After all the Christmas hustle & bustle, a small vacation sounded nice! The day after Christmas piled in a Tro-Tro with my two good girlfriends Kat and Kristen to head for "Ada Foah" "PARADISE", as we were told by a few who had been there! After our 2hr ride we got dropped off in the middle of a marketplace in which we were left to find our own canoe ride to the tip of the penisula. A young, local boy approached us and assured as as we winded through the market and his village that HE could get us there... soooo we looked at each other and decided adventure was what we had come for, so why the heck not, what else were we gonna do? We hopped in his canoe he had carved himself and set out about 2 inches above lake level, a 30 minute boat ride to " The Estuary".
Along the way we passed a feast for the eyes, one section ~ naked kids jumping off their fishing boats soap~sud bathing or swimming/chasing after us to smile and greet us!!, woman gathering water in their buckets to start lunch, and men bring in their fishing nets... to the neighboring section: white, pot~bellied rich men sitting on their verandas dining and sunbathing with their jet ski waiting nearby. Thankfully, passed that confusing neighborhood front... further and further up the lake until we stopped at a little beachfront with several simple huts and a quiet neighboring village on the otherside of small lagoon. One side of the pennisula the lake, the other~ the ocean!
Settled into Hut 12.. one double bed with a hot pink mosquito net for the three of us to share, a sand floor, four palm leave walls, and a straw roof...no running water, no electricity. a community latrine. yep. thats about it :) spent the first day laying on the beach and playing soccer with the locals. That night made a bonfire and stayed up until we were told the moon would bring in the sea turtles to lay their eggs. When it was nice and dark and the moon bright, we headed to the beach with our flashlight to check for turtle prints. They look almost exactly like tractor prints!..and b/c there are no vehicles anywhere around here... you know it when you see it. Followed a couple tracks, but the turtles had already made their circle up the beach and were back in the ocean. Finally followed one a long, long way..seemed this turtle had already layed its egg as we could see the big circle it made at the top of the sand hill...but it was winding around confused and lost in how to return to the ocean. We found it up the beach making a wheezing sound, it was so tired, it was having a hard time moving. Before we knew it the "hut" manager~ Winifred, decided to SAVE THE TURTLE. so he and our new german friend Hanz pushed the turtle all the way to the entrance of the sea. The sight was incredible. The sea turtle was HUGE~ estimated about 500 pounds, looked like it could EAT me..seriously looked more like a DINOSAUR to me than a turtle.
The next morning slept in and after breakfast tried to read & journal in the hammock across the lagoon, but 6 energetic village kids and one drunk man had other plans for me! The kids wanted to swing me, and then SOMEHOW found myself giving the drunk man a "Love 101 lesson" as he spilled out his decision to marry either me or the other local 16 year old he had his eyes on, who was ALSO right next to me~ giving him the evil eye with her arms sternly crossed, ha. I hope my ranting saved that girl :) His name...Papa ZuZu, the coconut buisness man...enough said. next... well if you can't beat em' join em'... grabbed another Mercy Shipper and we headed into the children's village. Went further and further into their village as we played endless games of tickle tag ;) met the Big Chief and got a funny photo with him. and finally in the late afternoon made my way back across the lagoon for another canoe ride tour further up the river. By the time we got back to the huts it was about dark and we needed to head home.
Made it all the way back in our tro~tro and to my cabin were I was so excited to show my roommates all the amazing photos and video footage I got the past 2 days, when... i came up empty handed. At the bottom of my pack.. no camera to be found. I got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach..and am puzzled how it all came about. All i can figure is after we looked at the photos in the tro~tro, remember putting my hand down deep inside my pack, but maybe b/c it was dark i "thought" i put my hand inside the pack but it was just to the side of it... I don't know.. all i know is that I hope whoever finds my camera can really use that money to get their family ahead a little bit.
What I loved about "The Estuary" is that it was actual tribal land belonging to the chief I met. This hut "hotel" was just an extention of their village.. their locals passed THROUGH it and there was no scolding by the manager or evil eyes given, only warm greetings by all the foreign hut "resorters" and staff. We were all one community. It felt really unique in that way.
And when I watched the children and mothers and father...there was ONE thing that stuck out in my mind.. They were SO FREE. They walked around with no possessions to worry about clinging to, no schedules to be bound by, just the day and whatever it brings. So as much as I felt horrible about losing my camera... i couldn't cry, b/c what i've witnessed with these people, is what I've witnessed over the past 2 1/2 months here with the Ghanians over & over again.
" Do no lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:20
" I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" John 10:10
These verses stick out in my mind when I see them. There has been a lot of mind games and questions swirling around in my head trying to sort out what I make of poverty..its ups and downs riches...ups and downs. I don't know if i'll have it answered by the end, but I do know that these simple people may not know who the first person to walk on the moon was, or even care about it... but they know A LOT about whats important when it comes to being free in their spirit and pure in faith. I hope its contagious, b/c its really attractive. Paradise lost is sometimes Paradise Found.
* sidenote. God is GOOD! Ironically enough.. The Mercy Ship photographer was at the same place as us and tagged along with us for pretty much everything, so many of those pictures that meant so much to me will be replaced by hers when she gets back...and probably much better! A camera is replaceable, I'm just SO thankful some of those trip's amazing memories won't be lost in picture form.
Wish you all a merry, blessed new year*
