Scraps of Forgotten Adventures

It’s come to this at last. It’s been a long semester of adventures and travels but I’m afraid it’s all winding down. All that’s left is to tell you about the things I’ve forgotten to tell in other blogs. Like the time I spent the night on a stilt village built over the water…

Nzulezu:

All the way at the bottom left corner of Ghana, near Cote D’Ivoire there is a  village of people who fled a civil war in Mali 600 years ago and followed a snail across desert and savannah, rainforest and swamp until they found their new home of Nzulezu, on top of a lake in a maze of swampland. They felt as though they would be safe hidden in the swamps and inaccessible by anything other than dug out canoe. They were right. It took about an hour and a half of paddling through the swamp to get to the village but it was certainly worth the work.

A whole town built on the water nearly unchanged for centuries; it was certainly a unique experience. We didn’t plan on staying long but the weather had other plans. Just as we were about to go back, a late afternoon tropical rainstorm hit and we were stranded in the village. I hadn’t planned on spending the night but I suppose I’m glad I stayed. Now I can say that I slept in a house that swayed back and forth on it’s support columns (tree branches) with every step, and I slept in a bed while listening to the fish splash about under the floor.

Python Temple:

There is a place in Benin where they worship snakes. Well, at least they did at one time, now it seems like the temple’s main purpose it to turn a profit for locals but who could resist a room full of dozens of pythons? Not I!

Kelly wasn't quite as comfortable with the Pythons as me.

I was slightly concerned when the guide picked up a python and wrapped it around my neck like a scarf but turns out that the snakes were very docile and cuddly.

By the way, I’ve been waiting a long time to tell you that I’ve been in Benin… to get there you’re gunna need to leave Ghana and then you need to go to Togo.

 Cape 3 Points:

The southern most point in Ghana comes complete with a lighthouse, whale watching and sea turtles. Unfortunately, I came at the wrong season for everything but the lighthouse, which apparently is there almost all year long.

Voodoo Forest:

There was also a forest, which was a sacred voodoo forest, which was more of a sculpture garden, which was supposedly home of a man who turned himself into a tree hundreds of years ago. He has gotten very tall since.

The tree that used to be a man... see, I told you he was pretty tall, even for a tree.

This was a cute statue... you know, in a completely evil and terrifying way.

Here’s a look at where I’ve been over the last few months:

I think I’ve done just about everything there is to do in Ghana… Oh yeah. I took some classes too, all of which I have completed with the exception of one exam next week. 

See ya in a week.