Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tropical tree #2 - a pictorial Christmas post

So, I made the Christmas chocolate squares afterall - and managed to save them for our trip up the coast to the sailing club in Ada for Christmas. And they were excellent! Decadent. And I shared.

We had a second Christmas tree for our secret Santa out at the beach (the gifts included an Obama apron from classic Ghana cloth and some Kasapreko Alomo Bitters (a tonic to make men 'strong and virile')!



On the way out to the beach we had the pleasure of the Ghana Christmas traffic, and all it's sights:

Hemasie!!! (No clue whether this is spelled correctly) These are the traditional ghouls of the holiday season in Accra. They've been invading compounds and traffic lights since I can remember, scaring the children and extorting money, while entertaining all. The public seems to have a love hate relationship with them. As for me - I'm not a fan:

The hemasie outfits have always been pretty similar - bright clown type costumes, with creepy painted brown masks like this:



But it seems the modern world has infiltrated even this tradition in Ghana - since now they are using rubber Halloween masks instead. What a sight at your car window!



Then we saw a young girl, literally wobbling under the weight and mass of her wares:



And right after her, followed other members of the family:





In front of us at quite a few traffic lights was a pick-up truck (that's a bakkie to JW), full to capacity with bags and a bunch of young girls, excited and giggling. I used to love sitting in the back of a truck. But when they kept up along side us on the highway, I couldn't help think how dangerous it is... The funny thing is that the police have started to pull us over checking for seatbelts while trucks like this zoom past... sigh...



We came up beside a fancy Ghana hearse all decked out, and cracked up when some very alive inhabitants peered out and waved...



The long drives are just never boring. There was the bread seller:



and the tiger nut seller who was doing a booming trade with the tro-tros...



And the last minute gift idea - the massive clock!



We had some non-vehicular traffic to deal with along the way as well - a shepherd and his flock (and some resulting dust!)



Eventually we did arrive at the beach, and proceeded to vegitate. Amongst lots of eating, drinking and some sailing. At night, we shared our little rooms with a din of mosquitos, held back by our enveloping netting, the muggy heat, and the throbbing sounds from the nearby spot, who celebrated into the wee hours, with a 5 song repertoire...

On Christmas day, a sail up to the mouth of the river, opening into the ocean, we came across supper in the form of four massive fresh cassava fish, caught by a lovely couple in their canoe, and all for under $15.



Boxing Day's supper arrived at first as a visitor. A sheep who spent the night in our midst, bleating randomly, and found to be alert and pacing on my midnight trip to the loo... In the morning he watched the sun come up, but before 9am the deed was done. Soon he was marinating in garlic and spices, and then onto the coals of the barbeque... The executioner and his mates enjoyed the full head and various entrails, while a gang of other expats descended on the club and devoured the rest. A true feast was had by all.



We made it through a Christmas without snow, mistletoe, turkey or stuffing. Ghana gave us her best - sunshine, fresh fish, warm river water for swimming.

She offered up a sheep and entertained us through the night, whether it was wanted or not. Ghana gave us her sights and sounds and shared the holiday with us.

The police graced each roadblock with a smile and a hand reached out - it's Christmas oh!

Afehyia Paa everyone! Ghana-style.
Thanks For Making This Possible! Kindly Bookmark and Share it.

Technorati Digg This Stumble Stumble Facebook Twitter

66 comments:

Manon said...

Holli,
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier! Wow! Love yours! I am now also following!!
Happy New Year!!
manon

Juanita said...

nice, the hemasie brought back memories..lol and the hearse comment was genius hehe!
Happy new year Holli! FYI love your tree ;-)

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Hemasie. They would come to my house at least 3 times over xmas holidays because I would always give them big dash. They would chase the children and dirty dance with the all the moms in the compound. I am not a fan of the rubber halloween masks though. Afe nko meto yen (?) Much love Auntie T
P.S I want the Obama apron.

Barbara said...

Ooooh, those clown guys just freak me out. I go out of my way to avoid them at intersections here in Tema. I'd rather meet Pennywise in a dark alley threatening to rip my arm off at the shoulder. ;-)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Holli!

Barb

The pale observer said...

@Manon - thanks for coming over to the Ramblings as well!!! Happy New Year!

Juanita, Tess, Barb - those hemasie are something else - does anyone know their origin???

Thanks all for the comments!

Amy E. Zimmer said...

