Ada Foah buying snow

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Ada Foah buying snow

Post a Comment. So I am finding myself way out of my depth and floundering, like a swimmer caught in a current, in the classrooms at Asi-Daahey as a volunteer English teacher. He introduces Beth and me to teacher Sarah who gives us the low-down on the lesson plans. Now here I am in Grade 4 with a dozen shiny brown faces and huge eyes staring at me expectantly. I must admit my philosophical discussion of the consequences of actions is going down like a lead balloon. The mystery and hope of metamorphosis inspires humans of any age and any culture! Now the children teach me their language, Dangbe. They seize the one tiny piece of chalk and give a brilliant lesson. But the real teacher has arrived and I hand the class over to him and move on to Grade One. Stunningly beautiful teacher Georgina invites me to help the children practise their letters. Then I do my star turn with that greedy binge-eater again and the children giggle with delight at the holes in the book and count aloud all the foods he munches through! But the most joyous response comes from the three-year-olds in the nursery who clap their hands, shriek and cheer with every item the caterpillar devours. What an appreciative audience! But the whole story-telling session goes belly up when I stupidly give a child the book to look at expecting him to pass it to the next child! I have forgotten that three-year-olds have not yet learnt the concept of sharing and my determined little friend is hanging on to the precious book with all his might and refusing the release it. Oh dear! What have I done! I look around the barren classroom to see if there are any storybooks and there are none. I give the two books to teacher Christine, a patient old Mama, and she stashes them away in a safe place. They all insist on individual mug shots and giggle with glee to see themselves on the little screen. More pushing and shoving over possession of the camera! The little Ghanaian children are adorable. Some of the tiny boys look like mini-men; pint-size adults with their perfectly formed facial features and the little girls with their fuzzy heads or rows of tight braids and beaming smiles of snow white teeth are so pretty! And they jump like little monkeys! They launch at you from all directions and wrap their legs around your waist or grab onto a leg, eager for cuddles. All the volunteers, with their maternal juices flowing, have fallen in love with the irresistible children! Asi-Daahey school starts from nursery and goes up to Junior High but some of the students are strapping teens of 17, even Set up in on the far-flung south-eastern coast, it now has about students. Madventurer supports the school with funding, and volunteers are assisting local skilled tradesmen to build massive dormitories to house orphans and abandoned children, who are assimilated with the other students. Parents pay modest fees as the school receives no government funding. All the children eat a hot lunch and today us volunteers join the teachers for bean stew served with scoops of coarse, dry grain that tastes to me like saw dust. It seems the simple menu is set for every day of the week without deviation. After lunch students are training on the rough field for Athletics. Not being particularly sporty, Beth and I chat with some inquisitive year-old girls who want to know all about life in England, our jobs and families and they are desperately keen for stationery, even my business cards! The rest of the volunteers, Aussie chick, Krystel, tall, blonde trainee nurse Grace and the youngest of the group, year-old school girl from Wales, Kara and our two lads, wise-cracking Sam and sensitive James who are doing Business degrees, all return from a riotous trip away so our numbers swell to a very full MAD House with 14 of us sleeping in bunks in two bedrooms. I whip up an omelette for the vegetarians on a little gas stove in the dark hallway and the rest of the hungry mob tuck into something completely different, chicken and rice! It seems that in poor communities when something breaks it stays broken. There is a real need for handymen out here! The water and electricity can go off at any time for no apparent reason. I suspect the authorities ration water and power supply and turn it one and off throughout the day. Tonight the water is off. Grace and I are rostered to wash the dishes in plastic tubs outside in the dark yard. Clever Elizabeth uses a long metal pole to hook the rope and ease it up the wall then lanky Grace leans in and grabs it, with much applause and cheers! I am the oldie in the group but feel accepted as part of the MAD adventure! Labels: meagre resources , volunteer teaching. No comments:. Newer Post Older Post Home. Subscribe to: Post Comments Atom.

