Our life shifted into high gear from Feb 10-19 during the Africa West Area Review. Elder Holland and Elder Snow and their wives were our guests from Salt Lake City. The review was to include Liberia, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. To view a video of Elder Holland's comments visit: http://www.lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/emerging-with-faith-in-africa?lang=eng
The harmattan was in full swing with dust and sand blowing off the Sahara and visibility at an all time low in Liberia and Sierra Leone. We tried to fly to Liberia Feb. 10 and boarded the plane, but never took off because the visibility was too low in Monrovia, Liberia to land. One Africa lady jumped up and shouted, "Don't get off this plane!" Her idea was to have a "sit in" and refuse to leave until they flew us to Liberia. Feb. 12 we tried again and flew all the way to Monrovia only to circle above the airport and return to Ghana due to poor visibility. I loved Gregg's perspective: "'Live to fly another day." Delta created an extra flight on Feb. 13 and we were able to get Elders Holland and Snow all the way there. Local people on the plane were literally weeping and clapping at our landing, so glad to finally make it there.
We were edified and uplifted as we listened to Elder Holland teach us. We were grateful for the Apostolic blessing he left. It was a joy to have been part of his visit.
Well folks, the crop is in! Our mango tree has had a bounteous harvest this year; close to 100 mangoes. It is probably a 20 year old tree and quite tall. Many I could pick with just the help of the ladder. Others required a much more sophisticated technique; a closet rod with a hanger duck taped to the end. A quick yank and then do your best to catch it on the way down. Maybe I should have worn a catcher's mask - as one time I dropped the pop fly and it nailed me on the nose. Only minor damage.
The size of the fruit is amazing. The 'king of fruits' is one nickname I've heard. We had a "weigh in" just to see. Our biggest mango weighs 1 kilogram or 2.2 pounds. Tell me that's not impressive! It is over 8 inches long and over 5 inches wide. It's a whopper. And many are just like it.
Gregg wondered what on earth I would do with 100 mangoes. Last year our tree bore about 15 mangoes and I made and shared mango jam. Sharing with friends and neighbors comes first. Also, the birds, bats, and bugs love mangoes and nabbed a few; they pretty much help themselves. It is not uncommon for the locals to help themselves but I have been policing the harvest pretty close this year.
In addition to fruit salad we are trying mango yogurt, mango shortcake, mango tapioca, mango muffins, mango bread ... you get the idea. Once cut, mangoes also freeze well for future fruit salad. I haven't tried a mango pie. What do you think? It couldn't be that different from fresh strawberry pie - or could it?
Our banana tree has just announced that it will be bearing fruit for the very first time. This will be fun to watch. And, yes, the neighbor behind us installed a 5 wire electric fence on top of the block wall. We might end up with cooked bananas!
Living in Ghana offers some wonderful day trips. Our latest adventure was a trip to Boti and nearby Akaa Falls. For us this was a 2 hour drive one way. It is the dry season here which may not be the ideal time to visit waterfalls, but both had water and were beautiful.
Boti Falls originates from the Ponpon River and is 30 meters high. A hike down 250 steps takes you to the base of the waterfall and a pool that the website says is safe for swimming. But there are many signs warning you not to swim. You are obliged to pay for a guide to escort you this short distance, but he was a pleasant enough fellow.
A little further down the road is Akaa Falls which originates from the same river. Akaa Falls has a mind-boggling rock formation bordering it and the Obosabea rock which is known for its "mystic fertility power." No one I know got pregnant as a result of this visit. We were able to get right up next to the waterfall which would have been impossible during the rainy season.
You may not have known this, but Western fast food has not made it to West Africa..until now. We have no McDonald's, no Burger King, no Carl's Junior, and no In-N-Out Burger. But we have a pioneer effort happening right here. KFC opened in Accra at the end of 2011 and we have seen KFC in Lagos, Nigeria. This may not seem momentous to you, but for us it is a BIG DEAL.
You may take those 11 herbs and spices for granted. For us it is pretty close to a taste of home; not exactly the same, but pretty close. They offer original recipe or extra crispy.
Gregg is very disappointed that they do not have mashed potatoes and gravy. They do offer colesalw and fries (which they call chips).
KFC is very popular and most of the time the lines are backed up to the door.
We ate at KFC with a Ghanaian friend who was surprised that she was not given a knife and fork (they eat chicken with a knife and fork here). When she went to the counter with her request the employee smiled and
said, "Oh, but ma'am, it's finger lickin' good!"
Near the border between Ivory Coast and Ghana is the Ankasa rain forest. It is a hidden treasure because it is out of the way and not visited that often. However, being married to Gregg means I lead a high adventure life. As we entered Ankasa, we met our guide, "Joseph." We also got a glimpse of the very muddy roads from the recent rain.
