Last time at Suhum Branch

We are starting to have a lot of "last times." Today was our last Sunday to attend the Suhum branch. I wanted to get a photo of their leaders. From left to right: Sister Banafo, Sister Larbey, Relief Society, ...................Primary President and ...............Young Women's President. I need to look up spelling of the names.
This is the little newborn I photographed last fall. I thought Laticia told me her name was Joyce, but today she said the baby's name was Abigail. Very cute little girl.
The branch presidency: (I need to look up the spelling of the names and then will add them.) The branch president is a police officer and is second from the right.

Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary

(From their literature) "Tafi Atome is surrounded by an indigenous tropical forest with very high floral concentration. In this forest one could find the endangered, playful and rather sacred True Mona Monkeys.
Believing the monkeys to be messengers to the gods and their protectors, the chiefs and people of Tafi have been protecting them for the past 200 years. Then a few years ago Christianity overpowered the traditional beliefs. A few villagers began to chop down the trees for firewood and to clear land for farming and kill the monkeys just to prove that they no longer feared the fetish gods.
In 1993 the villagers were convinced this place could be a great tourist attraction so they began to find ways to preserve the land and the monkeys."
We had a great time there with the Sidwells. I have to admit I took many more photos than I will post on the blog. The monkeys were amazing and fun.
Sidwells had brought a whole bag of bananas. The monkeys would reach out, peel down a ways and then take some of the banana.
Some were very polite and some were very bold.
We kept trying to feed the small ones, but the big ones often got to it first.
I loved the "sunglass" look. Pretty cool shades.
This shows what experts they were at getting the peel from the banana.
They also went swinging through the trees over our heads and did all kinds of crazy jumping tricks.
Then the leader of the tribe came along. He is one of leaders of the four groups here. He would not even give us the time of day. He refused to take anything but a WHOLE banana and would not come out to get it. Old and grouchy or just in charge.
Another cute Mona Monkey.
This has to be my favorite photo. For some reason it reminds me of Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. I think Rocky was a squirrel, but he had the same look. Elder Reynolds and Elder Sidwell started to throw pieces of banana up to the monkeys. This little guy was ready to jump at any banana coming his way.
This one preferred the ground. He just picked up the pieces as they fell back down.
What a fun day. We could have watched them for hours.
This guy was swinging and then landed with a crash into the bushes below. No harm done.
Another monkey just waiting his turn. The monkeys finally moved on and we had to get back to Ho before dark.
The village offered a cultural experience to be able to stay the night with a family and learn how they live.

I didn't see any takers, but it could have been an interesting night. Great people and fun monkeys.

Wli Falls

We got up early and went with the Sidwells up north near Hohoe to Wli Falls. This is the tallest waterfall in Ghana. The hike to the falls was about a mile long and went through forest and across bridges. This is just one picturesque spot.
There were all kinds of butterflies near the water. Here is just an example.
On the wall next to the falls there were thousands of bats. We could hear them making noise as we came up the trail. If you enlarge the photo they can be seen clinging to the rocks. They must like the natural air-conditioning.
This is Wli Falls during the dry season. I'd love to see it during the rainy season when even more water is coming. It was beautiful!
And our tour guides were great. Elder Sidwell even drove our car, which is just like their car.
Okay, so I'm not blonde, but sometimes I have a "blonde moment". I saw a nice flat slanted rock and decided it would be a great place to take an upside down photo of the falls. I got my shoes wet getting out to the rock. Then I checked for snakes before I laid down on it. Then I took my photo. As I got up and looked at the photo I realized I'd have gotten the same thing by simply turning the camera upside down. Oh well. Appreciate the effort that went into it.

Our trip to Ho

On our way to Ho we had to cross over the Volta River on this beautiful bridge.
I'd love to have stopped to take photos of the river but there was no stopping on the bridge.
The houses around this area were typical African grass-roofed huts.
The Volta River is huge. The area around the river is very tropical and beautiful.
We got to Ho and checked into Chances Hotel. I took this photo just for "our Chance."
They had a nice pool, but we just looked.
I even saw my first African wildlife on the children's playground.
They are probably the only giraffes I'll see in this part of Africa.
Then Elder and Sister Sidwell wanted to drive us up on the mountain to see the beautiful view of the city. Well.........On a clear day......
Any other time of year it would be a great view. This is the air quality we are living in right now. Our eyes burn and our throats are always a bit sore. Too bad Hamattan will probably last until we go home.

Cedi Beads Factory

We had been told of this bead factory near Kpong. We wanted to see if on our way to Ho. After driving down a very bad road we finally came to this well-kept enclosure and sign.
We drove through the gate and found a beautifully cared-for property. The owner met us at our car and said he'd show us around.
He told us his name but said to call him Cedi. He said back when Ghana was changing from using the pound to using the cedi for currency his mother was expecting a baby (him). The grandmother told his mother to bring her home a cedi. So when the baby was born they nicknamed him Cedi and he's gone by that name ever since. Here he is showing us the four kinds of beads they make.
Some of the beads are made from crushed, colored glass such as the examples of bottles in the background.
He showed us another method where they put pigment into clear glass and then pour it into a mold like one would do to make a "sand picture."
He showed us a number of different tools needed to form the beads. He also showed us the white chalk-like powder they use to coat the mold so the beads will not stick to the mold.
Here is the "glass crusher". Cedi told us when he was seven he made a bead. The family was quite amazed at his skill and asked if he could repeat the process. He made another one. When the family took their beads to market everyone wanted his bead. So he started making beads at a very early age. He has traveled the world teaching the process at universities and has had students come here to learn his skills.
He has two little ovens to fire the beads. He said the clay to make the ovens comes from termite mounds. They use that clay because the termites dig very deep into the earth to get the best clay. It can withstand very high temperatures. I think he said something about 1000 degrees C. He fires the beads for about forty-five minutes.
Then the molds are cooled and the beads removed.
This man is being a human rock polisher as he uses sand to polish the fired beads.
If the beads are painted then they have to be fired once more. The ones of poorer quality are used to decorate these bowls they sell in their store.
The others are strung together by these ladies. It was an interesting tour and of course we had to spend a little time and money at his store.