Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary

After the beach we made our way to the monkey sanctuary where I came for field school a few years ago. This involved a 5 am bus ride to Kumasi, which meant a 345am departure from KoSa. Yuck...


We got to Kumasi so early that we decided to keep on going all the way to Boabeng after a quick coffee. The Bradt guide has recommended this coffee place that was in the same building as the hotel I had booked for us, and was very close to the bus station. We decided to re-fuel there, and were thoroughly disappointed with the "coffee shop" that we found. The place had a very odd and gross smell, and served the predictable nescafe,rice and noodles, not the promised pastry, sandwiches and brewed coffee. Pam went to the washroom and found mass amounts of rat poison and moth balls-we quickly went to a different place for breakfast-the overly expensive and very nice Golden Tulip Hotel!

The luxury of the hotel stood in major contrast to the tro tro station where we waited for almost 2 hours for the tro tro to fill. There we saw: what Pam called the "Goth Ghanaian," plenty of live and dead animals of all sorts, men stuffing unthinkable quantities of goods into cars, a taxi full of loaves of bread (unwrapped), questionable food, a lady breastfeeding while walking, and much more. Needless to say, the 2 hour wait was not boring at all!












When the tro tro finally left, it predictably broke down, although it was a fairly quick tire change that did the trick. the 2 hour trip to Nkoranza became nearly 3 and a half, but it was quite an interesting trip! Along the way we passed a bus in the ditch, and drove right by the crane picking it up. In Canada, the road would have surely been closed!




We finally got to Boabeng and were happily greeted by Alfred and Bee, the couple that run the guesthouse. We spent the next full day there, enjoying the monkeys and walking in the towns. Ama got a little too much attention from the Boabeng kids-they were very interested and a bit too aggressive for my liking! Robert, who was my groups research assistant for the field school, showed us around and arranged for our taxi hire to Mole for the next day. In the evening we went to Fiema, another village, where we were happily greeted by Constance, another research assistant.

We walked around Fiema in search of a beer, but there had been a funeral in town so we were out of luck. Along the way our entourage grew, and we saw many interesting things, including a captive Patas monkey in someones house. Hmmmm....Unfortunately I was too stunned to take a picture. Constance was nice enough to escort us back to the guesthouse, and even packed Ama most of the way! We were glad, since it was VERY dark.

Cape Coast and area

The day after Pam arrived we packed up and headed to the beach, again at Ko-Sa. There we did a lot of relaxing, eating and drinking. We had a few coconuts from Fusani, a little boy who hangs out around the resort. Ama had tons of fun getting as filthy as possible, getting sand in places you wouldn't think possible.
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From there we went to Kakum National park for the Canopy walk. Our taxi driver we hired for the day was a little bit shady, and his car was less than road worthy, but we survived and had a good time, and our wallets suffered only minimally. When we got to the park a group was going a bit ahead of us, and the ladies at the desk told us to hurry and catch up with them. So we packed Ama in her pack and began the climb up to the canopy walk. Several people laughed at us, and some even took pictures. I was particularly self conscious since I was setting a world record for sweat production carrying Ama up that hill!

The Canopy is significantly higher than I remember it to be 4 years ago-perhaps because I had my 2 year old on my back! It was a bit nerve racking at first, but enjoyable overall-Ama loved it! I'm very glad I didn't take mom on that adventure...







After the canopy walk we went to Hans Cottage Botel for lunch, which is a cute little hotel whose restaurant is above a crocodile filled pond. We then made our way to Elmina Castle where we went on a very sobering tour that focused mostly on the slave trade. Pam was thoroughly disgusted (as was I, but I have been before).

Ama's turn to get sick!

My brain is a bit too mushy right now to do any meaningful work, but I think I can muster up a blog entry. This way at least I only have to tell the story once!

This last week and a was mostly like all the others. We saw Tom off to Tanzania with a big party, including Tom, Muhsin, myself and Ama! Woohoo! To be fair, it had rained a lot just prior, and raining often creates flooding in many parts of the city that make it impossible to get around.

We had some tasty pizza at Afrikiko anyhow, which is a big outdoor restaurant, play area type place that I am sorry I just learned existed! It was great for Ama!

I told her that we were going to a party, which was sort of a lie since we were going to a restaurant, but I needed to get her motivated to leave the house. Once we got there, low and behold, there was a party hat! She was very happy about it. Muhsin drew plenty of pictures on her etch-a-sketch and was a big hit. There were tears at the end of the night because she spotted the "choo choo train" and desperately wanted to ride it. Poor thing.








This week was supposed to be my crunch week. I was supposed to finish my paper for Amend on Monday, and then finish my remaining course work the rest of the week so that I could be a free woman. Ama's epiglotis had other plans...







I got a call Monday at noon from her school saying she was unwell. I got there, she was on fire, and very out of it. She also had a barking cough, mostly when she was worked up, but otherwise had not wonderful sounding breathing. I quickly took her to the Dr at the Phillips clinic nearby.

Of course their lab was closed, but I saw the Dr anyhow. She seemed fairly unconcerned about Ama, who was at that point barely responsive and drooling and seemed to have difficulty breathing. She gave her a lolipop, which perked her up a bit, but it ended up all over the place since she wasn't swallowing anything.

She told me to give her antibiotics, that she just had a cough, and that she should also take some "anti allergic" medication that came in a bottle that was not the original, and not clearly labeled. No thanks.

I decided to take Ama to a different lab to get the ordered tests (CBC and Malaria) but after I got it done learned they wouldn't have the results till the next day. We went home, blasted the AC and gave her Tylenol. She slept for 3 hours, but woke up no better, probably a bit worse.

I was thinking I should go to a hospital, but also thinking that I really didn't want to do that in Ghana! So I called health link, who were surprisingly helpful, and the woman told me that if I were in Canada she would advise me to go, but that she could appreciate the situation of not wanting to go to a hospital here. She said if she got any worse to take her.

I called my colleague Muhsin who advised me on the various private hospitals in Accra, and recommended Nyaho Clinic. I decided not to kid myself any longer and take her.

When I got there, the Dr examined her and told me she needed to be admitted for "epiglotitis" and put on IV antibiotics. I initially thought it was total bogus, and scrambled to try to get a hold of anyone and everyone, who were predictably unavailable. I got a hold of Susan, and we agreed to just do it, since it was probably the best place for her if I was worried about her breathing.

Turns out it's a real, and dangerous, thing. So good thing I did! She was much better by morning, and seemed back to herself the following day.

If you are in Ghana and plan to have an emergency, go to the bank first. I only had about $300 on me, which I gave as a "deposit." This caused a problem because they wanted more. They also chose to ask for payment directly after they put Ama's IV access in, when we were on the way to the room. Good timing. I got a bit angry with the woman as she took her sweet time, and they took the money and sent me on my way.

They were totally unsympathetic to the fact that I was on my own, and didn't magically have 500 GHc on me. I was asking about payment on day 2, and if I could run to the ATM and leave my passports and other valuables, and they said no, somebody had to bring it or I had to leave Ama. And no, they don't take credit card. What? And no, you can't have your bill in advance, even though all the meds have been ordered and we know when you will be discharged. And no, I can't give you an approximate amount so you can arrange for the cash to be brought. What? There were a few tears on Tuesday night, not gonna lie!

In the end it worked out. Peace, the woman who runs the guesthouse, turned out to be my saviour. She visited twice on Saturday, bringing supplies from home, food, and of course cash. I was so grateful!

Well there you have it. Ama is doing fabulous now. She was causing plenty of trouble this afternoon, and was running around like a maniac. Perfect.