Momnesia

Intrepid Intern Allegra Yealey:

Hey everyone!

This is our last day in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Tomorrow morning we move to the Volta Region, which is in the southeast. We've been told that the conditions there are much worse, but I'm really don't want to imagine how. We're already bathing with buckets outside, putting used toilet paper in the trash can (gross, eh?) and rationing power. Perhaps we'll be downgraded to mud huts.

Actually, I think that really is the case. All you can do here is laugh it off. I've been doing quite a bit of laughing.

We finally discovered what they meant by "rainy season"; it's been raining off and on for a few days now and the already questionable roads are now ridiculous. Yesterday I bruised my knees quite bady while driving through town. Best of all, yesterday we finally got to experience the wildlife! We drove out to the country and wow- it was so classically Africa. The land was comprised of a grass plain dotted by trees and random rock outcrops. Oh, and ANTELOPES! We hiked up to a cave that was sacred to the Ashanti- it was filled with bats. Some of us climbed in (despite the heinous smell) and flashed lights to make the bats fly. It was a total Batman moment. Apparently there are also Royal Pythons in the cave, but we weren't lucky enough to see them.

Next we went to see the baboons, which are sacred. It was absolutely incredible! We fed them bread and bananas and they came right up to us to take the food out of our hands. The babies were adorable, but at the same time it was disarming because their eyes look so much like ours. Still, watching them interact was fascinating.

We continued to botanical gardens, where our guide led us through and helped us identify trees and plants by smelling their leaves and bark. We identified cinnamon, allspice, citronella, and loads of other spices. We ate starfruit right off the tree and I got a lemon. I think I'll make lemonade tonight. The power is going out for the 3rd or 4th time since we've been here.

One of the girls is going home tomorrow morning due to an emergency back home, so we're going to throw her the best going away party we can manage. That pretty much translates into mango and beer while sitting in the dark.

FAREWELL TO ALL OF YOU.

There probably won't be much internet access for the next two weeks.

love,

Allegra