Ghana holiday with Lon's family

As my brother and his family live in Ireland, Hazel and I in Ghana and my sister and family and my parents in the east of The Netherlands there are not many times the whole family is together.
Instead of trying to meet in The Netherlands the plan arose to meet in Ghana.
And so it was.

We did not all have the same itinerary, but it mostly overlapped.

Just a view photos to tell the story.

After separate arrivals we all went to Cocoa village at crater lake Bosomtwe.
A basic lodge with not much more to do than swim and walk up the hill.

The road to the lodge

View from the top

Cultural exchange

After this we proceeded slowly around Kumasi and fast, but for a long time, north to Mole national park.

A quick stop at the falls. The girls were wearing plastic bags on their heads and the boys were showing of at the lower part that could be used as a slide.

Mole park has animals, but is not comparable to any east African park. The advantage is that there are far less irritating tourists in jeeps (except us).
A few animals hang around the Mole Motel hoping to catch a free lunch.
Baboons were checking out the rooms.
A monkey stole a banana.

And warthogs were relaxing nearby.

Monkey at the pool

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon

We went on a safari and a night safari.
Of course no useful pictures of the night safari.

 

A herd of some 10 young male elephants were bathing in the waterhole

Another day we went on a guided tour around a small village nearby.
Just nice to see the local life.

A woman making 'carite butter'. A long process from nut to paste.

There was an old and apparently important mosque, but too be honest I forgot the story. Something about a holy man crossing 3 big rivers and trowing his spear that became the basis of the mosque.

Lunch.

Time to make a family picture

And say goodbye to our friends

Back to the coast is again a long drive.

Some small villages besides the road

It seems to be yam season. Tons of yam are for sale beside the road.

We broke the journey by staying at Hand-in-Hand, a Dutch organisation that created a home for mentally handicapped children and earns a bit extra by offering a place to stay for tourists.
We had a friend checking us out.

The beach was lovely. For those interested, my parents rented a house from a Dutch couple and my sister's family stayed practically next door at a Dutch run hotel: Ko Sa.
The hotel is one of the nicest I have seen so far, unless you like big shiny unpersonal hotels.

We had some entertainment when a boat came and unloaded their fish. Not sure how it worked, there seemed to be no payment, but I am sure someone was keeping track.

As Dutch people we need to visit the darker side of our past. Both Elmina and Cape coast castle are worth a visit. The stories are similar, but the architecture is different.

Cape coast castle

A must for every tourist visiting Ghana is Kakum park. Here you can walk on the tree top bridges. A nice experience, specially for the kids.

All in all a great holiday. Pleasant temperatures (for Ghana) and lovely to spend some time with the family.

As the arrival; the departure was spread over time. My sisters family went on to see a bit more east of Accra, but as I was not there we don't have photos.