The Market, Church, and More Wildlife Fun!

10/28-10/30

Hey everyone!

Sorry its been a few days,  but I figured it would be more interesting to do a large blog entry rather than a few small ones (especially considering how uneventful the 28^th was!) Anyway here we go!

The 29^th started off with myself and Braimah journeying to the local market, it was packed! Lots of things being sold from clothes and materials to fish and goat meat! I didn’t buy much this week but I’m sure this will be a major place of business for me in the future!  We left the market  after  a short time and I went back to my room to chow down on some fried yams (DELICIOUS GIANT FRENCH FRIES!).

 After eating the yams for lunch we decided to check out some of the wildlife over near one of Damongos dams (a place I had yet to go). A trail of wildnerness spanned nearly the entire dam and was filled with lizards scurrying around everywhere. It was here where I made my first catch! A beautiful adult male Common Agama Lizard! After taking some pictures and releasing the little guy we continued along the trail which led to some beautiful scenery in the form of a small creek/ravine. Many frogs, fish, and dragonflies occupied this area, which made it an excellent site for some more photos!

My first Agama agama

The Following day (10/30) was a Sunday, and I got up bright and early to check out my first  Ghanian church service! I arrived just as it was beginning and was graciously welcomed by the greeters in the front. They sat me with a very nice gentlemen named Raymond. Raymond would help me translate some of the service as it was partially in the native tongue. It was a very interesting experience seeing another cultures way of worship. There was not a direct lesson during the service, with most of it being praise and gospel singing with testimonies from members of the church in between each song and the occasional reading of some bible verses. All in all it was a very positive way to start the week! The people continue to wow me with their kindness here in the Northern region!

Following the service I laid low most of the day, taking a nap and eating some lunch. Later on however I made some connections with a local fisherman, who specializes in capturing turtles!  He told me that at the end of next week he would help me capture some of the native water turtles in the area for picture purposes! 

Not too shabby of way to spend the past three days here in Damongo!

Much love to everyone back home, miss you all and God Bless!

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you”- 2 Thessalonians 3:16

P.S. Pictures are being a pain tonight, try to add some later!

Damongo at Night

Hey everyone!

Today started off relatively slow up until I met with the A Rocha staff to undergo orientation. It was brief history of the actions in the country followed by a basic explanation of where I will be working. Very informative and interesting! 

After that the day slowly dragged on until my friend Braimah and I took a night hike on one of the trails near bye! It was truly amazing! So many different animals and plants in the area from giant Millipedes to grounded dragonflies, it was great! Of course my favorites of the night where the several frogs and toads we managed to capture!  Many of them looked eerily similar to our American frogs and toads but they were still each very different upon closer inspection.

 

Another day has passed by here in Ghana and I am still adjusting to the life style, hopefully within the next week or so I’ll start feeling truly at home!

Much love to all of you and God Bless!

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”-Isaiah 53:5

Wild Damongo!

 10-26

Today I woke up at around 9:30am to take a “shower” via a bucket! It’s old school but it definitely gets the job done! Following my shower I snacked on some fruit snacks for breakfast while I waited for my friend Braimah to come take me around Damongo. He knew I wanted to go see some wildlife so he took me to one of the back trails and it did not disappoint!

We saw numerous birds I have never seen before and a few familiar faces in the form of Cattle Egrets, to top it all off I saw some species of Hawk preying upon a snake or lizard on an electric post!  We eventually made it down to the river bed where I got my first glimpse of a crocodile which nearly snagged a bobo bird right out of the air!

Weaver bird nest

After the tour we made our way to the A Rocha office here in Damongo where I met two more colleagues Micha, and James. Both of them are very well versed in the native Flora and Fauna so we had some very good conversations. They seem like very wonderful people and I’m excited to get to work with them! I should also mention that I saw some of first Agama lizards in the rocks beside the office, I was particularly excited about this!

I got my share if puzzled looks today from people, I’m probably the first Obruni (white person)  to come up this way in a long time haha! However the puzzlement quickly turned to smiles and waves especially the children! All in all It was a very welcoming first day in Damongo!

Thanks again to all of you who are reading and following my blog, It means a lot to me! Love and miss you all! God Bless!

“ Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”-Matthew 6:25-27

Damongo it is!

