A picture journey through Ghana – Tongo Hills and the Tengzug Shrine

As I said in my last post, when volunteers are not trying to save the world in their own little way they like to get out and see it. Being a volunteer means that you get the opportunity to explore the country you’re in and of course it’s good to make sure you get a reasonable life / volunteer balance.

Just before my volunteer friend Ciara left in July, we went on a road trip with our other VSO friend Rheelen from the Philippines. Ciara was based in Bolgatanga (more commonly known as Bolga) and there are a few places to explore near there.

So we set off on our motorbikes to the Tongo hills. Ciara knew the route well as she worked a lot in that area. As it was the rainy season, the hills were green and beautiful and the climb on the winding roads added to the experience.

We headed towards the Tengzug shrines, parked up and registered at the Visitor Centre for our guided tour of the area and the shrines.

We set off with our guide through the fields and headed up to the hills, past strange rock formations, traditional settlements and people going about their normal water-collecting business.

The people in this area are not Christian or Muslim. Their religion is ‘traditional African’ and shrines, animal sacrifice, nature and symbolism all hold great significance. Many of their beliefs are very positive and mean people respect the environment. The Tengzug shrines are said to exert a great power of healing over those who visit.

However, some beliefs can be difficult to change such as the one that disabled children are ‘possessed’ or ‘evil’. This is something Ciara had to challenge in her placement and she helped to educate the local people so that more disabled children could attend school.

At the entrance to the shrine we asked permission from the priest to enter and we climbed further up the route.

At a certain point, Ciara and I stayed where we were whilst Rheelen continued on. Women are not forbidden to enter the shrine but if they do, they have to adhere to the ancient and strict protocol of going bare-breasted.

Not being particularly comfortable with exposing ourselves in front of an audience of local men (my sister would have called it ‘pervy’), we politely declined and enjoyed the view.

We headed back down the hills all together to visit the local Chief’s palace. Our guide told us he had about 100 children and the male ones seemed to all be hanging around the front of the palace.

We then visited the site of the original village school (note the stone whiteboard)

and admired the view once again from the top of the rocks before we retuned back to Bolga then on to Navrongo (watch out for the next post!).

 

 

 

A picture journey through Ghana – Lake Bosumtwi

Just recently I’ve been blogging a lot about my placement and I’ve talked about my business trips and how and why I’ve been training women’s groups. It’s all been work, work, work. But as a volunteer you also get a bit of time to play too.

I therefore thought I’d share my photos with you from a lovely trip I made with fellow volunteers and a colleague to Lake Bosumtwi near Kumasi back in May. I can’t believe I’ve not got round to blogging about it until now!

The journey involved a 6 hour bus trip south west from Tamale to Kumasi then a taxi ride of about 1 1/2 hours, the last part of it along the rough bumpy road surrounding the lake. The lake is in a meteorite crater.

We stayed at the ‘Green Ranch’ known for its great location overlooking the lake and the wonderful vegetarian food served up by French owner Elodie, a qualified horse-riding instructor.

A nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc was also highly appreciated.

It is safe to swim in the lake (no nasty diseases or worms) so I made the most of it and swam for ages, looking up at the green hills and appreciating the cool temperature. We even had the opportunity to have a go on the traditional ‘padua’ boats used by fishermen on the lake. In my opinion, to call it a ‘boat’ was an optimistic exaggeration as it was essentially a glorified plank but I was game.

For me, getting aboard the ‘boat’ seemed to involve a lot of unladylike clambering, bruised thighs, falling  in the water and swallowing half the lake (thank goodness the water was clean).

My friend Ely seemed to present an altogether more elegant technique but at least I was able to entertain everyone (including the local fishermen).

Before my trip to Lake Bosumtwi I’d never been on a horse in my life or remember having any sort of desire to go on one (although I’ve had a couple of memorable experiences on camels). However,  as I was staying at a ranch I had to make the most of the opportunity. It was a slightly unsettling  experience at the start but slowly became enjoyable and the picturesque scenery made up for the fear factor.

Apart from the half-drowning and the horse-riding we didn’t do too much. It was great to just relax, enjoy the view and appreciate the beautiful natural environment (a welcome contrast to busy, noisy, dirty Tamale town centre) as well as profit from the good food and drink (regular readers may notice a recurrent theme).

On the final evening we went for a brief walk beside the lake to make the most of the last few minutes of light.

On our way back I did my weekly fruit shop and stocked up on mangoes at Kintampo.

So all in all, a great trip. Join me for the next picture journey to the Tongo hills and Navrongo near Bolgatanga….