January 5, 2009

This morning we departed from a night at Mole National Park in Northern Ghana. The trip was an all day event but half way we stopped at a small village to see a field plot of Jatropha. There were three components as to why this experiment was taking place:

• First, the solar panels near the mission were being used to partially power the village, which had 65 houses attached.
• Next, the oil extracted from the Jatropha seeds were being used to supplement a single generator, besides the solar panels.
• Lastly, the tariffs collected for the villagers using the electricity were then used to provide funding for the projects future.

Regarding our visit, we first traveled to the plots to see the agricultural aspect of the project. The main goal of the plots was to demonstrate that Jatropha could be intercropped with foodstuffs. What we saw were fields of Jatropha intercropped with cowpeas and cassava. Using cowpeas (which are a legume) to intercrop results in a wonderful symbiosis with the other plants because they fix nitrogen, and help prevent weed competition. This also gives the farmer a form of insurance in that he has more than one crop in case of a failure. In this area there were also trials of yams and rice. The knowledge transfer between farmer and scientist has yet to happen here.

We then visited the solar panel building. These solar panels originated in Germany, which is where the funding for the project started. They follow the path of the sun, and charge a small shed filled with 2 volt batteries. The building also held the Jatropha seeds for converting to oil and for fueling the generator. The process from planting the seeds to oil processing takes one and a half years and there appears to be a market in Ghana for this.

The future for this place looks promising as there will be replacement interns from Germany to guide the project and eventually they will be able to hook up 100 or more houses to this biofuel operation. Following this, our afternoon was filled with more traveling and the arrival in Kumasi for a nights stay at the hotel here.

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January 4, 2009

This morning we ate breakfast at the Premiere Palace Hotel and started our long journey to Mole National Park in the northern part of Ghana. As we traveled we left the more tropical southern Ghana and moved into the transitional zone and savanna ecosystems. There was shorter more grass vegetation with fewer trees. The homes of the village in the north were also more round and made out of mud instead of wood. We arrived in Mole mid afternoon after several hours of bumpy, wash board, dirt roads. After arriving we enjoyed a couple hours to relax from our long journey and take a dip in the pool.

We then split up into two groups and took a walking tour of the park. Mole National Park covers 4,840 square kilometers and was established in 1958. The park is also home to over 90 mammal species and 300 bird species. On our tour we were able to get close to see elephants, crocodiles, antelope, deer, monkeys, and warthogs. Besides these species the park also is home to buffalo, roan, kob, heratebeest, waterbuck, lions, leopards, and hyenas. The park tour guide informed us that spring and early summer are the best time of year to come because animals migrate to this part of the park during the rainy season.

It was very interesting to get up and personal with the animals. The environmental effects of many animals were very obvious; take the elephant for example. The ground in this area was quite dry and you could see the compression of many animal prints and tracks throughout the park. There were also large holes or dug out nests which you could see were built by the animals.

After the tour in which we walked around the guinea savanna, we enjoyed a group dinner at the hotel overlooking the park before crashing.

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January 3, 2009

We continued our tour of Ghana today and moved on to yet another city and hotel. We woke up and packed a light suitcase for a two day stay farther up north and left the rest of our luggage at the hotel in Kumasi for us to pick up on our return. This allowed us to load up the bus much more quickly and we were able to be off on the road by around 8 in the morning. We then looked to various books, naps, conversations, and the constantly interesting sites of the villages that we drove through to stay entertained on our trip to Techiman.

Today we were accompanied by a local soil scientist. Our first stop of the day was at a cassava test plot were they were doing their first experiments with a variety of fertilizer application rates. Cassava was an extremely interesting crop to learn about because none of us knew much about it and we have been seeing small fields of it throughout the countryside quite often. Cassava is a large, quick growing plant that looks like a small tropical tree after only a year of growth when it is ready to be harvested. It can be eaten by people and used for biofuels. The varieties we looked at were mostly used by textile facilities because of their high starch content.