We went on a nature walk to see the Bamboo Cathedral. It was breathtaking. These clusters of bamboo are 30 feet tall and as they lean in toward each other they look very much like the arched ceiling of a cathedral.
On our walk we saw a poisonous black millipede and a red and black non-poisonous millipede that were each about 8 inches long. Others saw a brown tarantula and a snake as big as your arm. Nobody could tell what kind of a snake it was and quite frankly I'm glad I didn't see it.
Of course it had rained in the rain forest shortly before our arrival and the roads were very muddy in spots. In some places it was so muddy that we had to get out and walk to lighten the truck as it drove through the mud. On our muddy hike the guide pointed out elephant tracks. A mother and baby had left tracks not too long before; no sign of the elephants now of course.
On our drive out through the mud, we had our windows down to listen for birds. All of a sudden we heard a loud pop and a hiss; you guessed it - we popped a tire in the mud. Joseph told us to gun it through the mud to higher ground where we could change the tire. Joseph earned a handsome tip that day for getting muddy as he helped us change the tire. We were fortunate to find an "African truck washing station" not too far from Ankasa. Three young Africans spent an hour making the truck spotless and sent the completely flat tire to be repaired (on the back of a motorcycle). We gave away several Books of Mormon and Bibles that day to the repairmen and audience at "What a Friend Auto Parts."
In our continued search for the best beach in Ghana, we did a pre-Christmas getaway with friends and drove 6 hours to Axim Beach. Axim Beach is located about an hour from the Ivory Coast border. At some times of the year they have nesting turtles and you can see whales, dolphins, etc. However, you can also just lay under the sun on the beach.
There are two relatively nice "resorts" on Axim Beach. We chose the smaller one named Lou Moon. This is a boutique resort offering only a handful of cottages, some of which are quite nice. Being a church employee we took the economical route, but couldn't help noticing the cottage which is completely surrounded by water during high tide and has two glass walls looking out to the ocean. Ah... maybe someday.
The beach was nice, the sun was warm, we were surrounded by palm trees, and it was just relaxing to get away. The food was wonderful. We had some very interesting fish dishes including this octopus and pineapple I selected for lunch.
The problems with driving 6 hours on Ghanaian roads are twofold: everything is a 2 lane highway causing you to be concerned about accidents, and just before Christmas all the police are looking for a little extra money (if you know what I mean - lots of police stops). We don't mean to sound critical as most of the Ghanaian police are helpful and nice; as in any country you just need to learn where the police stops are likely to occur.
Gregg and I were unable to get home for Christmas this year, but we were able to spend a week in Paris! I needed to get some medical tests done, which went very well, and we needed some R&R in a 1st world country. Paris totally fit the bill.
We took gloves, hats and coats and loved being able to see our breath because it was cold. Our coldest was 3 degrees C. We had rain, but no snow. We loved the Christmas decorations. The biggest Christmas tree we saw was in front of Notre Dame.
We took time to see the Louvre (boy, that's a hike walking inside that place), Musee de Orsay (I loved the impressionists and Gregg tolerated it well), Versailles (our coldest day, so looking at the stuff inside was better than the gardens), the Eiffel Tower (they lit it up like a Christmas tree), and Notre Dame. We went to a huge mall and a hypermarket twice the size of Costco. We even spent time with the sharks and seahorses at an aquarium called Sea Life.
Gregg thought the best part about the trip was the French cooking. He literally moaned during some of the meals. I must admit that savoring well-prepared beef is heaven. I enjoyed the duck immensely (I had it at 3 different meals). Wow, you can tell we live in Africa when we spend a whole paragraph talking about food!
Some of the things we enjoyed were orderly traffic flow, smooth streets without potholes, restrooms that are clean and available, drinking water out of the tap and salads with every lunch and dinner.
In an exciting moment, someone tried to pick-pocket Gregg as he entered the subway turnstile. They picked the wrong hombre and Gregg set them straight.
The harmattan was in full swing with dust and sand blowing off the Sahara and visibility at an all time low in Liberia and Sierra Leone. We tried to fly to Liberia Feb. 10 and boarded the plane, but never took off because the visibility was too low in Monrovia, Liberia to land. One Africa lady jumped up and shouted, "Don't get off this plane!" Her idea was to have a "sit in" and refuse to leave until they flew us to Liberia. Feb. 12 we tried again and flew all the way to Monrovia only to circle above the airport and return to Ghana due to poor visibility. I loved Gregg's perspective: "'Live to fly another day." Delta created an extra flight on Feb. 13 and we were able to get Elders Holland and Snow all the way there. Local people on the plane were literally weeping and clapping at our landing, so glad to finally make it there. 