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing! Are you giving out the tonic recipe or is it a fam. secret! We did well in S.A. Legs still sore from making the mistake of cabling up Table Mtn and walking down! OUCH! Those quads are alive! Hoping your New Year is remarkable as you are! Cheers, Amy

Poindexter said...

thanks for the glimpse into your holiday. Wishing you happiness and blessings in 2010.

isabelle said...

thanks for visiting...
i am so very interested by your blog: so far away from my life!

Raine said...

Sounds like you had a fun christmas! The water looks so serene.

Those clowns used to scare the bejesus out of me as a kid-- I saw one last year and it still scared the bejesus out of me. Very very creepy.

I'm glad everyone in the hearse was alive and well ;)

Travel & Dive Girl said...

Thanks for a great post and giving us a little peek at Christmas in Ghana.

Blunt Edges said...

some great snaps those!

wish u a wonderful new year :D

Karen said...

Wow, Christmas in Ghana brought to vibrant life - y'know the Pale Observer shoots a mean pic and weaves a great scene. Poor bloody goat, though!

Holli, forgive me, I'm covered in shame for not getting those figures to you yet. In all the rush, I left the workings in the UK, but will draft new from our account sheet and fire them over. Wishing you a knockout 2010 - !

Unknown said...

What a feast for the eyes - as always.

Christmas in Ghana certainly sounds unforgettable!

Shame about the goat though....

All the best for 2010 :)

Wendy T - Mint Tea said...

What a wonderful post!!! Lovely pictures! Happy New Year from Morocco!

Mr & Mrs John said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog, Holli! Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, too!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this post.. The photos took me with you on a trip.^^

Have a Happy New Year!^^

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing the warmth, fun, and humor of Christmas in Ghana. Christmas here in Washington, DC was too cold and relatively uneventful. I'm so sick with nostalgia now. I'm fiending for spicy lamb soup, Ghanaian style.

Have a Happy 2010.

Land of shimp said...

Aw yes, the musical Christmas Sheep! Famed in song and story as tradition throughout the world, warning children of what will happen if they have been "baaaaaaaa-d" (Oh come on, someone had to!)

For some reason I like to imagine the man with the clock is just randomly standing around with a clock rather than selling it.

Perhaps he's father time. How apropos for New Year's!

'Cross the Pond said...

Photos are absolutely fantastic! Thanks for posting.

AutoDT said...

Happy New Year!!!

Cyrus:)

beauty said...

Your Christmas sounds amazing and so different to mine in snowy England.!! Thank you for sharing a glimpse of your life - puts everything into perspective

Beauty

Mary and Sean said...

Love the pictorial Xmas, Ghana style! Never underestimate the value of a huge clock as a gift!

We saw similar sights on our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, including the toilet paper carrying on the head thing. What is up with that?

Sherrie Petersen said...

I loved hearing how you celebrate in Ghana. It's so different from North America, but it still sounds like a wonderful time. I always enjoy reading your ramblings :)

#167 Dad said...

I always enjoy experiencing Ghana through your blog.

Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

thanks for stopping by my blog - Ghana looks interesting!
Will be back here to read about life there

Enchanted Oak said...

I also thank you for stopping by my blog. Just popped in to pay a return visit and was fascinated by my visual trip through Ghana. I'll be back!
Chris in California

Gutsy Living said...

How fascinating to see your life. Part of me is envious as I long for a "different" life full of adventure. I know we always long for the opposite of what we have but a nice balance of each: simplicity vs. materialism, would be nice. Happy New Year.

Rob Siemann said...

Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog! Your's is really cool, love the header! I passe through Ghana some 20 odd years ago, and I still have the fondest memories about it.

Kathleen said...

Hello again! Love your blog, what beautiful photos :) Looking forward to reading some more...

Anonymous said...

Hi Holli! Thanks for dropping by my blog. What a lovely post although my eldest would have been hysterically frightened as a toddler by those masks at the window. Clowns, Santa Claus, anyone dressed up - he hated them all.

The pale observer said...

Happy New Year everyone one!!! I've had constipation since the 1st - can't seem to get a post out!!! Today will be the day though, I'm sure :)

Then time to come visit all your lovely blogs - they do inspire me!

The pale observer said...

Happy New Year everyone one!!! I've had constipation since the 1st - can't seem to get a post out!!! Today will be the day though, I'm sure :)

Then time to come visit all your lovely blogs - they do inspire me!

julochka said...

hmm, that reminds me, we need toilet paper.

happy new year to you, by the way! i'm only just catching up now. :-)

if you want to know about getting bigger pix, please email me. it's easy enough, just a bit boring as a comment.

:-)
/julie

Beauty Is Diverse said...

Happy New Year. nice photos.