We ate launch at a nice hotel under a gazebo. We eat most meals outside and take every chance we can to enjoy the amazing weather. Everyone enjoyed joking about how surprised we were to see chicken and rice, which is what we have for the majority of our meals.

We then got back on the bus and continued north. As we moved from the deciduous forest that we had been staying in, we entered into a transitional zone and the environment and vegetation around us began to reflect the guinea savanna ecological zone of the north. We took this opportunity to do another soil evaluation of the red Alfisols. We used a machete to get back into the forest to visit a site that was thickly overgrown with weeds and already had a pit dug for us to examine the soil profile. We were all assigned specific evaluations to complete such as measuring soil respiration and water infiltration. I had the pleasure of digging a one foot square pit and counting the number of earthworms present in the soil. By the time we had all listened to the soil scientist talk about everything we were seeing and helping us with our various roles we were all very hot and ready to get back on the bus and away from the bugs.

Next we went to a monkey sanctuary located on the side of a small village. There were two different kinds of monkeys living there, the Mona and Columbus. The Mona monkeys were very friendly and came right up to us once they saw we had bananas. They would grab food right out of our hands. Then we took a guided tour of the jungle that the monkeys live in and saw some of the most impressive trees that we had seen since the botanical garden.

On the drive to our hotel in Techiman we went through a village where there were hundreds of people dancing in the street, many of them with their bodies panted white, and they were having a large celebration that we later found out was the ceremony for a priest. Our guide told us not to open our windows as many people came up to the bus and knocked on our windows. We ate at our hotel when we got there and had plenty of time to sit around and talk with each other before we went to bed early to get ready for an early morning tomorrow.

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January 2, 2009

Today was another exciting day for the group. We woke and enjoyed breakfast at our hotel. We are the only group in the hotel and it seems more like a giant house we are free to roam than a hotel.

In the morning we visited a Kente cloth making facility, a printing village and a wood carving village. Kente cloth is the traditional, brightly colored cloth common to Ghana. They are made on one-man looms that the designers operate with both hands and feet. Many looms filled the workspace and the walls were COVERED in various scarves. We watched the men work and looked at the many different colors and styles of Kente. Kente cloths come in all different sizes and are worn by both men and women for special occasions.

We then traveled a short distance to a village that specialized in making dye and using stamps to print on various materials. In Ghana, there are many different symbols that mean various things, much like the hieroglyphics of Egypt. We have seen many of these symbols as we’ve traveled and have appreciated learning what they mean and being able to recognize them and their importance. In the village we all had the opportunity to buy a Kente scarf and stamp them with symbols of our choosing. The dye is made by boiling the inner bark of a tree, crushing it to a fine pulp, and cooking it again until it forms a dark ink. The stamps are carved out of wood. All the students enjoyed picking symbols that represent them and then being taught how to stamp the dye onto the scarves. After we had completed the printing process some students had the opportunity to try on Kente cloth as men and women from Ghana would wear it.

Our final stop for the morning was to a wood carving village where everyone had the opportunity to practice their bargaining skills. Nearly everyone walked away with jewelry, artwork or wood carvings.

After lunch a few students went downtown Kumasi to be interviewed on the radio. Jodi, Darrin, Sarah, Matt K, and Josie communicated their objectives and purposes in traveling to Ghana and compared the culture, climate, and agriculture between Ghana and Iowa. The rest of the group enjoyed the afternoon in the hotel.

In the evening we were invited to the home of Mr. Yaw Aboagye who is the fiance of Ms. Sarah Mensah, one of our new friends and tour guide. Sarah has been influential in organizing our trip and tending to the many details associated with traveling as a large group. Mr. Aboagye has a beautiful home in Kumasi and the entire group enjoyed eating dinner and listening to music on the patio. It was the perfect end to our stay in Kumasi.

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December 31— New Years Day!

