...Our Problem Free Philosophy

There are two questions that will no longer remain a mystery. Is there really a Santa Claus? and are there really wild animals in Ghana. I quote Jimmy Stewart to answer the first,  "yes Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus". For the second question, I'll quote him again, "yes, Virginia, there really are animals in Ghana". Finally, I have the proof to back him up--at least as far as the animals are concerned.

 

Ghana can be really cool! You know you are in Africa when you spend the morning sitting across the watering hole from these beautiful creatures. It was so awesome...just us, the elephants, and oh yeah, our guide Christopher standing next to us with his elephant gun. I am fairly certain the gun was designed more to keep us in line than the elephants, but we felt a little more secure just knowing it was there.

Here is the crew sitting in the blind watching the animals--what a pleasant way to spend the evening

We have been told that there are parts of Ghana where you can find animals that haven't been eaten or hunted down for their ivory tusks. We found them this last week way up north. It was quite a long drive to get there, but well worth it.



Here is Michelle and our guide.

We stayed a couple of nights at the Mole Park Hotel where just off the back patio you can look out across the savanna and onto the best watering hole in Ghana. The first morning, we set out on a foot safari across the savanna in search of the animals. We were lucky enough to see elephants up close and personal, kob, bush buck, water buck, water buffalo, wart hogs (my favorites), baboons, green monkeys, brown monkeys, and lots and lots of funny colored birds.
 

On foot safari with the Zolls and the Thaynes (from the new Ghana Kumasi Mission).

 We even went on a canoe safari down the Mole River. They told us we were going to see the African bears. You may think that Africa doesn't have bears...aah but you would be so wrong. Once you understand that the accent makes birds sound like bears then it all makes a little more sense. Anyway, we didn't see to many African bears, and for that matter the African birds were a little skittish that day as well. We had good company anyway and another pleasant morning.

 

For a couple of days, we forgot that we were actually missionaries. I got to pretend I was a photographer sent to Africa to document the native animals and people. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites. I think I have like a quarter million of these and we could fill a library full of photo albums from Ghana. It was fun just to adopt Pumbaa's problem free philosophy for a couple of days.

 

We will start with the little game and work up

Millions of these double-winged dragon flies

Even the grasshoppers are colorful





"When I was a Young Wart Hog..."
or
"Timon's Better Half"

 Stop it! you are just like Sister Fife. Quit singing 'Hakuna Matata' and keep going, there's lots more photos to see...



For those OCD readers...
I know wart hogs are bigger than these monkeys--so just deal with it

Monkey hide and seek

Something ain't right if you go the the Mole Reserve and don't even see a Kob buck--they even pose for you!

The Water Buck family; ma, pa and little one

Observing beauty in her natural habitat.
I know, but its my blog...

We stayed for an hour watching the elephants at this watering hole...a great day!

Finally, we visited a couple of villages. Here are some shots from Larabanga and Mognori. The people are beautiful. It is really the first time in Ghana I felt like I could actually take pictures of people without being too self conscious. I love these photos...

My favorite picture from the whole trip



I fell in love with her smile
...reminds me of my daughters--so photogenic



Grandpa



grandma



Another favorite--same wall and everything



Only one way to cross the Mole--and it ain't on a bike



Couldn't resist the shot

Waiting on the canoes

I am building a ladder like this for the grandkid's treehouse--how cool

On the roof at Larabanga

The oldest mosque in West Africa--built in 1462

Have you had enough? I can go on and on. As you can see we had a wonderful trip.
 

Anyway, this was probably our last big adventure. Now back to Accra...time to go back and put our shoulder to the wheel so to speak as we finish up several little projects over the next few weeks (8 to be exact, but who's counting).

 

...from the savanna in Northern Ghana

Elder and Sister Fife