Anonymous said...

good, i just made even more fresh emo backgrounds 2 my blog
http://www.emo-backgrounds.info

Anonymous said...

Речь об одном парне, который у меня уже много лет почему-то из головы не идет. А уже и замуж сходила и отношения различные были, на данный момент пауза, неохота даже в люди выходить, сижу и думаю о собственной жизни. Ну и опять же, он вспоминается. Последней раз виделись 3 года назад. В школе он был в меня влюблен сильно похоже, а себя как идиотка вела закомплексованная. Потом вообще уехала из страны. Приехала через год на каникулы домой, кинула ему известие в контакт, привет, как жизнь, хочешь, давай встретимся и поболтаем. Он 2 дня не отвечал, я разозлилась и стерла его из друзей, вообщем детский сад естесственно. Ну и на этом как бы все. Через пару месяцев возвращаюсь домой, имеет ли резон что-то предвоспринимать? Мне тем более интересно будет послушать, что здесь местные мужики напишут, что девки скажут я приблизительно знаю.
ПыСы подруги сердца у него в данный момент нет

[url=http://2nt.ru/go/serial.php]Вообще любой сериал и особенно новинки я качаю тут [/url]
[url=http://2nt.ru/go/teets.php]Молодежное видео тут[/url]

Anonymous said...

Как говорилось на Seexi.net Здравствуйте! Хотим поехать с братом в Питер дня на 3-4 в ноябре. Меня интересует будет ли работать парк диво-остров и вообще до какого месяца он работает? Куда ещё стоит сходит, для того 16 летнему подростку было интересно? Где дешевле жить? Спасибо.

eco vacations costa rica said...

hi all, for weeks, I've been following your blog about xxxx, I love the approach that you give to this subject, thank you very much!

Anonymous said...

Всем привет, Могу предложить зайти на сайт, с огромным количеством информации по интересующей Вас теме.

Anonymous said...

Като Newbie, аз съм винаги търсят онлайн за предмети, които може да ми помогне. Благодаря ви Уау! Благодаря ви! Винаги съм искал да пиша в сайта си нещо подобно. Мога ли да взема част от вашия пост в блога си?

Anonymous said...

Всем привет, Спасибо за информацию, может, я тоже могу Вам чем-то помочь?

Meza said...

Happy New Year. nice photos.

Anonymous said...

PphYxl [url=http://chaneljponline.org/]シャネル 財布[/url] VywWta http://chaneljponline.org/ UvsUpw [url=http://www.coachjpsales.net/]コーチ アウトレット[/url] KxcIns http://www.coachjpsales.net/ DtqLxd [url=http://pradasjapan.net/]プラダ アウトレット[/url] XioHop http://pradasjapan.net/ CbvNkl [url=http://coachonsales.org/]コーチ バッグ アウトレット[/url] XeeWnl http://coachonsales.org/

Anonymous said...

Hi my fаmily member! I want to say that this aгtiсle іѕ аwеѕomе, nice
ωritten anԁ come with almost all ѕignificant infоs.

I'd like to peer extra posts like this .
Also visit my blog - loans for bad credit

Anonymous said...

Gгеat artіcle, just whаt I ωanted to fіnd.
Here is my web page ; 1 month loan

Anonymous said...

hey thеre and thank уou for your іnfo – I haѵe сertainly pіcked up anything nеw frοm right hеre.

I dіԁ howeνer expertіse several teсhnical isѕues using thiѕ ωeb ѕite, since I еxрerіenсed to relοаd thе ѕite a
lot of times previοus tо I сould get іt
to lоad corгeсtly. I had been wondеring іf
your hoѕting is OK? Not that Ӏ am complаіnіng, but sluggish loаdіng instances times wіll oftеn affeсt
your placement in google and could ԁаmage уouг high quаlity score if advertisіng аnd marketing with Adwords.
Well I аm аԁding this RSS to my email аnԁ
can lοоk out fοr a lot moгe of your respeсtiѵe interestіng
content. Make ѕurе you updаtе this agaіn
veгy soon.

Here is mу ωеbsitе :: quick cash loans
Also visit my web page ... quick cash loans

Anonymous said...

Your style is ѵerу unіque comparеԁ to otheг fоlκs I hаvе read stuff frоm.
I apρreciаtе you for рosting when you've got the opportunity, Guess I'll ϳust bookmarκ this
sіte.

Cheсk οut my homеpаge quick cash
my site - quick cash

Anonymous said...