Yesterday we arrived at the Treasure Land Hotel in Kumasi around 4 PM. This was after our tour of a village on stilts. At this point we settled in a bit, unpacked, and had our evening meal. Sara and I then departed the hotel for our home-stay in the village of Effiduase. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the family, and then prepared for a night of New Year’s Eve activities. This involved taking a tour of the town, and meeting some of the host’s friends. Starting around 9 PM, we started our tour of three churches in the town.

The tradition on New Year’s Eve is to dress in your finest and proceed to church at around 8 PM. The first church that we visited was Methodist and the worship had already started. As we entered we were greeted by energetic music, dancing, and a large blue neon cross glowing radiantly behind the pulpit. I was getting excited. We were led to our seats, and immediately started taking in the music and atmosphere of this celebration. After the song, the sermon started which was eloquently given in the local language, and well received by the congregation. We proceeded to the next church at this point.

The next church was Presbyterian, and seemed to have a similar atmosphere as the last. We sat down, and heard energetic music, and part of the sermon. We then moved on to our final church, which was again Methodist. This one was slightly smaller than the others, and I felt more community here. There was music, dancing, as well as a sermon. As the clock approached midnight, the congregation bowed their heads and prayed, while the lights were turned out. This continued until shortly after midnight, when a bell was struck, the lights were turned on, and the prayers became more intense. The rest of the service continued until around 1:30, when some final singing and dancing concluded our evening. We were tired!!

This was one of the best New Year’s celebrations I have had the privilege to be part of! This seemed far removed from the traditional New Year’s celebration we have in the U.S. except for part about getting dressed up and having a night out. Following a rest at our host’s home, I awoke to the new year and had a tour of the house, and farm. There was a small plantain plantation, a chicken house, and some pens with grass cutters (gopher like rodent), and some goats. Then for breakfast, we were served a traditional New Year’s meal of Ampsei, which consists of boiled yam and palava sauce. It is common for households to go out on the morning of New Years day and get fresh chicken to eat and make Ampsei. I just might take this tradition to the U.S.! So we wish you Afishiapa (Happy New Year’s!).

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December 30th, Nzulezu Village

Today we got up and ate breakfast at the Moree Beach Resort, then took about a forty-five minute bus ride to Aunt Agnuse’s Beach Resort where we picked up a sack lunch. In Ghana a sack lunch is not what you expect in the U.S. it consisted of two medium sized tupper-ware containers filled with rice and chicken. Then we looked around this place a little bit, it was a very nice beach with nothing around it. Once we were done taking our pictures and getting the lunch we set off for the three hour bus ride to Nzulezu, the Village on Silts, which is a protected wetland.

Once in Nzulezu we ate our lunch in the shade of the palm trees, then got some life jackets and loaded into four canoes. We had roughly an hour canoe ride out to the Nzulezu Village. The ride was nice once you got used to how close you were to the water, and it had some amazing landscape. Once we got to the Village we toured the community and talked to the chief’s son who gave us a brief history of the village.

The villagers came from Mali to escape a war 500 years ago. The village is made up of 500 people. The community is almost entirely self supported by growing their food on the land next to them, and make everything else. Almost everything they eat is fresh. They do not have electricity, but they do run a generator to power radio’s and some TVs. If they want something from town they must be able to fit it into the canoe to transport to the village.

The children canoe into town everyday to go to school, with the exception of first and second graders who are taught in the village. It is surprising that most of the people who have grown up in the village stay in the village. The guide in our canoe left the village to get an education, but later on decided he wanted to move back which is not unusual.

When we got back to the bus we set off once again for Aunt Anguse’s beach resort to have dinner. We had a buffet style dinner which consisted of: plain rice, spicy rice, vegetable curry, beef, fried plantain, lobster, fried squid, chips (French fries), and fish. The food there was very good.

After we finished our meal we headed back to our hotel to once again try to sleep in the tropical climate.