Hello Everyone!

My journey to Damongo began yesterday at 9am when I left my hotel In Accra for the bus station. The initial ride was very enjoyable, lots of great scenery and things of that sort. However one can only sit on a packed bus for so long, and 13 hours is long enough! I arrived in the city of Tamale late last night and then stayed in a nice little Catholic guest house (complete with a bar, an unexpected combination!).

My new friend Braimah picked me up in Tamale  and helped get me on a bus to Damongo the following day.  It was another interesting bus trip, though not as long is was extremely rugged terrain as the roads where not paved! There was some more nice scenery during this trip however, including my first sighting of one the African Hornbill birds, didn’t get a picture of one yet but it’s great to know they’re around!

Speaking of critters, upon my arrival Daryl  Bosu, who I have been communicating with for months now mentioned to me that there is an abundance of reptiles and insects (arachnids too!) around here, so I know how may day will be spent tomorrow! 

I’ll finish this one off with a little picture of the place I’ll be staying, it is very basic but will get the job done! So excited to get to work!

Much Love and God Bless!

Checking out Accra

Hello everyone

 Today's blog will be another short one, as again not much has been going on here in Accra the past couple days!

I started my day by taking a walk down to the MTN network store but I came to find out almost every business is closed on Sundays in Ghana (interesting to see the sabbath day truly regarded here!). Conveniently the Busy internet cafe was open and I went in to gain assistance with my MTN modem. A gentlemen by the name of Francis was able to help me for a small fee and BINGO here I am with my modem provided internet!

One of the main streets in Accra, right up the road from my Hotel

Once that was taken care of I walked around the streets of Accra for a little bit, but in the part of the city i'm in there really isn't much in terms of landmarks. I did see some interesting looking Crow like birds perched a top buildings and lots of little chicks and chickens running around the streets, but that's about as exciting as it got!

What I believe to be the Pied Crow (Corvus albus )

I had an interesting taxi ride later in the day, I was trying to find a local bar/restaurant called champs where they play American football games and went on a 30minute journey with a taxi who had no idea where he was taking me despite the fact that he told me he did! Eventually he told me this and started asking for directions from other locals but still couldn't find the place, so I had him just drop me off back at the hotel, and boom there goes 10 Ghanian bucks (Cedis) out of my pocket :P

Taxis near Osu in Accra

The remainder of the evening I just sat around my room and watched the NFL scores on the internet (How the heck is the pack gonna let Christian ponder hang 27 up on them!) and snacked on some bubble gum and fruit snacks (thanks mom!).


Tommorrow I take a bus to the Northern region where the real fun will begin! I probably won't be on for a few days, so don't expect a new blog entry for a bit! Love you all, God Bless!

^" I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."-Philippians 1:3-6

On The Road to Ghana! Oct 21-22

Oct 21-22
Hello everyone!

My flight from the U.S.A. to Amsterdam was very relaxing and straightforward. The Plane was a 757 and was gigantic in every sense of the word! The flight over the Atlantic didn't yield much in terms of scenic view, however it did give me my first view of a Snow Flake. Two for that matter perfectly crystallized on my window (funny to think it took an trip to entirely different continent for me to see snow for the first time!).

After taking the opportunity to snap some pictures of the snow flakes I enjoyed several movies and t.v. shows that the plane offered for entertainment (including X-men First class!) up until my arrival in Amsterdam. Amsterdam was very uneventful and a lame airport to be blunt, now power plugs or free internet, what gives?! The flight to Ghana was a very long one, the guy in the far window seat next to me probably got up 60 times, usually when I was in the middle of eating or sleeping, but all in all it was a good flight that went by quick as I was able to watch How I met your mother, Modern Family, and some classic Friends episodes.

Seth From A Rocha was there at the airport waiting when I arrived, he quickly dropped me off at the hotel as he had business to attend in Kumasi. He's an extremely nice guy and arranged for a friend and co-worker to take me around Accra the following day.

My Arrival in Ghana has finally happened and I'm eagerly awaiting to move on to my next destination in Northern Region. However for now i'm in a very nice hotel in the capital city of Accra! Much love everyone, I miss you all and will update as much as possible! God Bless!

"1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you."-Deuteronomy 28: 1-8 

Test Blog