SHAI HILLS Resource Reserve (part one)

A few weeks back, I posted pics of some baboons we spotted along the highway.  Well, day trip no. 2 from our long weekend was spent with them and their friends!  Shai Hills is definitely the closest thing to us that resembles what you might picture on an African Safari - VERY SMALL SCALE!  You drive all around a large reserve with a guide and spot animals - we saw baboons, kob, ostrich, guinea fowl, a LARGE monty lizard that scared me to death, and bats in their cave.  The baboons were by far my favorite - I truly could have sat there all day just watching them and taking their photos.  They did make me a tiny bit nervous when climbing on our car and such.  There are thousands of baboons in the reserve, but most are shy and afraid.  However, a large number are the 'friendly' ones that sit at the Visitors Center and just hang out with you.

The kids were super excited about this outing!  They had their backpacks, gloves, and binoculars as we headed out the door.  Chase wrote all  his sightings down in a notebook and Drew just kept screaming - "We want to catch some bats - Let's do this!"

But the funniest comment of the day was when Chase, at one point, said,  "I can't wait to see some cantaloupe!"  - He obviously meant antelope and we maybe had never deciphered between the two?  :) So funny!!  Enjoy the pics - I feel like they don't do it justice.  Definitely need to get a better camera lens before we take our real safari.  The next post will be all the baboon pics - got a little carried away.  :)

We are ready to explore!

Kob

See the monkeys?  These are the wild ones.

Going in to see the bats!

Drew INSISTED he climb this very steep ladder all by himself!! 

Chases favorite part - the random rope climb

Good day for two brothers!

Aburi Botanical Gardens and Hillburi Resort

It was a long weekend here - Columbus Day as well as a local holiday on Tuesday so we got a four day weekend.  Sunday after church we set out with friends to the 'mountains'.  Only 45ish minutes from us, a very pleasant and enjoyable day trip.  Hillburi had great food, a playground, and a lovely pool!  Definitely a hot spot for the local expat community.  The boys played and played and played - on the playground and a lot of soccer.

From there, we visited the local Botanical Gardens.  Again, a term I use loosely - not what you expect from the typical Botanical Garden BUT it was green and fairly lush with wide open spaces.....the boys had fun just running and playing (again, soccer and frisbee and football).  Fun day with great new friends!

I love how even the playground have thatched roofs!! 

Crazy fun group of boys!

And a 'pet' dik dik on a leash?  Kids were able to pet it. Random.

Botanical Gardens

This crashed heli is the claim to fame - all I kept thinking about was the show LOST!  :)

Sample Signage

Groups of village kids joined us for play

Tired out from a long, fun day!

OKTOBERFEST(ivals)

Recently, we've been very busy doing the Oktoberfest thing, as well as attending German National Day.  The crazy thing is there are actually several more Oktoberfests on the schedule, but I feel like we've done our part.  The Embassy hosted Oktoberfest is really more like a huge vendor fair - their biggest, so that was right up my alley!  I saw a few things I had not seen yet!  Kids had a good time at both, Drew managed to find the face paint again!  He will stand in line FOREVER to wait for that - by himself.  It's very cute.  I love a good family outing! Happy October from Africa!

My little German

Making bracelets

Those cheeks!

The Hulk

Oh my - this was almost too much for me!

Shopping Around Accra

I make it my personal mission when I move to a new place to find all the treasures, in every nook and cranny, on every side road, in every little town.  So far, I've tried to go out exploring one day during the week (usually with my friend Tish) and Saturday if no plans (usually with my friend Jen).  Most of the time it is finding a new shop or local craftsman and usually includes lunch at a different restaurant.
Almost every outing has been productive, we've discovered something unique, and found ourselves fascinated.  But most definitely each outing is an adventure.  Here are some pics of local shopping I've done recently.  Items you might find here - there is no way this covers it all - I tried to pick out the items that were different or that just caught my attention.  There are photos of Tettah Quarshie Market, Legion Village, and the Koforidua Bead Market.

sweet elephant art

masks - they are plentiful

maybe I'll come home with a ginormous giraffe

This art is such a good depiction of the traffic here

animals from recycled aluminum cans

Tin Tin 

motorcycles from recycled materials

candle holder

typical shop

Art

taxidermy alligator

tribal dancers

more art

warrior

Dash from The Incredibles?

so much color here

I will DEFINITELY get one of these chairs - super comfortable too!!

nicely displayed beads

Legion Village

Fertility Doll

Piles of antiquities

It might seem surprising all there is to do here - I have been a bit surprised myself. Granted, we're not even 3 months in - but most of these places I'll go back to again and again. Or if you visit - I'll take you there.  :)  There are many places to go, see, and explore - the only difficulty is often getting there. The traffic here can be SO CRAZY and it's actually a good idea to be home by noon or shortly thereafter.  The roads are also a little less busy on the weekend.  The other thing that I am still not used to - every time I seek out a 'shop' - even popular shops in books, etc... - they are shanteys in an alley, without air conditioning, where you can barely ever find them.  Yet people (like me) do.  On one of our recent outings, I called the number listed in the guide book, and the gentleman met us in the middle of traffic and we followed him (he was in a cab) to the shops.  He then was our personal tour/shop guide.  Crazy.