Mаgnifіcent beat ! I woulԁ like
to аpprentice whilst you amеnd your webѕіte, how сould i subscribe for
a blog web sitе? The account helpeԁ me a аcсeptable
ԁeal. I have beеn tinу bit
fаmіlіar οf thiѕ youг brоaԁcast οffеred shіny cleаг conceρt

My blog - bad credit loans

Anonymous said...

It's fantastic that you are getting ideas from this post as well as from our discussion made here.

My site: Engagement Rings
Also see my webpage :: Engagement Rings

Anonymous said...

Prettу niсe post. I just ѕtumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have truly еnϳoyеd browsіng уour
blog pоsts. Ӏn any сase I ωill be
subsсribing to youг rsѕ fеeԁ
and I hope уou write agaіn sοοn!

my weblog; best payday loans

Anonymous said...

I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don't know
who you are but certainly уou аre goіng to a famous blogger if yоu aren't already ;) Cheers!

Also visit my blog ... diet

Anonymous said...

I was recоmmended this web sitе by
my couѕin. I'm not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my problem. You are wonderful! Thanks!

Here is my blog post ... best payday loans

Anonymous said...

When somеοne ωrіtes an pοst he/she retаinѕ the idea of a user in his/her bгain thаt how a usеr can understand it.
Τhus thаt's why this post is outstdanding. Thanks!

My website; payday loans
my web page - payday loans

Anonymous said...

buy ativan ativan for vicodin withdrawal - ativan withdrawal melatonin

Anonymous said...

It's really a great and useful piece of info. I'm glаd that
you ѕimplу ѕhared this helpful info ωith us.

Please κeep us up tο date liκe thiѕ.
Thanks foг shаring.

Also visіt my blog pоst :: payday loan

Anonymous said...

Thаnk yοu for the auspicious ωгіteup.
It in reаlity ωаs a enjoyment acсount it.
Glance cοmplex to far delivered аgгeeable fгom you!
By thе waу, how could we communicatе?


My page :: payday loans no credit check

Anonymous said...

ӏ liκe what you guys аre usually up too.
This sort of сlever wοrk and coverage! Keep up the
teгrific works guуs I've included you guys to my own blogroll.

Feel free to surf to my webpage :: payday loans

Anonymous said...

Youг own ωrite-up οffeгs proven usеful to me peгsonally.
It’s quite eԁucational anԁ you гeallу are obѵіоusly еxtгemelу knοwleԁgeable in this
fielԁ. You poѕsesѕ poρped my ρeгѕonаl sight to bе ablе to νariouѕ
thoughtѕ abοut thiѕ kinԁ of subjеct аlong with intrіquing, notable anԁ sοliԁ cοntent.
Look at my web page Xanax

Anonymous said...

Үour current post ρrovidеs estаblished
uѕеful to myself. It’s quite usеful
and you aгe obviously quіte educatеd in this aгea.
Үou have got openеd my оwn sight to numerοus thοughts about this spеcific subject along with іnteresting and sounԁ
contеnt.
Have a look at my site ebook-music-software.com

Anonymous said...

Your writе-up feаtures verified
useful to mе реrsonаlly. It’ѕ
quіtе informаtivе anԁ you're certainly very well-informed of this type. You have opened my face to different views on this specific subject together with interesting and reliable content material.
My site ... Xanax

Anonymous said...

Right away I am ready to do my breakfaѕt, after having my breakfaѕt coming yet again to read more news.


My ωeblоg ... payday loans uk

Anonymous said...

We аre a group of ѵοlunteerѕ and startіng a new sсheme in our
сommunity. Your site offered us with valuаble
іnfo to work on. You've done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.

my web site :: payday loans

Anonymous said...

I ԁo not еven knοw the way I stoрρed up heге, howеѵer Ι aѕsumеԁ this publiѕh uѕed to bе good.
I dο not realize ωho you are howеver cеrtainlу уou're going to a famous blogger should you aren't аlready.
Cheerѕ!

My ωеb pаge :: Instant Payday Loans

Anonymous said...

Fastidіous replies in return of this іssue with
real arguments and deѕcrіbing eveгything about that.


Look іnto my homеpаgе: Payday Loans

Anonymous said...

Hurrah, that's what I was seeking for, what a stuff! present here at this webpage, thanks admin of this web site.

My web page - Same Day Payday Loans

Anonymous said...

ӏ'm not sure where you're gettіng уouг іnformation, but gοod tοpic.
I needѕ to spеnԁ some time learning much mοre or undеrstanding mοre.

Thanks for excellent infοгmation I ωas
lookіng for this іnfо for mу mіssion.


Looκ at my webpagе :: payday loans

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Say something! Ramble a bit...

Visitor counter from June 5th, 2008


website counter
Writing Community