Ada Foah buying snow

So, what exactly was exciting enough to rouse us at such an absurd hour? We got dressed anyway and headed to the lodge to figure out the plan. Juvenal said that he thought the rain might stop, and it was up to us if we wanted to chance it and go or if we wanted to try the next morning instead. The only thing worse than an early-morning wake-up is an unnecessary early-morning wake-up! And what if it was raining even harder then? We delayed for a few minutes in the hopes that it would let up a bit and then grabbed our boots and umbrellas and hit the road. Well, hit the trail. And then the boat. We had a two-hour boat ride, and by the time we reached our destination, the rain had stopped completely, and the weather was absolutely perfect!! So, what exactly WAS our destination? The macaws visit these areas to literally eat the exposed clay. Salt is important for many bodily functions and helps to keep the nervous system and heart functioning properly. Animals, like macaws, with a primarily plant-based diet can have trouble getting sufficient salt from their food. Consuming the salty clay helps to cover this deficiency. Another theory is that the clay helps to cleanse the naturally occurring toxins that are found in plants and prevents them from being absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. The sodium theory is more widely accepted because studies of macaw behavior have found that they prefer saltier clay. There was one clay lick in particular in Peru where macaws were seen eating from a specific clay layer, and analysis showed a much higher concentration of sodium there than the layers above and below. Other plant-eating birds, like parrots and parakeets, do the same, and even mammals like jungle pigs and deer make regular visits to the clay licks, though not quite as often as the macaws. The boat docked, and from there, we had an easy minute walk to the viewing area. There was one other tour group already there, but everyone had plenty of space and a good view. Juvenal said that it can get very crowded in the high season, so I felt pretty good about our timing, even though the more unpredictable weather of the rainy season was less than ideal. There were some macaws high up in the surrounding trees, but none of them were anywhere near the actual clay lick. More and more gathered, and then they started creeping down to lower and lower branches. Sure enough, one brave soul boldly landed, ate some clay, and flew away… and then came back after nothing disastrous happened. Pretty soon, there were birds all over it! I was having quite the orientation with my new camera. The next leg of my trip, after my parents left, was with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and my uncle knows a lot about cameras. I planned to take advantage of his knowledge, but until then, I just had to make do and play around with it. The best thing, though, was that Juvenal had a telescope with him. It made you feel like you were right next to the clay lick! And you can literally take pictures through the telescope using a phone camera which is crazy! We saw three different types of macaws. The scarlet macaws are, to me, the classics. And finally, the blue-and-yellow macaws are pretty easy to separate from the other two. See if you can spot all three types in this photo! At one point, something scared the macaws and they all flew away. It happened so quickly… they were all on the clay lick, and then a second later, they were gone! I guess they just went and took a lap or something because soon enough, they started gathering in the trees again, and the whole creeping process repeated until they were back on the clay lick in full force. I think I could have stayed there watching until all of the macaws left, but after a while, we called it a morning and headed back to the boat. The ride back to the lodge was so pleasant. There was no sign of the nasty weather from the morning. The sky was blue, and being on the boat on the river was the best feeling in the world. I sat cross-legged on the bench so that I could face forward and look out at the riverbanks and decided that I was at my peak happiness on the river. You think I can live on one of those boats? We cruised past another, small clay lick right on the edge of the river. I was no longer afraid of using my camera on the boat, so I had it out with the strap around my neck and a VERY tight grip in my hands and was snapping sure-to-be-terrible pictures along the way. The only way to get better is to practice! Like a diamond. Tony wisely kept his mouth shut after that. The mystery of the name was solved pretty quickly once we got there. There are pieces of all different sizes, and many of them form abstract ice sculptures that sparkle in the sunlight as they melt. It was very pretty. When we were finished staring at the lake, we paused to watch some little ice pieces that were trying to make a run for the freedom of the sea but were blocked by larger ones. We were completely sucked in by the action and cheered for one little ice as it struggled to break free. I imagine this is what Icelanders did in their free time pre-television. You can put your money on an ice chunk, and whichever one successfully reaches the ocean first, wins. Before we got back on the road, we decided to check out the other side of Diamond Beach too on the other side of the outlet coming from the lake because, despite Tony having no idea what he was talking about, he was