Our trip to Kumasi was nice since we took a Ford van, which is a tro that sits 3 people to a seat instead of 4 and has intermittent AC. It was exciting! It rained a good deal on our way, but thankfully let up by the time we reached Kumasi. The guy sitting with us was a pastor and gave us handouts (this happens all the time...) but was really nice and helped us out once we got off the tro to get to the proper station. (Its asafo station if you ever need to get there...) We found Issac, the Kumasi taxi driver from Cape Coast, and he dropped us for a cedi, which is what it should be. The first guy wanted 4, No Way!
At the station we quickly found where the tro to Kanatese would be, but it was on its way coming. (I have not yet explained this phrase... It means that the person or car will arrive anytime between 15 minutes and 2 hours. Typically it is more toward the 2 hour mark) So we figured we had time to get snacks! :) We headed off to do so, and ran into 2 obrunis. They were Michael and Chris from Canada. They are on a grand tour from Morocco to Ghana to Egypt to Jordan to Israel. (I so want to join them!!!!!!) They were also planning on spending the weekend at the lake and wanted to know if we would like to split a taxi cost. We went for it, since this would take 10 minutes (not 2 hours) and be cheaper with 4 people. We ran over to a taxi and he of course gave us the obruni price of 30 cedis. We laughed told him it was an obruni price and he agreed and told us he would go for 25. We laughed again and told him 15. He said no one would take us for that and we walked away. We went out to the main road and met Daniel, one of those people who help and then ask for money, and he flagged us a taxi, which we can already do. So we ignored him and negotiated from 35 to 17 and got in. The boys were impressed, and we laughed since we have been doing this for 2.5 months. :)
The toll to get into the lake is 2 cedi which is stupid, but we paid. The lake itself is beautiful! It was created by a meteorite impact and the whole lake is in the crater. There are walls on all sides. Once we were in we walked out our guesthouse and checked into the bunk room (8 cedi! about 5USD, where could you ever stay for that?!) It was nice and the restaurant was pretty. They also provide a private beach on the lake with paddle boats and hammocks. It was fabulous.
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| Sand Castle! |
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| Traditional Boats used on the lake because it is sacred and therefore a motor cannot be used |
We got to know the boys better. They are communications majors (already graduated) that have been working in NY, NY. Mike in art and Chris in music. Chris's girlfriend works at Bethesda and does stem cell research which is awesome!! Mike also made a fishing rod...
Dinner was tasty. I had Jamaican chicken with noodles, a rarity in Africa. Mckell had ice cream and pancakes for dessert, which made her quite happy!
In the morning we left early to walk the 2.5km back to town and get a car. We found one, negotiated to 15 cedi and then waited for him to finish assembling the engine, and got in. The car stalled and turned off multiple times, but eventually we got moving. Our diver was trying to make up for time we did not know we lost and flew around corners and down hills. He got to Kumasi faster than i ever imagined, even with construction detours... I did match the taxi though, which was awesome.
We got a tro/bus back to Cape and the boys went to find the 9am STC to Accra (we doubted it) the boys came back within a half hour and jumped on the tro to Accra. We said goodbye but will defiantly try to find them again!!!
We returned home by 2pm and had a rather nice ride. No issues, good relaxing weekend!
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