Kumasi
We took a Metro Mass bus (privately owned as opposed to the STC buses which are government run) from Cape Coast to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. Buying the bus tickets in Cape Coast was chaos. I went to the little ticket booth to ask when the bus to Kumasi left, how much the fare was, was the bus already full. Suddenly instead of the one guy in the ticket booth, there were five or six of them and they all had a different answer to my questions, or just as often, no answer or an exaggeration. For instance, I was told that the bus was leaving right now and that it was almost full -- we would have to hurry to catch it. That posed a problem since one of our party was at the Cape Coast Castle a few hundred yards away. When all was said and done, the bus wasn't nearly full, and it didn't leave until about 30 minutes after I bought the three tickets (which were about $7 each - undoubtedly the buroni* price). The Metro Mass bus sat 3 on each side with a tiny aisle in the middle. The seats were approx. 8" wide...a width that would never accommodate most Americans but seems to work just fine for Ghanaians. Hmm. My seat neighbors were a mother with a daughter on her lap and a 25-year-old artist/teacher, Augustine. The 3-hour ride between Cape Coast and Kumasi seemed much longer. The road was only paved in places and the rest was under construction and was incredibly bumpy. The bright red dust filled the air and coated all the trees along side the road.*buroni = white person in the local language of twi (pronounced chWEE)
About half way through the trip, the bus driver stopped while a couple of kids and a woman got off the bus to use the bathroom beside the road. Other than my chatty friend Augustine, the rest of the bus' occupants were silent - even the children. Not one wiggle, peep, or whine from any of the infants, toddlers, or children for that entire trip. Thoughout our stay, we discovered that this was typical of the children in Ghana. When we finally arrived in Kumasi, there was a political rally going on in honor of the losing presidential candidate. Ghana had held its second democratic election just a week before. The traffic was atrocious, and when the bus finally stopped to let people off, we never did decide if it was the usual place to disembark or if the bus driver had simply given up.
Kente Villages
One of the main attractions in the Ashanti Region is the weaving that has been produced here for over 300 hundred years. It is native to Ghana and is known locally as nwentoma. We visited the Kente Villages of Bonwire (pronounced BONweere) and Adanwomase (no idea how to pronounce this one!). Although the first is the most famous, the second was much more visitor friendly. Adanwomase had an official tour of the Kente weavers shop, the village, and the cocoa plantaion for the equivalent of $4 and for an extra $.40, you can take all the still photos you want. We spent much time watching the weavers, touring the village and talking with the children. 
Keep in mind that English is the official language of Ghana, so all the children (and most of the adults) speak it pretty well. Laurie especially had brought gifts for the children, and at one point practically caused an all-out riot handing our Bic pens.
By this time I had learned and asked our guide after the tour was over to pass out my remaining gifts (Starburst and Sun Maid Raisins - neither of which the kids had ever had). I also bought a strip of Kente cloth that the weaver had been working on during our tour. 
It was perfect for me -- black with a red design of "H"s to celebrate my new, old name. The only big problem we encountered during this foray was the taxi driver who drove us from Kumasi to Bonwire. As usual, he said he knew where the village was, but quoted a price of 4 cedis. Shayla knew immediately that he had no idea how far the village was if he was only asking that much. She confirmed again where we were going, and showed him on a map. After consulting with six or seven people along the way, he finally figured out that he was in for an 80-mile ride. We made the trip in breakneck speed, and gave him postcards, popcorn (like kettle corn from the vendors that walk alongside the cars in town), and water. When we arrived at the village, we paid him 15 cedis (about $12), although he insisted he wanted twice that much. He argued with us and hung around until the weavers in Bonwire finally sent him on his way. Later, we discovered that the typical fare from Bonwire to Kumasi is only 10 cedis, so I don't know what his problem was. Another strange thing that happened in Bonwire is that the 25-year old Augustine I had spoken with on the bus the day before actually came to the village and waited to see me. Very weird, though I don't think he meant to be creepy. He never indicated he wanted anything other than to keep contact for the sake of exchanging ideas, but nonetheless, I gave him an incorrect email address and sent him on his way.
No comments:
Post a Comment