right about it being beautiful. Diamond Beach was as far east as we were going, so when we finished there, we started back in the direction of Reykjavik. There were a few places we wanted to stop at on the way back, but we were also scouring google maps as we drove to see if there were other things nearby that might be worth checking out. We hiked up a ridge along the side, and it was breathtaking. I would have been happy to hike way farther than we did, but Mike and Tony were keen to keep moving. We walked until we were past all of the other people, at least, before turning around. Most of the trails were closed for the season with an opening date of May 1, and we were there in mid-April now you can see how far behind I am… oops. That was a bummer, but at least we could still hike to Svartifoss, another famous waterfall. We made one more unplanned stop on our way to the campground for the night. Well, it was clear what they were looking at: a couple of massive, mangled steel girders. Remember how I talked about how there are volcanoes under the glaciers? There are also some sub-glacial lakes that are maintained by the volcanic heat. It cycles between slowly filling and eventually releasing the water in a mega-flood. In , there was a volcanic eruption that accelerated the fill cycle, melting 0. The lake was filled higher than ever before in recorded history, and the resulting mega-flood was incredibly destructive. The flood waters carried glacier pieces along with them, some weighing as much as tons. It had deep foundations and allowed about 6m clearance for glacier pieces to pass underneath, but in this instance, it would have needed more than twice that height to be safe. The result? Well, the beams speak for themselves…. Mike and Tony were hoping to do a long, waterfall-filled hike the next day, so we needed all the sleep we could get! Learn more about the formation of these interesting lava rocks. Ada Foah — compare the black sand beaches of Iceland to the picturesque and slightly more tropical beaches of Ghana. My adventures of blindly following the advice of strangers continued the next day in Bath. Why Bath? That all sounded good to me, so off to Bath I went! It was only 8 pounds round trip which was LESS than taking a bus when does that ever happen?? Off to a good start. Like huge. First, let me give you a little background on the city of Bath. Bath is located at the site of the only natural hot springs in the UK. It was originally settled by Celtic tribes who thought that the springs were a gift from the gods, specifically their goddess Sulis. When the area was conquered by the Romans in the first century AD, the city and the baths were Romanized. Back to the tour. We walked past the Bath Abbey the main cathedral , and Mr. Knightley explained that none of the aristocratic class used to go there because it was considered smelly and touristy, and at least the latter is still true today. Apparently, they used to put the corpses of the rich in the crypt underneath the church instead of properly burying them, so it literally smelled like rotting bodies. At some point after that, they decided that maybe it was kind of gross to leave bodies out to smell up the place, and they were buried instead. There has been a church on the site of the current abbey since the s AD, but this building has been there since about the s with major restorations done in the late s. You could drink water from the spring which supposedly has healing properties, and I learned later in the day that this water was piped up directly from the bath pools… which means people were basically drinking dirty bathwater. Architecturally, the city is primarily built in the Georgian style. In , the entire city was rebuilt with one main architect, John Wood the Elder. One of the interesting features in town is called the Royal Crescent. So, something may look like two houses from the front but actually be only one. Knightley said that this was the typical Bath way… it was all about having the appearance of high society. The actual substance was less important. He told a story about the meeting to name the streets of the new city of Bath. This sounds like a myth to me, but the streets do exist, so maybe not? After the tour, I walked to the Botanical Gardens. I continued roaming before finally making my way to the baths. Admission was a bit expensive, but it was totally worth it! For the museum, there was a free audio guide, and when I got to the baths part, I was just in time for the last guided tour of the day which ended up being fantastic! The temple in the center was dedicated to Sulis the Celtic goddess and the Roman goddess Minerva who they considered to be the same goddess by a different name. These baths are particularly interesting because of the style mixing between the Roman and local tribal cultures. The baths are fed by 10,year-old rainwater that goes 3km underground and comes up at 37 degrees C. The local tribes, and later the Romans, thought that it had healing properties, so the bathhouse was one of the first things to be built by the Roman conquerors. The land around the springs was dried, and the temple was built. In classic Roman form, the design pushed the engineering boundaries of the time. The main bath pool originally had a 20m-high roof. The first iteration was made of wood, but that rotted quickly because of the heat and moisture from the pool. It was replaced with a roof made of hollow bricks. One of my favorite things was