October 8

We set out after breakfast for what turned out to be a 3- hour drive to Mansokwaa, probably the most remote of the villages we visited. As we passed through towns and by roadside stands, I prevailed on our driver to stop from time to time so that I could try to capture something of the flavor of what we'd seen each day.

When we reached the village, we were ushered into what was supposed to be a junior high building built by the Kipharts, but in fact was being used for K through 6. Some 120 adorable kids were seated in wooden desks that had been stamped "Donated by the Kiphart family.". The obligatory round of speeches included many requests for additional help and the surprise information that the young high school graduates who served as teachers in this remote area had not been paid anything by the government for a year. Peter promised to intervene and the Kipharts, very upset at this information, said that they would guarantee payment of the salaries if the government failed to pay them, despite their policy against paying for operating expenses. In his speech, Peter exhorted students, teachers, parents and the assembled school committee, each to do their parts.

After presentation of gifts to the school and a brief tour of the facilities, we all donned long, black Wellingtons and trudged through the brush to visit two even more remote villages. The weather was quite hot as we walked through the brush, seeing the cocoa plants, plantains and cassava, so, by the end we were very sweaty and a bit weary.


We drove a couple more hours, most of which on relatively good roads into Accra, the capital. We stopped at Peter's house, and met his wife and a couple daughters. After a cold drink, we drove to the restaurant at which Peter had made reservations, accompanied by large parts of Peter's family and a few others who we had not met before. Still sweaty and hot from the long day, this was a bit more togetherness (perhaps a lot more) than I would have opted for, given a choice. Still, the buffet dinner was fine, and the cold Star beers most welcome.


We drove to our hotel, the Golden Tulip, in what easily was the worst drive of the trip. Traffic was horrendous and the pollution caused by the cars most unpleasant, especially with rolled down windows. More than an hour and a half later, we reached our hotel and bade farewell to the Kipharts and Margot. Although I have not mentioned her much in this blog, Margot was a delightful travel companion and good sport throughout.


Peter said he'd pick Carol and me up at 10 the next morning, but I said, no, we had a lot to see. He agreed to come at 8, but I'm betting on 9.


We managed to get on the internet, finally, and I think I successfully downloaded all of the previous days' descriptions. I also downloaded some pictures to my iPad. I have not included any photos in the blog, but may try to figure out how to do that in the coming days.


The hotel is quite fine. After a delightful warm shower, I called it a day.