Waterfall in Begoro, snails & the Festival

Waterfall

A few weeks ago I was again in Begoro and this time we went to a waterfall very close to the orphanage. Maybe 30 minutes walk, not more. It was very nice. I just let the pictures talk:

 

What you see here, was one day our dinner. Snails. The kids from the orphanage collected them, cooked them and made a sauce for it. It actually tasted nice, similar to seafood, which I like a lot. The only problem was that my head kept telling me: 'You're eating SNAAIL, you're eating SNAAAIL!!' So no matter how nice it was, I thought it was disgusting! The imagination that I was eating snail, killed the nice taste.. At least I tried it.

What I liked more, was the German salad we made later on our own. Veery nice. :-D

(Sorry the pictures are a bit mixed, but the program doesn't want me to change the order...)

Festival

The weekend of 11th and 12th October was the weekend we went to the Festival Odwira.

Around 40 German volunteers slept at an 'apartment' with 40 mattresses filling all rooms and floors. Two washrooms, one tab for water.

Friday morning. We meet in Koforidua besides the fire station and in front of the Barclays Bank. Some volunteers arrived from other cities already the evening before.

After a ca. 45min drive in the Trotro we arrive at the apartment and only a few hours later some volunteers already leave to go back home. Was it the accommodation? A sudden mind change? Who knows.

The remaining volunteers place their stuff inside the apartment and George and the other Ghanaians, who organized the accommodation and everything for us, suggest we should already go to the Festival ground. I honestly would have preferred to chill first, but in the end it was a good idea.

A short drive with the Trotro again and we're there. Streets... And streets. That's not really what I had expected. I had heard a Festival in Ghana is similar to a German one.. - just nicer. But this reminded me more of a street celebration. A very nice street celebration.. But still.Where are the stages? 'I'm sure we'll go to them in the night', is my first thought.

On the streets is a lot of loud music played and chiefs are carried in a bed on the heads of men, dressed in traditional nice ropes. Behind them drums and their drummers. Because there are so many chiefs it looks like a loong parade. Everyone is filming. Germans, Ghanaians. It is so hot, one of us faints.

A few hours later we come back to the Apartment and organize our mattresses. Everyone takes a shower (yes, 2 washrooms - 40 people and I forgot to mention, we only discovered the second washroom on saturday). Then we get ready and in the evening again to the Festival ground.

Bar next to bar. Lots of food, alcohol and loud music. Nice music, but no live music. We only pass by one stage and I hear somebody say, that later there will be Shatta Wale (famous Ghanaian singer). After a lot of hours dancing, drinking, dancing, sitting, drinking and dancing I suggest, we should have a look, wether Shatta Wale is now at the stage. Everyone (I was with around six or ten people at that time) is against my idea. Two more hours dancing, drinking, sitting, drinking, dancing. 'Let's go home', Chris suggests. It's 2am, I'm tired from the day, but I would have had nothing against dancing some more but I say ok, because I'm sure we pass by another bar and keep on dancing there. Instead of passing by another bar, we pass by the stage, one volunteer comes to us: "Wooow, you missed Shatta Wale, he was amazing!! He just finished!"Second day. Saturday. Suddenly everyone wants to go home on Sunday. Why? No idea. The evening is nice, no live act, but the same bars, dancing, drinking. Sunday morning we drive home.I only took one picture, because on Saturday, when we were during the day at the Festival, I made mainly videos. And in the night I was busy dancing.