curse tablets. They would roll these up and then throw them into the main spring pool. If the tablet floated, it was said that the curse would come back on the curser, so people were sure to make them heavy and fold them up really well. We walked through the different rooms of the baths, and the guide explained what each was used for. First was the changing room where people would prepare for the bath process. The baths were affordable, so people of all social classes used them. The rich came more often and had servants to help them and to guard their belongings. After undressing, bathers moved into the tepidarium, the warm heat room, for cleaning and hair removal. People removed all of their body hair from the neck down. If you were rich, you could afford a blade to shave it. Otherwise, you were stuck with plucking… EEK! When your hair was all removed, you were massaged with oil to clean you, obviously and then sent to the next room, the caldarium. This was the hot room and was like a sauna. It had a raised floor that contained an underfloor heating system. In this room, people sweated, and the oil from the tepidarium was scraped off. What was done with this sweaty oil? Glad you asked. If it was used by someone important, sometimes it was sold by enterprising Romans as a face cream so that you could absorb some of the essence of the person who used it. Otherwise, it was probably sent back to the tepidarium and reused. Hygienic, huh? You could buy wine, and to sweeten it, they would often add lead powder. The main pool was also lined with lead sheets for waterproofing purposes. The waters in Bath were believed to have healing properties, so this bath has a special immersion pool for healing. Rather than being healed, however, people probably just ended up passing on their skin conditions to other people in the baths. In the early 5 th century, the Roman Empire started struggling, and skilled workers were recalled to Rome. No one who was left knew how to maintain the facilities, so the roof started to collapse. By the 12th century, all evidence of the Roman Empire in Bath was gone. The floor level of the baths is six meters below the modern-day street level! This process was delayed by 10 years because one person kept holding out and refusing to sell, so they had to wait for him to die who wants a basement filled with water?? I absolutely loved my time at the baths. I thought it was so freaking cool. At the end, you can drink some of the cleaned water. There are so many minerals in it that it tastes repulsive. When they could just take some vitamins instead? Not me! Bristol — explore the nearby city of Bristol, England. Cardiff — hop over the border into the capital city of Wales! Inside the Tower — take a look inside the famous Tower of London. My flight landed at AM, I zoomed through immigration, and I tried to somewhat pull myself together in an airport bathroom before venturing out into the world. My first stop was the Burj Khalifa, aka the tallest building in the world. I made the mistake of going to Dubai on a Friday. I had NO idea where to find the correct entrance to go to the viewing decks, so I just walked in a direction that I thought made sense until a guard told me I was going the wrong way and redirected me. One of the best parts of going to viewing platforms in tall buildings is getting to learn about the building. They always have information about the design and how it was built. Learning about the process makes the experience so much more interesting! Excavations for the Burj Khalifa started in January of , and it was officially opened in January of Even though it boasts a height of meters 2, ft , the top floor is located at meters 1, ft. The rest is just a ridiculous spire to make it taller. The piles that make up the foundation system are 50 meters deep ft. They also had the challenge of making sure that the in-ground structure could withstand the harsh minerals found in the soil. After a year of construction to prepare the foundation, work started on the floors. They created a process that allowed them to pour the concrete for one floor every three days! That set another world record there really is a world record for everything. The quantity of building materials that went into the structure is insane. The foundation alone used 45, m 3 of concrete 58, yd 3 , which is like if you filled 18 Olympic swimming pools, and the superstructure used another , m 3 , yd 3 or more swimming pools. If you lined up the steel rebar end-to-end, it would go a quarter of the way around the world. During the summers, temperatures easily reach over 44 degrees C about degrees F. In order to keep work going through the summer months, concrete was poured at night when the sun was gone and temperatures were lower. A Y-shaped floor plan was selected to add stability, and the weird shape and setbacks were designed to reduce the impact of wind on the building. The occupied levels were built with poured concrete floors, but the structure of the spire is entirely steel. It has 54, windows. Can you imagine being in charge of window cleaning??? I wonder if they ever do clean the windows because it seems like that would be terribly unsafe. Haha I just looked it up… it takes 36 workers months to clean all of the windows. The top 27 levels are cleaned by unmanned machines. It holds the titles of: tallest building in the world, tallest free-standing structure, tallest man-made structure, building with the most stories, highest