One month later

One month later almost everything is back to normal.
The moon is standing right, cold winds around and the trees lost all leafs....brrrrr.
At our last day in Ghana we went back to the art market in Accra and bought a great painting. It's a painting with structure all dresses are original fablic layed down in paint.

It is framed now and hanging in the room. Everyday we will remember Ghana ........

Bye bye Ghana, welcome in cold Netherlands

Friday we had a "bad" start, unfortunately our car had two empty tyres. We could not leave to Accra early in the morning and were "punished" with a few hours extra stay at the beach, enyoing the view, the sun, the palm trees, and coconuts.......
We had a quick drive to Accra. At the art market we have bought a nice paining (pre selected last week). A great holiday thanks to Ayikoo Tours and our driver, guide, guard and advisor Richard !!
In the evening we had our final dinner in chez Afrique with my former IBM colleague Kofi. It was a great reunion after more than 20 years. It was a short dinner because we had to leave earlier than expected due to an earlier flight. This morning we arived in Netherlands at 05:30 .... finally we could catch a train, wait another 20 minutes and a next train. Accra/Amsterdam in six hours, Amsterdam/home (50km) two hours........

People in Ghana, thanks!

Elmina Firebrigade originally from Gouda NL

Elmina harbour

Kofi meets Kofi ..... 20 years later .....

frost on the fields

A lot of leafs in the garden

The car was in Driebergen .... ice on the windshield.....oops

Tree house experience

We were instructed to be at Kakum national park at 15.30. Then they told us that we could take the canopy walk by then with just a generic group. Our guide would join at 1700....finally he came close to six. It was already getting dark. Eben(ezer) -yes dear Ghana9 friends- guided us through the dark rain forest to the tree house then we relaxed another hour around the house and went asleep close to 2100. All around a lot of noise from crickets and like species. At 0500 this morning we have started our night walk. It cooled down a little in the night but it was still hot and close to 100 percent humid. Even to much for cigars....what about us? We have not met many animals. A small ant eater in the evening, a lot of noise of a kind of tree dog too many ants - also in our pants- , spiders, a baby viper of about 7 cm and a glimpse af a monkey, of which a group was crossing our path high in the trees above us.
Already early in the morning we were picked up by Richard. Around 930 we enjoyed breakfast at the beach in the lovely Ko-So beach resort in Empenya a few km west of Elmina. This afternoon we will visit the Elmina castle and market. One day to go. Tomorrow we have the final long drive back to Accra a visit to the market and my former collegue Kofi after which we fly back to cold and wet Netherlands.

 By the way ... do you remember the sclpute the guy was making at Hans' Botel?  Here is the finished product:

Weaver bird making a nest

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Nicht walk started at 05:00 !

Friday, view from Fort Elmina Castle

KO-SA beach

Wednesday and Thursday

Yesterday we have visited two fetish shrines. See pictures. Even today people go there to ask the priest for advise and blessings. After that we enjoyed our stay around lake Bosumtwi.
This morning a long tour to reach Kakum.
Look Bill our croco is still around in Hans' botel. Shortly we will enter into Kakum park for the treewak. We will stay overnight in the treehouse followed by a very early morning safari wak. Hopefully we will see elephants this time.

Several days without internet...

The previous post was unfortunately not published in Accra. Since then we had no internet connection.
Around 0900 we met our driver and guide Richard.  The view is different here. More open trees are spread and in between the farmers grow cassave,  yam, mais and there is some cattle. No plantains here up north and no coconuts. We went a long drive over a washed away/under construction red road to the Mole National Park. A lot of dutch volunteers who spend the weekend there. In all excursions we have not seen the big animals. Wild hogs, baboons and many birds. The bush elephants are now in the north. We could see their tracks. After a drive deep in the park we had a flat tire - dear ghana9 friends, yes again -
Good food, a swimmingpool where a whole group from Groningen was swimming but no internet and only water in buckets.
Via the waterfalls around Kintampo we have reached Buoyem west of the market city Techiman. In buoyem we stayed in a small municipal guesthouse and went with a guide to the farmhouses and some special rock formations.
The next stop was a guest house in the Hand in hand project in Nkoranza where we met the Groningen people again. They are here to make a better stay for 80 handicapped Ghanians. This morning we left early visited the kente weaving and will now, after lunch, visit some Ashanti fetish shrines and will end up at the shores of the lake Bosumtwi close to Komasi, the Ashanti capital.
I hope to get a connection again soon.
Send by phone. Regards, Bartho and Marjan

