Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend? Like Valentine’s Day, once again I think it is safe to say that I had a different Easter here than I have ever had before.
It began early in the morning on Friday, when we decided to catch an early morning tro-tro and head to Nkwakwa to the fifth annual paragliding festival! We were not told much about it but decided on a whim that when else were we going to be given the opportunity to go paragliding in Ghana? None of us had ever been before, but we were ready and very excited. We caught a taxi to the place where we were told, and had a beautiful ride up a rainforested mountain, awed at the lush greenery. At the top, we came to the festival. It was phenomenal! There were important people from all over Ghana, leaders and chiefs, and everyone was playing music. We ended up waiting around for the entire day before our time came to go, but every second was worth it. There were pilots who came from South Africa to fly with you, and I got to go first, strapped into a harness and literally ran and jumped off of a cliff, thousands of feet off the ground into the air. I cannot describe how incredibly exhilarating it was, and so unbelievably peaceful. Up in the air, everything is so quiet. There were huge birds circling us as we went higher and higher, until we were in the clouds. The sun was getting low in the sky, and the lighting was exceptional. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. We landed in a small field at the end in the next town over, and I waited until the rest of my friends had landed. We ended up going out for drinks with all of the paragliding instructors, and one was from Santa Barbara! It was wonderful talking to him about home! We caught a tro-tro back to Accra that night and had a late dinner, hanging out with the rest of the group. We were all on fire, so elated from our day.
The next morning, Saturday, Anna, Camilla, Mara and I headed to the Togo border, getting there about one in the afternoon. It was completely surreal to walk across the dusty, red-dirt border, and I was aware of how different it was from normal border crossings, in airplanes. We did have to go through immigration and fill out a few forms, but it was relatively easy. And the best part is that we don’t have to pay for a Visa extension now because if you leave the country and come back, you get an extended sixty-day period! We crossed the border and took a taxi to the charming Hotel Galion, this adorable little white hotel run by a little French man. Togo is a Francophone country so everyone spoke French which was hard for me because I am used to doing a lot of talking and I couldn’t because I don’t know enough French! I got to get on that☺. We relaxed and had a lovely French lunch and headed to the Voodoo Fetish market, which is actually a large part of Togolese culture. We met the chief and he talked to us for a while, prayed for us, and we got small trinkets. The actual market was pretty disturbing. I have never seen so many dead animals before. There were heads of monkeys, dogs, leaopards, lizards, birds…the smell was overwhelming. There were also voodoo dolls of course, and I got a safe travel omen for good luck. I was a little relived actually though when we left, it was a lot to handle. We returned to our hotel for a sunset walk on the beach before heading to dinner at Koh Samai, a fantastic Thai and Sushi restaurant if you can believe it. It was one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. I had Thai tofu soup in a giant coconut shell with lemongrass, ginger…mmmm! We were very happy girls. We wanted to go out to get a cocktail or something after dinner and went to this club that had been advertised positively in the guidebook, so we took a taxi and got there, immediately ushered into a booth. It was then that we were able to look around. There were scantily clad women everywhere, dancing into a mirror, with an older woman watching everything. The “bar” literally had one kind of beer and some soda and there were two white men hanging out surrounded by women at the end of the bar. It was at this moment that Camilla said, “ You guys, we are in a brothel, and that is the madame,” pointing to the older woman. Then it clicked. We politely stood up and walked out. Hahaha. What an experience. On the street we doubled over laughing. What a night!
Easter Sunday we went to Togoville, after a lovely petit dejeune of omelettes and baguettes, taking a taxi with our new friends Moritz and Bobby, volunteers from Germany and the U.S. We took a canoe across, toured the church and walked around the historically voodoo city. Then we got yummy fresh bread and avocados and had a picnic on the shore of Lac Togo, swimming and luxuriating in the wonderful day. Then we went and met a voodoo priestess! We had to take off our clothes and wrap a piece of fabric around ourselves, and had to pour libation with her to her dieties… it was a crazy experience! We took a canoe back late afternoon back to the Hotel Galion, and read and journaled on our balcony until after dark. We ventured then to Le Triskett, a beautiful French garden restaurant. I got to call Mom from the hotel and heard that mattie was searching downtown for her Easter basket, set up by Dad! It was lovely to picture. We all had an exceptional evening hanging out with our new friends and slept very well☺
On Monday, we headed back to Accra on the tro-tro, and I was able to run, go shopping for fabric for a funeral dress I will need for Friday and have dinner with everyone! We watched New York I Love You, which made us all miss the city, but also made us so happy that we are here right now. What an incredible experience.

A little funny story too, I had the book Confessions of a Shopaholic in my bag on the way back from Togo that I had picked up from the hotel, but I finished it in the tro-tro. Then an elderly Ghanainan man behind me asked me to borrow it! I was so delighted that I just gave it to him! He read it, entranced the entire rest of the ride!

I miss and love you all, Happy Easter, Passover, Spring!