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December 29th, Kakum National Park and Elmina Castle

We started out at the resort this morning. It was apparent that there were a lot more rocks in the ocean than we had thought swimming around the night before. Several people did not sleep very well last night because there was no air conditioning in their rooms and at midnight the power shuts down, therefore than ceiling fan shut off. So, we roasted, but the positive point from that is we all appreciate electricity and AC that much more.

We left for Kakum National Park. First we stopped at the restaurant where we would eat lunch and placed our order. The park was not far from there. Once we entered through the gates, Manu jumped out for some reason, we did not know why. He came back with a bunch of red berries in his hand and told us to peel the skin off and suck on the fruit. Then we took an orange and ate it and it was very sweet. Yesterday these same oranges were terrible. This red berry called a “miracle berry” apparently numbs or retards the bitter taste buds on the tongue allowing anything put in your mouth to appear sweet. So, that was interesting.

Kakum National Park is a rainforest that is full of plants and wildlife. The reason we went here was a canopy walk that swings 120 feet off the ground above the tree line. The narrow one-way bridge was suspended by cable, ropes, and a wooden platform. The walk on the bridge probably lasted around 30-45 minutes. It was really amazing. Unfortunately we didn’t see any wildlife because most are nocturnal in that area of the park. When we got off the bridge we did a soil quality analysis and tested the thermal properties of the soils under a tropical primary rainforest. The group was split into ones and twos to carry on separate tasks relating to different soil characteristics. This took about an hour to complete.

We left Kakum and went back to the Han Cottage, a restaurant which was located on a crocodile pond. There were several crocs in the water; however none looked like man-eaters. Because of this we thought it would be a good idea to touch them, and for $1, we did. None of us lost any limbs and we all walked out of there feeling like Steve Irwin’s wingman. The meal was good. After that we went to the fishing town of Elmina. This was a hoppin’, busy little place, and there were a ton of wooden fishing canoes. We visited the Elmina Castle. It was similar to the Cape Coast Castle, however much bigger and nicer. It was built by the Portuguese in the 1400s for a trading post of gold, spices, and other delicacies. It then became used for slave trading until that was abolished in the 1800s. Once the slave trade was over, the British took over the castle until the 1950s when Ghana gained its independence from England. This fort was also on the shoreline and it even had a moat around it.

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December 28th, Cape Coast

Today we started off the day late because of the presidential elections. Our tour guides and driver all had to fulfill their civil duties by visiting a ballot box so we decided not to start out until 11 am. After some strenuous heavy lifting in loading our bus, we departed for the town of Cape Coast.

The drive was interesting as we were able to see some of the festivities that were going on during a voting day. There was not as much activity or vending going on in the streets as everyone was busy voting. As we made our way out of the city the sites became more rural. The landscape is beautifully lush, green and fairly hilly. Dr. Manu educated us on some of the soil types and soil parent material of the area.

About halfway to Cape Coast, we stopped along the road to buy some coconuts from some young vendors. Not all of us had a taste for coconuts but we enjoyed them for the most part.

Next we made it to the town of Cape Coast right along the Atlantic Ocean. We were all really amazed at the close up view of the coastline and the power of the surf. We then took a tour of the Cape Coast Castle, one of several slave trading forts on the West African coast. We did a walk through tour of the castle museum and learned many interesting facts about the history of the castle and of African slave trade. We then took a tour around the castle to learn more about the history of slave trade and to see what the conditions were like for residents of the castle.
After our tour we ate at the Cape Coast Castle Restaurant with a fabulous view of the ocean. We then made a short drive to the Moree Beach Hotel to check in and settle for the night. The hotel is right on the beach and we all took advantage of the remaining daylight to get our feet wet and take a little stroll.

Cheers!

