Ghana 11 Art and Craft Market

Well time is flying by.  Only got till end of October when my contract is up. I need to see what I can of Ghana before departing. Talking to the guys in the office there is a lot of see and do.  Accra has a reputation for being the liveliest city for nightlife in Africa.  I can believe it for when you walk round even in the day time, here is a sense of music and rhythm everywhere. On the way to work we pass several beach side night clubs which are still thumping out music as I'm going to work.  And that is at 5.30am!!!!!

So putting aside the night life as I could not party all night and then go to work I decide to list out a lot of to dos. List to follow, which I plan to "tick off" over the coming few weekends.

But for today Saturday I decided to leave work early and visit the Arts and Crafts centre. Plan was to have a quick walk about and buy myself an African drum... Well I achieved both.

The Art and Craft centre is a sad place, very dusty and lacking in customers. So a sort of very dilapidated and subdued place. That as you can imagine encourages everyone to come and talk to you and ask "Hey Brother from another Mother"   And yes they do say that !!!!! Corny or what ?
'
Then comes the sales pitch with "where you from"...... "lovely country etc etc".  "Followed by please visit my stall. Me I'm a painter/Musician/Tailor/Craftsman/Carver of wood/jeweler"  fill in the blanks and they have the same speak.

Its good and bad.  Good as they are keen but bad. Good as they are after business, bad as they need to learn new lines and get a bit more real.  Its very noticeable there are only the few (I spotted 3 white/tourist persons ) in the whole place.  And nothing is priced....  My poor driver is between a  rock and a hard place.  If he helps me I'm happy but if he does then his "Brothers from the same Mother" ride him hard.......  Corny expression for sure.  And they have already got me using it here twice !!!!!!

One of the photos shows a couple of people carrying clothing on their heads.  I think this is for local purchase. Sort of mobile cloths shop.....

There is also an advert for Tattoos but I decided to give that a miss...

Anyway that's one place I've got off my to do list.......

The Drum

Ghana 9 Quadcopters

Started out this morning thinking I would take a few moments out from work and go down to the fish market. Get some good photos and have something interesting to write up on.


Well it rained cats and dogs last night.... So market was a big soggy mess. Crowded with people goign about their Saturday business. Not really the place to stand around and take photos. Wet muddy, crowded and was very aeware of being out of my element. I did not feel comfortable doing a series of photos. Probably easier if Wanna had been around and we were actually buying something. But that was not the case.  I took a quick shot of the boats and decided I would come back later in the week.

Back to the office and one of the engineers, Ernest,  had brought in his DJI Series 4 quadcopter. Fantastic toy.  Had a quick go with it and think it is an amazing thing.  It is so easy to fly, takes off and automatically knows where to return and when to return so it does not run out of power mid flight !!!!!. You can control the height, direction, hover and have full camera control all from your hand phone. Very tempting buy...... but expensive.......

Vanuatu Part 1

Another blog post saying I’ve been lazy.  Well this time not so true! 

But time has flown by literally.  We retired on 31^st May.  After 2 weeks I had a call from an old friend. “Do you fancy a job in Vanuatu? “. That’s New Hebrides to you older readers….!

“Sure” was the reply. “Where, When and for how long ?”.  The “Where" was simple, the “When” was ASAP and the “How long” was up to you. !!

Retirement had not really been so exciting sitting around strumming the guitar, motor bike trip and playing with bits and pieces etc and of course a few beers and good food on the Bar B Q. That was in first two weeks.  So perhaps to early to judge. But always one for a trip.

So what to loose? Pack up the house and jump on a plane.  The project is to build some small wharfs for inter-island shipping. These are spread over the islands so really a lot of fun travelling around. Each island is different.  All fully decked out for tourists and so good hotels etc etc.  And I get paid !!!  Real simple and fun engineering. And Vanuatu.  Not a bad stop at all.  I’ve been to plenty of worse place believe you me…..

People are lovely.  Everyone happy and seem to find it so easy to break into a big smile. Foods good, beers good, climate perfect. What to loose in deed.

View from our Condo

Going round the island the main road. No cars. 

Golf Club for Owen....

Port Vila Market

................Shopping...........

Quick web facts

Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometers. The islands offer scuba diving at coral reefs, underwater caverns and wrecks such as the WWII-era troopship SS President Coolidge. Hiking trails ascend active volcanoes such as Mt. Yasur. Other popular activities include rainforest ecotours, kayaking and deep-sea fishing, plus relaxing at resorts and spas.

• Capital:Port Vila
• Currency:Vanuatu vatu
• Population:252,763 (2013)

So there you have it.  Surprisingly few sandy beached in Efate due in part to the volcanic activity.  We got woken up one night with the apartment shaking.  Only a couple of bumps but a very very strange feeling….

