Caleyonies on Tour
My Mum and Dad came to visit in April. I was initially a bit concerned when, within the first 24 hours, my Dad had asked whether there was a washing machine at the remote African village I lived at, and my Mum had shouted at 25+ Navy cadets for being noisy. But, it all worked out quite well. If you ask me that is. My parents might have a different opinion.
April is the hottest month in Ghana. As well as that, as they say here, it was ‘lights off’ quite often. This meant no fans, no a/c, no cold drinks and nights that were described by my poor Mother as being ‘like hell’. My Dad, ever the sun worshipper, was happy enough since he took quite a liking to the strong local beer, known as Stone. Since they said they wanted to see big animals, so we took them to the National Parks at Mole, Wechiau and Baobeng-Fiema. We came really close to elephants, hippos, warthogs, antelope. We were really lucky meeting a group of 24 elephants while on foot. Some animals got a bit too close, especially the baboons; one kept us confined in our room because he was fiddling with himself in a threatening manner. Another baboon nicked our lunch and was about to make off with my Dad’s socks, but then came to his senses before losing consciousness.
At Baobeng-Fiema, the people have protected the monkeys for generations since they are seen as sacred. The monkeys come to sit and watch the people do their work. When they die, they are given funerals and are buried in marked graves. There are two different types of monkey there, the mona and colobus. To explain their reverence for the cute little tree dwellers, one of the stories they tell is that there was once a powerful chief who could turn the people of the community into monkeys and back again. He would do this to protect the people when they were attacked and the people would take to the trees and throw stones on the invaders from above. Unfortunately, during one attack, the Chief was killed while many of the people were still in the form of monkeys. They were trapped in that form and so the people who remained as humans vowed to never cause their brothers and sisters any harm.
Anyway, I’ve meandered off the point a bit. All in all, it was a fun trip. And Ilona and I were both sad to see them board one last dodgy taxi, the dusty plastic toys swinging from the broken windscreen because of the usual lack of suspension in the car…
April is the hottest month in Ghana. As well as that, as they say here, it was ‘lights off’ quite often. This meant no fans, no a/c, no cold drinks and nights that were described by my poor Mother as being ‘like hell’. My Dad, ever the sun worshipper, was happy enough since he took quite a liking to the strong local beer, known as Stone. Since they said they wanted to see big animals, so we took them to the National Parks at Mole, Wechiau and Baobeng-Fiema. We came really close to elephants, hippos, warthogs, antelope. We were really lucky meeting a group of 24 elephants while on foot. Some animals got a bit too close, especially the baboons; one kept us confined in our room because he was fiddling with himself in a threatening manner. Another baboon nicked our lunch and was about to make off with my Dad’s socks, but then came to his senses before losing consciousness.
At Baobeng-Fiema, the people have protected the monkeys for generations since they are seen as sacred. The monkeys come to sit and watch the people do their work. When they die, they are given funerals and are buried in marked graves. There are two different types of monkey there, the mona and colobus. To explain their reverence for the cute little tree dwellers, one of the stories they tell is that there was once a powerful chief who could turn the people of the community into monkeys and back again. He would do this to protect the people when they were attacked and the people would take to the trees and throw stones on the invaders from above. Unfortunately, during one attack, the Chief was killed while many of the people were still in the form of monkeys. They were trapped in that form and so the people who remained as humans vowed to never cause their brothers and sisters any harm.
Anyway, I’ve meandered off the point a bit. All in all, it was a fun trip. And Ilona and I were both sad to see them board one last dodgy taxi, the dusty plastic toys swinging from the broken windscreen because of the usual lack of suspension in the car…
posted by Luke Chapter 1 at 9:23 am
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