occupied floor, highest outdoor observation deck, and a few more. It houses a hotel, apartments, a restaurant, and offices. At its base is the Dubai Mall, filled with expensive stores and ridiculous attractions such as an ice rink and an aquarium. After my brain was filled with knowledge, I took an elevator to the th floor. I think it only took a minute, and the elevator was so smooth that you could barely even tell it was moving. Apparently, the building is so tall and the elevators are so fast that you can watch the sunset twice from the building, once from the base and once from the observation deck. At the top, I wandered around a bit before the sun started to rise. It was still completely dark outside, so I got to see the city lights all the way around the building. About half an hour before sunrise, I claimed a spot next to the windows with a good eastern view and waited. It was awesome getting to see the world light up and the city wake up. The streetlights gradually turned off, along with the building lights. The world got brighter and brighter and the sky more and more orange. Then, finally, the sun broke over the horizon, and everyone cheered. You know how things like the sunrise or stargazing can make you feel like your problems or day-to-day worries are so small? Everyone, young and old, had the same look of excitement and awe on their face. The sun rises every day, it rises in every country, and that morning, it shined its light on our shared humanity. And we all love sunrises. After the sun rose, I walked around again and took another look at the city. The city has a completely different personality during the day. It was like I got double the value for my ticket because I got to see two different Dubais, or maybe even three. Night Dubai, waking up Dubai, and daytime Dubai. I stayed there longer than anticipated. By the time I got downstairs, it was about 8AM. Part of the sunrise deal was a drink and breakfast sandwich, so I still had to eat before moving on to my next activity. The only drinks included were different types of coffee the ongoing struggle of eating and drinking like a child , so I just asked for a cup of hot water. The guy working there thought it was weird who drinks a cup of hot water in the desert? I was originally planning to take a bus to my next stop at , but at that point, I figured I might as well take my time and wait for the metro to start running at After breakfast, I headed into the mall to poke around a bit. Check out the continuation here. Dubai First Impressions — get a feel for the city with a list of my first impressions. Victoria and I decided that we wanted to go on a Saturday adventure, so we planned a mini-excursion to visit Havuts Tar Monastery. I think he just wanted something to name after himself. It was re-established in its current form in There are four different landscapes within the park, ranging from desert to alpine meadow, and a ton of different plant and animal species. There are 41 mammal species! The Khosrov website makes it seem like coordinating a visit to the park is a huge pain. In all of the reviews I read about Havuts Tar, no one said anything about a guide. Who the heck knows which one is right? Our marshrutka dropped us in the center of Garni, and from there, we started walking in the general direction of the park. It took a few near-wrong turns and some helpful directions from locals, but we eventually found what looked like a trail and started hiking. Thank goodness for GPS because otherwise, who knows where we would have ended up? Okay, showtime. No big deal. There was a park ranger sitting at the gate, and we said hello and told him that we wanted to see Havuts Tar. We had practiced saying this in Armenian on the walk so that we would sound like we knew what we were talking about. I think he winked at us when he said that, but I have no idea why because we definitely were passing as locals. They had posters about the different sites in the park, information about environmental preservation, a creepily impressive beetle collection, and best of all, a bathroom. Victoria and I paid our dram each and headed up the trail to the monastery. There were some steep parts, but we were following a dirt car road, making it impossible to get lost. There were even a few shade trees along the way! There was an earthquake in that destroyed much of the complex, and after that, it was basically abandoned, aside from some minor restoration efforts in the 18 th and 20 th centuries. The ruins were a pleasant surprise. Everything I read basically said that the monastery is unimpressive, but the view makes the trip worth it. I completely disagree with the first statement. It was beautiful!! The ruins were way more extensive than I expected. It overlooks the Azat River Valley, the same one that runs behind Garni Temple, and the whole thing is pretty spectacular. From Amenaprkich, you can see Garni Temple too! We found a shady spot to eat our snacks some bread, cheese, and cookies, courtesy of Victoria , chatted, and enjoyed the scenery. Far from that, we had a great time! Or, for the autumn version, go here. Smbataberd Fortress — soak in the breathtaking views from Smbataberd Fortress. Sergei Parajanov Museum — visit my favorite museum in all of Armenia. Erebuni Fortress — poke around the ruins of the fortress at the heart of ancient Yerevan. Darjeeling is beautiful!!! I already feel like I need to come back here to do some hiking. Anyone out there want to