I’m told the some of the other islands have fantastic diving, in fact some of the best in the world, and am looking forward to a trip in a couple of weeks time. Might take in a dive. Relax and instead of working tell myself this is paid retirement !!  There is one beach called “Champagne beach” due to the bubbling from air esca[ing from the ground.  A must see next weekend

Short History of Vanuatu... Very interesting

More starting tomorrow....

Last Few Weeks

Seems these days I always start my Blog with an apology for not writing more often. This post is not exception. Except!!!!

From now on I'm going to improve and concentrate on doing various street themes and keep up to date. Well not up to date more a matter of more frequent posts.

Yesterday we stopped on the way to friends to pick up some food. Just some grilled Chicken and sticky rice etc at the local market. Lots of stuff to choose form but you really need to know exactly what you want or if you are like me you'll spend ages just looking at the amazing array of stuff. So concentrates on the job in hand. Lunch....

Assortment of grilled chicken. Legs, wings, kidneys, livers and heart, add in some sticky rice and local pawpaw salad. Done.... off we go.

Sunday On The Way To Work

Have not posted much for a while and was on my way to work quietly contemplating life ! Sunday mornings are normally much quieter on the roads. Little traffic but as usual the lights were on red. You know that feeling when stuck at lights, no other traffic yet you can't move ! Annoying to say the least. Still I was in my more philosophical mood so it sort of went over the top of me so to speak. Anyway while waiting along came a trader on a "saling", (three wheeler). He was selling dusters, feather dusters on long and short poles. Idea to reach those difficult to reach places ! There he was, a chap out early on a Sunday morning out trying to make a living. Optimistic or what ?  Indeed so he must be doing OK otherwise why bother. Especially on an empty road at 8.00am on Sunday morning. Got to hand it to him, keen to say the least.  Wish him well.

Normally I take this as one of the more normal sights, a fully loaded saling complete with overhanging stock, no forward or rear vision for the driver, let alone being able to see out the side to customers..... Just another trader.

But today stuck at the traffic lights the view of all overhanging goods for sale on this little bike come mobile stall suddenly became an interesting object for a quick photo and chance to share the moment.

Where is he ?

Sights along the way to and from work

I’ve been taking a few photos on the way to and from work. Generally poor quality shots taken on the phone while driving. Not a good idea given the amount of motorbikes around...

The way to work takes me through a small village/market area and there is always something to see. Mornings the breakfast sellers and shops opening up etc. Coming home is not much different. Just the time of day has changed so some activities are starting up and others ceased.

One I particularly liked was of the dog looking out the window. Normally I would take that as  a normal sight but in this case it was a bit different.  He’s looking out of the right hand side. I.e. the drives side!!!

On my trip I normally stop off and use the local laundry service. Dropping stuff in the morning and collecting it the following afternoon.  Yesterday evening I got there a bit later than usual and the kids were already asleep. Crashed out on the floor… 

My last Sunday in Atyrau

So much has been happening to me recently and none of it recorded. Been in Atyrau works, business trip to Finland and Estonia and UK.
Well today Sunday, 17th August, is my last Sunday in Atyrau. Moving back to work in Thailand at the end of next month. Next Sunday early morning sees me leaving on a plane to UK. Spend a week with family over there then off to Seychelles to walk Sarah down the isle for her wedding to Fed on the 20th.  Still to write the speech. Any suggestions welcome.

So today the plan was a walk to the coffee shop followed by a bit of last minute shopping. Only buying stuff to keep me going for the rest of the week !
The walk was hardly a major event but I needed to get out for a while. I walked along the river side from out Apartment to the coffee shop.  Met up with another Alan, incidentally there are about 8 of them working in my office ! Both Alan, (the other Alan and I had a lot of cakes to choose from). Had a fabulous slice of cake and tea. Cake was thousands of calories.... contained blueberrys, cream and lots of lovely sweet stuff.

Then having enjoyed that and prior to feeling guilty about it I wondered off to the market for my last Atyrau shopping and back home. Hardly an earth shattering day but more a cool relaxed time taking in the better parts of Atyrua.  Temperature around 35 Deg... Little wind so a few hours walking in the more shaded parts was enough! Coming back along the river side was excellent. The aircon in the apartment was a very welcome thing indeed !
There were few people around, probably because it was hot and around midday, but I did manager to capture a shot of a local boat taking a few tourists for a ride up river. And given my recent blogging record though I should add in some pictures !

 

Found Them .......................... Photos Seychelles

Hi,

After a frantic search I found my photos.

Some here of Victoria Market, Beaches and a few odd shots.