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December 27th, Downtown Accra

Today we woke and started with breakfast provided by the hotel. We left the hotel at approximately 9:30 AM Ghana time. We originally had planned to go to a jatropha plantation. But it was closed due to the elections tomorrow. Instead we decided to go to the mall in Accra. It is the biggest mall in Ghana and it seemed very modern, however was nowhere near the size of the malls in the United States. The prices were very similar to U.S. malls, so we didn’t buy very much.

After we went to the mall we traveled to downtown Accra. We visited an automotive repair sector to take soil samples. These will be analyzed for an environmental study back in the U.S. There was an extreme amount of pollution from littering and car repairs. There are no environmental regulations, so old oil and other pollutants flow into streams and straight to the ocean. We also took water samples for further analysis for heavy metals.

Accra is currently in the dry season, but during the wet season water levels rise. A local woman spoke with us about the flooding, and indicated the water level was chest high. This flooding spreads contaminants throughout the area. This area of town was quite a sight. The woman we talked with had three children with her watching us. Actually, all the children watched us, then gave high fives, and took pictures. By the time we left there was a crowd gathered, and we received a warm welcome from an elder in the area.

Next we were off to lunch. We went to a restaurant that served local Ghanaian food. We had a wide variety including fufu, redred, rice & chicken, soup, etc. Rather than rushing dinner, we noticed that Ghanaians take time to enjoy their meals, making plans and conversing throughout the hour. Several said this was the best meal so far.

After lunch we went to see a monument of Kwane Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. It is a large park, and there were two wedding parties taking pictures while we were there. A tour guide showed us the statue, the burial place, and a small museum with Kwane Nkrumah’s articles. Nkrumah is famous for his vision of unity in Africa. This monument is similar to monuments in Washington, D.C.

Because of the late full lunch, we decided to get peanut butter and jelly for supper. We stopped at a local market and students split up: some buying soccer jerseys and others went to the mall to buy groceries. On the way home we stopped again at a local market for special “sweet bread”.

All in all it was a good day.

Tomorrow we head to Cape Coast, a village east of Accra on the coast. Stay tuned for exciting stories from this historic location! Also, please be patient with photos — the internet here is a bit slow and makes uploading photos tedious. Hopefully, as we travel to other locations we will be able to post photos and videos.

Click Here for a map of our day.

December 26th, Aburi Botanical Gardens

Aburi Botanical Gardens

Today we visited the Aburi Botanical Gardens. This park was started in the 1890’s by the British as a place to get away from the tropical climate.  They are situated in the hills North of Accra, where the temperature is cooler and there are no mosquitoes.  The gardens contain specimens of plants from across the British Empire.  Today the park is open to the public.  In recent years the gardens have experienced increased use due to citizens increased access to cars.  It is still a major tourism area.  Ghanaians also celebrate special occasions and hold weddings in the park. 

Cheap Fruit

On our way to the park we stopped by the side of the road to buy some fruit from women who were selling oranges, bananas and pineapples.  The bargain of the day was paying two cedis for four pineapples.  A cedi is equal to a dollar, so we payed fifty cents a pineapple.   We also bought some bananas, which were very tasty.

At the Gardens

In the park we saw and learned about a wide variety of plants including, palm, cocoa, cinnamon, star fruit, and lavender trees.  An especially interesting tree we saw was a parasitic vine that climbs the host tree before slowly strangling it.  Once the host has died its trunk rots leaving a hollow parasitic tree.  Several group members climbed inside the tree using gaps in its walls as handholds.  Another plant we saw was jatropha, a plant that is used to produce inedible oil for biodiesel.

Today offered exciting insight to the flora and fauna of Ghana and other parts of Africa. It was very interesting visiting the spice garden at the botanical center and seeing how many of the spices many of us use on a daily basis are grown and harvested. We were very lucky to have with us two knowledgeable tour guides, Charles and Dr. Manu. Charles is a friend of Dr. Manu who is traveling with us for the entire trip and was influential in helping to plan our outings. With each day passing we learn more and more about the people and agriculture of Ghana, and thankfully the trip has only just begun!

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