come and trek across northern India with me? Darjeeling is a popular tourist destination for both Indians and foreigners, and its tea industry is internationally recognized. It became a popular summer escape for the British residents of Kolkata then Calcutta who were seeking relief from the heat. The tea growing began in the s when the British started seeking a tea source outside of China. After some trials and hybridization to create teas that would thrive in the Darjeeling climate and elevation, the industry took off. I personally am all about mountain views. Earth is the coolest. Apparently, you can see all the way to Mount Everest in Nepal on a clear day! It opened in and specializes in the captive breeding of alpine animals. I was VERY excited about this because snow leopards are my absolute favorite animal, and any day when I get to see them in person is an exciting one. I stared at them for a long time. It was just as magical as it always is. Anna the snow leopard and I made eye contact and instantly became best friends. Sorry this is a huge aside, but seriously, you should go. Also, they have koalas. And Tasmanian devils. Or maybe it escaped, who knows. After the zoo, we did some wandering. We walked farther up the mountain, somehow managing not to get hit by a single car even though we were basically walking in the middle of the street. People here love selfies. And next to the train. And sitting at the train station. And walking down the street. And and and and and… the list could go on forever. By the time we finished our wandering and made it down the mountain, dark clouds were starting to roll in. Oh, rainy season, how I hate you. The rain comes frequently, quickly, and heavily. We snagged a bus back to Sonada before the worst of it started, thankfully. Oh, and we also ate more momos… yummm! Road to Sonada — experience the joys of traveling across India and come along on the trek from where I lived in Jaigaon to Sonada. Lima Zoo — if you like zoos, say hi to the baby tigers at the Lima, Peru zoo! Plus some bonus material about my life in Peru. Laguna de los Tres — for some completely different mountain views, hop on over to Argentina! Fernanda leaves us at the end of the week, so she got to pick the location for our weekend travels. Her demands were simple; she wanted to go someplace pretty and relaxing. It used to be a big town for trade. At first, it was product trade, but when the African slave trade started, the fort originally meant to defend the trading post was turned into a slave fort. This is where captured people were packed together in dehumanizing conditions meant to either kill them or break their spirits before they were sent to the Americas. After the slave trade was abolished, it became a trading post for goods again. After the Akosombo Dam was built on the Volta River, it became too shallow for large ships and basically crushed any of the trade industry that remained. There are also big issues with the strong tides eroding the coastline to the point where many of the buildings in the town have washed away. The trek to Ada Foah from our village, like the trek to basically anywhere from our village, is a bit of an adventure, and ours ended up being even more interesting than anticipated. At best, a trip to there from Frankadua would involve two tro tros and one boat ride, but we had to make an extra stop in Accra for Nico to extend his visa. We planned to hang out at the Accra Mall while he took care of that and then go from there. I think he might have gone just because of us which was really nice. We all squished in four of us in the backseat , and off we went! Hm… so what now? It turned out to be a guy that Nico and Amber met a couple of weeks ago in Frankadua, Rudolph, and when they explained our situation, he said he was headed in that direction anyway was he, though? The ride was cramped but seriously luxurious because he had air conditioning!!! It was amazing. At the transfer point, Rudolph walked with us to find the right tro to take to Ada. Finally, from Ada, we took a boat to Ada Foah. The captain, Fred, started using some questionable methods to try to start it up again, and we were so close to land that someone from the hotel started walking through the water to us with the intention of pulling the boat in. We finally made it! We took our time getting up in the morning YAY for sleeping in! Also, sorry, nerd alert but I MUST comment on the electrical situation… There are lights in both huts, but only one has a switch. Where two wires connect, the ends are just twisted together and left exposed. Maybe another time. ANYWAY, we decided to go for a walk to explore, starting on the river side of the peninsula and walking around to the gulf side. I understand why people call it a paradise town because man, it really is beautiful. Like I was saying, beautiful! At the end of the peninsula, we could see the place where the river water runs into the gulf which was pretty cool. The rest of the day was equally uneventful. We played some volleyball, swam in the river and played monkey in the middle, and lay on the beach. I made a sand sculpture and took a nap in a hammock and lost to Nico in chess. We watched the sunset and ate dinner, and after everyone else went to bed, Fernanda and I hung out on the beach and looked at the stars. Since there are barely any lights around, the sky is super dark and the stars are incredible. We get along so well and have a lot in common. The next morning, we