TUESDAY

05|25|10

Today was National Africa United Holiday so we had the day off work. A few of us took this opportunity to go to one of the private beaches which is about 15 minutes away from Elmina. I’m so glad I went because the weather was perfect and it was just the sort of relaxation I had needed after a long couple of days. Before leaving for the beach Nick and I had woke up early again to take another walk down through Elmina. I got some great photos of some of the local children; they either love getting their photo taken or hate it. For some reason this day they all wanted a photo.



The beach was about a 15 minute drive west from our house. We had to call a taxi driver that Maria knew would take Pepo in his car. Pepo does not like car rides!!!! We put him in the hatchback trunk and every few minutes he would try leap out of the back seat. By the end of the drive my arms and back were soaking wet from his slobber. The beach was amazing!! We had some of the workers set up hammocks for us between the trees. The day was spent between laying around and jumping the wave. The water and the sand were cleaner than I had expected. The only action Tuesday saw was when I decided to fetch a coconut from the tree. With much persistence I finally got a few down for us to try. They were defiantly not ripe but I was still proud that I managed to climb a coconut tree so we drank them anyway. We brought some fruit with us too; leches and garden fruit. They both have bizarre textures but are really sweet and have a nice flavor. We left around 5pm with just enough time to make it back for a shower and dinner at Eli’s.
Dinner at elies was Banku which is another dish I have been looking forward to. Banku is boilded fermented corn dough with okra stew. The banku I supposed to act like a spoon so u are supposed to mash it between your thumb and two fingers and use it to scoop up the stew. Just like fufu you’re not supposed to chew the banku but swallow it down whole with the stew. The texture is slimy and somewhat grainy.