Bye Bye Ghana 9

Around 0200 we arrived in Accra. Late because of a flat...well complete damaged inner tyre.
Friday we went to the Accra IBM office for our debrief with the gm mr. Mensa. A warm meeting!

Later that day we went to the national monument and the crafts market. In the evening i picked up Marjan, she came with a direct flight from amsterdam.  In Citizen Kofi in Oxford street for our final drink ant team Goodbye.
Now 0500...almost ready to go to the airport
Takeoff to Tamale for our week holiday in Ghana.
From now i will continue blogging without ibm tag.
Pictures follow.

Medasi Ghana9
#ibmcsc ghana

Close finish

Yesterday we made the final changes to the system just 2 minutes before the daily lights out in the Assembly. Customer tested all menus and is happy. A complete database system with 80 pages of guiding documentation.


We just finished the presentations to the Municipal and Regional directors and the Hospital. We got very nice presents from them as "thank you" to us. Their words were humbling! And to each other they promised to take action based on what all or teams proposed. And these were no emty phrases!

The bus just came. We have to leave now. Goodbye Tarkwa!
And again ..... pooring rains ......

#ibmcsc ghana

With all municipal and

Our project

Jinho and I got a typical local shirt from the MPCU

Our team with our local support: Ebenezer and Barbra

Final days in Tarkwa trying to finish in time

The final week in Tarkwa has started. A heavy week, next to the deliverables to the customer we are involved in evaluations, press messages and pre-, final- and final-final presentations to all different stakeholders. It seems that our final team-drink has to be in the bus back to Accra next Thursday. The past days the presiential elections preparations are around Tarkwa. The current president was around, his staff was in the Hilda. Last friday and today there were large groups of people in the streets singing and whistling for their party. We were at the assembly just too far away to make pictures.

Mr. President's car (?)

Last sunday before the work started I made a walk from our hotel to Tarkwa (±4 km) while some others of the group joint a (finally)  three-hour church service (See Bill's blog, following the link on the right). I bought a coconut from the people next to the hotel (0,5 cedi), shot some pictures of our local store (a sea container) with real Dutch stuff like Mentos, VIM. Also Sunlight soap (liquid or a block) as well as local peanuts and plantainchips can be bought everywhere.

One can argue that the people are poor, true, but in those weeks I spoke a lot of people as well as last sunday while walking down to the city. The people here work hard and earn a fair price for what they sell. There are a lot of small scale shops and sellers. Those people see business in everything.

They seem happy with their life. But yes, there is also poverty around but much less then I expected. This morning, while we drove to the assembly I saw a poignant example. Some girls went to school, next to St Matthews an other girl (not in uniform, and with some goods on her head) spoke with the girls. They tried to sell some and then she asked for some money. She did not look well. Yes poverty exists. I expect to see more of those examples when we are next week on our holiday trip in the inlands.

Just some picture impressions ....

#ibmcsc ghana

The local shop.

Look: mentos (left)!

Delivery of fresh meet to the shop below my hotel room.

Every kilometer an other telephone-card shop.

Fresh coconut 50p ... he earns it

....no ned for .... no trains

Trackmans's house.......

Dutch milkcar, today a watertank. The truck is Swiss.

I've seen this before ...... yes, China!

Mmmm, the drain pooring over the fresh water .... that's why you should cook it.

As soon as they see a camera ......again, the yellow MTM Telco colors on regular houses.

Yes, this is the name of the shop.

That's why I have a BMW.

Life is different here

But Angela is very happy. I spoke some time with her.

Seen before .... must be Dutch design, but who?

Even the moon is different .....