ate breakfast and started the long trip home to Frankadua. I felt so refreshed after our day of relaxation that I actually really enjoyed the very long ride. Step 1: Another boat ride with our friend Fred! This one went without a hitch, and he promised to come visit us in Frankadua. Step 2: Tro ride. We walked from the dock to the station in town, and when we found it after asking a bunch of people for directions , there was no one there. Time to ask more people for help! Of course. Because why would they? We found a tro, and I got a prime seat — back row by the window. Everyone else slept, but I was happy to look out the window and enjoy the ride. Step 3: Tro transfer at Tema Roundabout. We assumed that we could get a tro direct to Frankadua from there, but everyone we asked said that there was no such thing and that we had to take a cab to some other station and get one from there. I lucked out again on my seat and was in the front next to the driver which means 1. A breeze and a view. What more could you want? Sometimes you luck out on that, too, but more often not. Two hours later as in, two hours after the beginning of step 4 , we were home! We survived! The Cape Coast crew got back maybe 20 minutes after us, and the rest of the night was spent exchanging stories and getting ready for school the next day. Last week of summer school… eek! Cape Coast Castle — learn more about the West African slave trade with a visit to one of the most well-known and well-maintained slave forts. Batumi — compare the sand beaches of Ghana to the pebble beaches of Batumi, Georgia. The perfect solution for the beach-loving sand-haters among us! Kokrobite — enjoy another Ghanaian beach weekend. Lake Bosomtwe — canoe around this crater lake, the largest natural lake in Ghana. My first attempt at taking a picture of a flying bird… hehe not great. Much easier when the birds are moving slowly! One more… We had a two-hour boat ride, and by the time we reached our destination, the rain had stopped completely, and the weather was absolutely perfect!! Spot the Macaws! Just hanging out. Hovering Getting a liiittle bit closer, with a couple of new friends. And, he makes his move! Slowly… Then, chaos! What a world. I wanted to get some pictures of them flying because the colors are even more incredible when their wings are open. That one with its wings open on the tree… whoa. Those two birds flying away on the left are awesome! Full view through the telescope Getting even closer… The wings! Macaw love The deep blue feathers are so pretty! If I were a bird, I think I would like to be a macaw. Yummm, clay! Did you find all three? Getting set for another round at the clay lick I think I could have stayed there watching until all of the macaws left, but after a while, we called it a morning and headed back to the boat. Bye, boat! And you can see the other side of the beach across the outlet from the glacier lake Tony, thrilled to be at Diamond Beach Ice sculpture! I think this one looks like a baby ice dragon. Mike pulling Tony on an ice sleigh So cool! Can you find me? Ice hat. There was a hole all the way through. I have to give Mike the credit for this picture… He was so committed that he practically lay down on the ground for it. This one looks like maybe a dragon or maybe a pegasus. Getting his tan on. The glacier escape route looking towards the glacier lake Walking up to the lake. This was the location of the big roadblock that the little ice pieces had to make it past in order to reach the ocean. The classic Mike-drinks-freezing-cold-water picture Just a few more… So pretty! It looks like a partly melted slushie. My expression for basically the entire Diamond Beach adventure Mike on ice I love that you can see the waves crashing into the ice Seriously… can you believe this is real? So many diamonds! Turned our backs on the ocean…. Lara and the majestic glacier. Mike being Mike. This is crazy!!! Can you find Mike? Just one more! Check out those troll rocks! It was actually kind of hot out, so I took off my top layer of pants and was left with these leggings. Mike made fun of me because he said my outfit was ridiculous. I think I look fantastic. Check out that color coordination! That is NOT a small or weak beam. Imagine the force that was needed to do this! And it was all natural! Crazy, amazing, and a little terrifying. Campsite for the night. Bath streets. Bath Abbey There has been a church on the site of the current abbey since the s AD, but this building has been there since about the s with major restorations done in the late s. Front of the Abbey. You can see the ladders on the two tall towers, and those little things climbing up are the angels. The Pump House. They form a circle with three gaps for roads into the center. The middle of the circus. See how icky the back looks compared to the uniformity of the front? Another random street in town… As you can see, they all look kind of similar. One of the churches had this for a door handle… I thought it was funny. Enjoy these pretty spring pictures! Curse tablets. More curse tablets. They had some of the texts written out, and I thought they were hilarious. The changing room. They had these funny projections to help you visualize the happenings in each room. Inside the tepidarium. You can see the simulation-people getting massages. The stacks of bricks are called the hypocaust. Those are what held up the raised floor. Lead pipes for carrying water. Main bathing pool Standing on