Another day in paradise

Trip Start Sep 05, 2008

Trip End Jan 01, 2009

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Flag of Ghana Akwidaa, Ghana
Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I woke at 4am for the first light turtle watch. The sky was still very dark with no moon and few stars to brighten it. Emmanuel and I had to wake Annette as her alarm didn't go off. She sleeps in the dorm so I hesitated near the door, then decided to flash my torch into it so if I did wake anyone else it would seem more innocent. My trick worked and she was up and ready a few minutes later.

Once we got going, the three of us walked down the beach together. I had a nice chat with Emmanuel about teaching and turtles. He told me that "in the old times ..." (and I instantly got excited to here the local legend he was about to dish out) "... five or six years ago " the beach was covered in nesting green turtles. Now they are a rare sight on this beach. However, they have been actively nesting this week. The night watch spotted on last night and we saw one the previous night

Sunrise on the first light walk

. On our morning walk today we also found two sets of tracks leading to a nest and then back to the ocean, showing that 2 olive ridleys successfully laid their nests last night in addition to the one spotted in the act.

Our guide also pointed out two nests that are due to hatch any day now. How exciting! I will definitely join more night hikes if that is the case. Afterward we tallied the week's findings and it was a good week for nests. Then I had breakfast and did a bit of reading before turning in for a nap. It was pouring out when I went into my room, making it much easier to sleep without the heat overwhelming me. But when I woke the skies had cleared and the sun was out, heating up the day.

In the afternoon we walked to the village to meet with the wildlife club, consisting of about 60 students. Only about half of them showed up. We got them to design badges for the club and then had them vote on the best one. The winner, Abraham, got to pick a game for all the children to play. Good times.

I love the chaos of the village. The moment we enter we draw attention. You think the locals would be fairly used to obrunis but they act otherwise

Spying on the obrunis

. The adults near the village entrance will ask where we are going and if we know the way. Sometimes they ask if we want to go on a canoe trip. Once we get past them we enter the village madness. Women cooking and doing laundry look up at us as we pass. The young children yell "my friend! My friend!" to get our attention. Goats are scavenging all around us. Chickens and their chicks are always crossing the road. Actually it is just a dirt path that weaves its way between the shelters. Sheep look at us and let out an unconcerned baa. Once we have weaved our path to the bridge and crossed from Old Town to New Town, school children start walking with us. "My friend! My friend! What is your name?" Except they don't actually say "friend"; it sounds more like "fraaaaa". We occasionally jump over hurdles like mud puddles, or more often indents in the earth where a puddle once was, now filled with debris.

When we got back to the lodge after the club "meeting", I was very hot and dripping with sweat. Katherine and I decided to jump in the ocean where I quickly cooled down and twisted my ankle. It wasn't too bad though so I just ignored it and had a very long shower trying to get all the sand off my skin. Then we walked down the beach to get good sunset photos. Unfortunately the sun didn't cooperate with us so we returned for dinner. Agnus turned up, she was back at the lodge after only two days! I guess she missed us. It was really good to see her and we decided we should all go to Cape Coast on the weekend with her to meet up with her other friend Katherine. Should be a good girls trip!

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Katherine and I with the girls	Private school	Girls on a makeshift see-saw	Life in the village
Looking out over Old Town	Take our picture!	Fishing boats on the river