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Since it was still the weekend, we visited the Kumasi Zoo first thing. While I was waiting for the taxi at the hotel, I heard the loud sounds of church services being blasted on speakers. Almost everyone we saw out and about on the way was dressed up in fancy clothes for church. Once we got to the zoo, we found that it was right next to another church, also blasting their service at an unbelievable volume. Ray told us that the church services often went on for hours. Religion plays a big role in most Ghanaians' lives, with about 71% Christian and 18% Muslim.
Lil' Chesty enjoyed visiting the lions the most. Together we observed a very intense and quite graphic lion luncheon.
My favorite parts of the zoo besides lion lunch were the thousands of megabats, Straw-Colored Fruit Bats, roosting in the wild in almost every zoo tree. These fruit-eating bats are the second largest in Africa, with a wingspan up to 1 meter (about 3 feet!). They eat dates, baobab flowers, mangoes, papaws, avocado pears, figs, passion fruit, custard apples, loquats, bark, and nectar. They may also consume other types of food such as flowers, buds, and young leaves.
After the zoo we traveled to a cultural arts center and stopped at an arts and craft store. I enjoyed the murals in this area a lot. Over a delicious lunch, Ray, Chidi, and I talked about potential ways to collaborate and some action plans for working together. We are excited about the possibilities!
A little about traffic and driving in Ghana--today we were in an area that is the central point for tro tros. Tro tros are mini-vans that are privately owned shared taxis, used to travel both within or between cities. Each tro tro has a driver and a mate, the mate is a conductor who hangs out the door waving to people and trying to bring in more riders. Tro tros are a very affordable way to travel around in Ghana and they are used by many commuters, but they are also not regulated. The driving in Ghana is pretty wild by U.S, standards, signs and lanes are mostly a suggestion, the most important part of your car is your horn and each driver seems to be daring the other to turn, merge, or pass. I must have squealed in slight terror in the taxi today because the driver looked back at me and told me "You no die!" It is also worth mentioning that the driver we hired to drive us to Fomena yesterday had a video console playing music videos, shaped like a rear view mirror, right where the rear view mirror should have been. It was entertaining for the long ride!
A little about traffic and driving in Ghana--today we were in an area that is the central point for tro tros. Tro tros are mini-vans that are privately owned shared taxis, used to travel both within or between cities. Each tro tro has a driver and a mate, the mate is a conductor who hangs out the door waving to people and trying to bring in more riders. Tro tros are a very affordable way to travel around in Ghana and they are used by many commuters, but they are also not regulated.
The driving in Ghana is pretty wild by U.S, standards, signs and lanes are mostly a suggestion, the most important part of your car is your horn and each driver seems to be daring the other to turn, merge, or pass. I must have squealed in slight terror in the taxi today because the driver looked back at me and told me "You no die!" It is also worth mentioning that the driver we hired to drive us to Fomena yesterday had a video console playing music videos, shaped like a rear view mirror, right where the rear view mirror should have been. It was entertaining for the long ride!
Later we visited the campus of a Muslim school in Kumasi. We met more of Ray's family there and looked around the campus a bit. Since most senior high schools are boarding schools, on the weekends, many of the parents will visit and bring a home-cooked meal. So the school yard was full of families that had gathered to talk and share a basket or bag of goodies.
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