ancient ground. The sacred spring where the curse tablets and other sacrifices were thrown A recovered sacrifice. I love how delicate it is! Welcome to Dubai! That body of water is the Persian Gulf. Nighttime city view. See the area of brown out in the water in the upper right? It was a chilly morning! But it came off VERY soon after this. The sun is cominggggg. I love that the roads are little lines of light. The sky is brightening… The city lights turn off. The sun peeks out! The crowd goes wild! Good morning, sun! It feels so unnatural. Divers in Dubai Mall The aquarium! And a dinosaur because why not? To spare you from spending one day reading this post about one day, to be continued… Check out the continuation here. Azat River! Khatchkar along the path to the monastery. Amenaprkich Church is up on the hill, and in the low area to the right, you can see the grey walls of the monastic complex. The path. Not much room for wrong turns! I so wish that I could have seen it in all of its glory. Just imagine! That building on the right is a church within the complex, and there are other auxiliary buildings along the perimeter walls you can just see the edge of one on the left side of the picture. The ruins of the two churches inside the complex are in the foreground, and Amenaprkich Church is on the hill in the background. I love these khatchkars. Look at how intricate! And I also love how they integrated different decorative stones into the walls. It gives them a lot of personality. Entrance to one of the monastery complex churches. I also love how they used two different colors of tuff stone to create accents. That view! And also I really like that wall. These little vaulted rooms are up against the perimeter walls, possibly used as guest chambers for the monastery. This looks like an alien on a space horse capturing another alien, but the captured alien is smiling because he knows that there are twenty of his alien soldier friends on their way to save him. Me and Victoria! The last remaining arch inside the church. Again, I have no idea how this is still intact. And you can see part of the ring where the dome would have been. Hi, little Himalayas! Sonada station Terrible picture, but this is the only one I have of the front of the train. The locomotives are mostly diesel, but there are a couple of steam ones as well. Neha and me with the train Toy train selfie! Going up… The train at Ghum Station. This is the highest altitude station! Also, does that station sign look familiar? Another British legacy left behind. Ah, what a beautiful view! Ignore the power lines. Darjeeling streets. Also, admire those out-of-control power lines in the middle. Monkeys on the power lines! The wildlife starts before you even get to the zoo. There are wild monkeys all over the place. I learned about what to do around alligators and bears. Here, kids learn about monkeys and elephants. Males can weigh up to lbs kg while females are only about a third that size. Crowded, of course. One of the many super-cool walls at the zoo. Come for the animals, stay for the moss-covered walls. Another mossy wall. Yes, at the zoo. Like in a public place where people and children visit. Yes, those splices are wrapped in electrical tape. Keep in mind that the voltage here is V, so a shock would be quite unpleasant. I love you, snow leopard. Still on a high from seeing the snow leopards. No clue what kind of monkey this is sorry. Weird bear sculpture-type thing in the bear enclosure. Hi, mountains. Spot the red panda… Red pandas are endangered. There he is! I wish I had a camera with a better zoom… but he kind of looks like a little red raccoon. I love these trees After the zoo, we did some wandering. Beef momos! Not nearly as beautiful as the ones we made. This is very close to what my first attempt looked like, actually. Related Posts Road to Sonada — experience the joys of traveling across India and come along on the trek from where I lived in Jaigaon to Sonada. Vacation homes along the river The trek to Ada Foah from our village, like the trek to basically anywhere from our village, is a bit of an adventure, and ours ended up being even more interesting than anticipated. As you can see, we took the direct route haha. The place where we stayed is in the red circle… literally right at the point where the river meets the gulf. Party car! Us with our new best friend, Fred the boat driver. Not sure why Fernanda and Amber are making those faces… Yay!! We were welcomed into shore by this hideous sunset Like… what is this place?!? Fernanda with our hut. The light in our room. Admire those wires running straight into the sand. Exterior light fixture this is the weatherproof-edition. Huts everywhere! The river side Exploring Another river view, looking back in the direction of our huts I bet these rocks were placed here to help with the erosion problem Obligatory photoshoot Because why not? This is where we played our monkey in the middle Sand sculpting. Best friends. Sunset on the ocean side. Fernanda soaking up some last-minute sun on the boat ride. I was sad to leave this luxurious concrete floor and princess-style mosquito net behind. Tro 1. This was a pretty big one.. On the ride home from my prime front-row seat Drive scenery Two hours later as in, two hours after the beginning of step 4 , we were home! Kokrobite — enjoy another Ghanaian beach weekend Lake Bosomtwe — canoe around this crater lake, the largest natural lake in Ghana.

Ada Foah buying snow