Today we had the day off because Dr. Wayne needed to go down to Accra. When he comes back, we will continue up to Tamale. So today we decided to go see lake Bosumtwi. It is one of the largest lakes in Ghana (besides Lake Volta). The English translation of Bosumtwi has something to do with an antelope because of an old legend. We were given a crash course history lesson about the lake and surrounding region- then asked for 30 cedis to compensate. lol.
Anyways the lake was enormous. The local guides told us that it take 8 hours for people to walk around the whole island. The lake was initially created by a meteor hitting the earth. They have 22 villages surrounding the lake including schools and markets. It was really cool to see. A local "volunteered" to showed us around the island and we watched us villagers framing and growing coco seeds, plantains, casaba root and papaya. (He gave us some coco to bring home). The lake was beautiful and the water was warmer than most showers I’ve had here… (After the tour, the man asked for a "tip." Most of the time here, people perform random services for you to "be nice," and then asked to be paid later).
When we got back to the van, Francis drove us to Kumasi central market- the largest market in West Africa. If definitely lived up to its name. There were thousands of vendors, selling everything you could imagine. From pens and pencils, to peanut butter, to fabric, and baked goods. There were also more high end shops, pharmacies and western unions around. We were there for 2 hours and literally only walked down one side street of the market. The alleys wind deep into the city, and every possible crevice is packed with vendors selling various goods. On top of that, you have people walking around with baskets on their head trying to sell you things. You start to learn really quickly to not respond to every person who talks to you.
As we were talking through the market, we picked out fabric so we could get custom clothes made. Right as we were finishing up our shopping, a few rain drops fell from the sky. approximately 3 minutes later, it was pouring down rain. We took refuge in a fabric shop and started talking to the women there. They were really sweet, and I ended up buying some lace to go with my fabric, and they helped me pick out the right ones. We played cards with a little girl there and joked with the women that we were going to swim down the street to our car. They laughed, then said, “WAIT, NO. I WON’T LET YOU!!!” It was all fun and games until we actually did have to trek through the rain to our ride who was meeting us at a predetermined time.
So.. we wrapped our valuables in small plastic bags and stepped into the pouring rain. The women at the shop — and literally every other shop we passed as we walked by — were shouting at us to come inside and get out of the rain. People were flabbergasted. the water was as deep as the middle of my shin in some places, and was moving so fast that trash was being propelled down the street at a surprising rate. I had to take off my shoes because I was wearing flip-flops, and was just praying I didn’t step on something. (Which I definitely did).
A significant portion of the trash wrapped itself around my legs before continuing down the stream, and the locals laughed at me every time I would scream. Only later did I find out that it was raining so hard that the sewers were flooding and shooting sewer water and its contents down the street as well. As we were getting closer to the entrance to the alley, a man comes out of nowhere and grabs my wrist. Another woman came by and grabbed my other hand and he shooed her away. I was behind my two study abroad friends so they couldn’t see me. I yelled after them a couple of times, but they couldn’t hear me because it was raining so hard. Eventually, they realized what was going on, we finally re-emerged onto the main street and made it to our car safely.
On the way back home, the flooding was so bad cars where stuck in the middle of the street, so Francis had to take us home a different way. In the car, as I'm going through my backpack looking for my portable phone charger, I can’t find it. I look everywhere and then assume I must have left it at the shop in the market. I figured I would just pick up another one at the mall somewhere. When we finally get home, I go through my bag… and I find my charger!! Then I open the plastic bag and find it sitting in a pool of water. Sooooooo. It is now sitting in a bowl of rice.
So those were our adventures today! Always something new here in Ghana.