at Aunty Beatrice’s house when our luggage got there. So we walked. It had rained, so the ground was all muddy and I was walking with flip-flops. It flung all the mud ...

I'm finally in Anyako! Yesterday morning, we were all getting ready to leave, and we heard a nasty, nasty sound. Jesse had thrown up all over the living room floor, then ran outside, and threw up some more. We decided that he would stay in Abelemkpe for another night, and if he felt better the next morning, he’d come. So, all four of us girls squeezed into the back seat of Aunty Beatrice’s relative’s car. It was very uncomfortable, but we survived. The drive is usually ...

The standard tourist itinerary through Ghana goes something like this: Accra, across to some coastal forts and beaches, up to Kumasi, and home. You will note that Ho is not on this itinerary (really, there's not much reason to visit as tourist) and nor is Keta. West of Accra, the country's beaches are well-developed and touristed. East of Accra, they remain deserted. I don't know why. Keta is east of Accra.

Saturday morning, Alon, Kelly, and I are up at 5, the fourth time this week ...