Kumasi

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have been very busy with work.

Two weekends ago we went to the town of Kumasi. Kumasi is the capital of the Ashanti kingdom and is the seat of power of the Akan king. Though Kumasi is only 85km away from Accra the roads are not in good condition and it took us about 6 hours to get there. We got the Friday off of work and drove basically all day until we arrived in Kumasi. We visited the historic palace of the Akan king and learned about the Ashanti people's history and rise to power in the 1100s (though this date is only a guess since there are no written historical records before the 1700s). The Ashanti Kingdom was known as the kingdom of gold and because of this was sought after by European explorers. The Ashanti knowing that there kingdom was in danger due to increased European influence in the region hid all there valuables, including the most important of Ashanti artifacts, the Golden Stool of the Akan, which is the throne of the king and is said to contain the heart and soul of the Ashanti. The gold stool is never aloud to touch the ground and therefore was hidden for over 500 years suspended in a cavern near Kumasi. The British eventually took control of the Ashanti kingdom, but they were never able to find the Ashanti's gold. Many of the Ashanti's gold is still hidden today, its location lost in history, but every year the king appoints a group of 8 young men to search the wilderness around Kumasi and try and reclaim some of the lost treasure. The next day we visited Bonwire which is located right outside Kumasi. Bonwire is a village were Kente cloth has been made for centuries and is said to be the best Kente cloth in Ghana. We went there to see the Kente cloth being made and it is amazing how fast it can be produced considering how old the loom they are made with are. The main loom is over 200 years old. We then visited a village right next to Bonwire that produces Adinkra cloth, or cloth that has been printed with Adinkra symbols. Adinkra, which means farewell in Akan, are symbols that are printed on clothing or carved into handicrafts that are used to send messages to your ancestors or to future generations. Each symbol has a unique meaning and they can be combined to create a certain message or meaning. We got to see how the ink for printing was made and then got to choose a Adinkra symbol to print with. After this we ventured to the Kumasi central market, which is the second largest open air market in the world. It was crazy. It was like a huge maze. Thankfully we had Sonny who knew they market well and cold help us get around. Seriously, anything you could ever want could be found in this market. It had every type of food imaginable and was an assault on your senses. The most interesting and for the vegetarians in the group the most horrifying part of the market was the meat market. The meat market was inside a dark little warehouse that smelled of raw flesh and blood. You step in the door and instantly have to dodge a pool after pool of blood. You look around and see unrecognizable slabs of meat draining blood on to tables and slowly dripping onto the floor. As your eyes adjust to the lack of light you look around and see entrails, brains, kidneys, hearts, bellies, and whole animal carcases surrounding you. We move along and it just gets more intense. We see goat heads on spires dripping blood, animals being sheered of their hide, and oddly goats feet stuffed inside a pigs belly. As we emerge we savor the fresher air. The rest of the market seem mild after this. We go to Chinese food for dinner, which is apparently very popular with Ghanaians. It seems weird to be eating Chinese food in Africa, but I must admit it is a nice break from Fufu. The next day we visit a bead village and see how they produce the beads from grinding up old glass and plastic bottles and melting them into beads. After this we head home, which is an 8 hour drive. I sleep most of the way and then go out to see the new Harry Potter movie in the evening.