We left Montreal about an hour late even though the weather was cooperating beautifully! it had been a beautiful crisply cold day. Montreal looked very pretty in her pristinely white finery. I had gone for an envigorating walk after lunch, breathing in the fresh clean air!!!
Washington was a blur because I rushed from one plane to the next which was on time and boarding...my thoughts were with my suitcase ... Would it be loaded on time? But I wasn't overly worried as I had the essentials with me... My beads,my kindle and most fun my link to the world, the iPad. What a marvelous tiny tool!
The plane was only half full... But the excitement was there... People returning home, it felt like! Since there was no one next to me I got to stretch out across two seats...even though the arm rest could not be completely folded away..there was this big bump that I had to curl myself around... Why??? It was like the airline begrudged us this luxury! One of those mysteries in life.... but I took a gravol which gently and firmly closed the curtains of my mind!! So even though my body was uncomfortable, turning and twisting trying to find a good position my mind was enfolded in a lovely cushy cloud! It made me understand the beguiling nature of sleeping aids!!!
Bright sunshine poured through the plane window when I groggily(!) opened the window blind 8 hours later!! It took me awhile but I realized I felt really good and refreshed! wow, amazing.
Accra was a mix of oranges, yellows and reds below us. what a contrast to the stark black and white of Montreal! We landed and walked across the tarmack to the bus waiting to take us to the terminal. The warm thick air was like a caress after the stuffiness of the plane! I breathed in deeply.... Africa! I had arrived!
A smooth passage through customs for me after picking up my suitcase which was one of the first out!! Yeah! ...through a chaotic crowd of men in all different kinds of white garb with parcels of goods wrapped in white..... Colorful ladies with huge suitcases bursting at the seams all being inspected... The custom officers were not interested in me at all as they had their hands full!!
Already I knew where I was as lines did not exist ...let alone a place in a line!! But I sailed through unscathed..As I approached the waiting area I was accosted by 'taxi, lady?' over and over.. I said with more confidence than I felt, 'no, Someone is meeting me' It was so good to see the sign with 'Anita' on it...!!!!
Christianne Milev, the person in charge of Lady Volta was there to greet me. Later she told me in all the years the project has been going they only missed one volunteer whose plane was cancelled!! Another volunteer, Cathy from England and Felix who was our driver for the day was also there. My luggage was safely stored under a Tarmac in the truck and off we went...
This time the scene that greeted me was familiar so I was able to absorbe much more... the streets full of beeping cars , trucks and bicycles look more like a huge drive-in market than just roads.. Everywhere are people ..some of them so colorful and then with a huge basket full of either fruits or some goody perched majestically on their heads weaving in and out of the very slow moving vehicles.. everything from battery boosters to women's underwear to grapes are being offered to us through the car windows !!!
We are enthroned in luxury, an air conditioned truck which is a relief and protection from the noise and dusty humid air that will take us a bit of time to adjust to..
In between villages we are able to pick up speed... In fact we get stopped for speeding... 85 km per hour!!! But after a bit of persuasion Felix managed to sort things... when the villages appeared the 'street market' would slow us down... We passed one village where hundreds of pillows were on display... They harvest kapok here!!!! And are famous for their pillows...
finally we arrive in Ho... Even though it is early dusk is falling and by the time we have eaten and settled in our rooms darkness had fallen.... And I was ready for sleep .... Excited about the next day it took some time to fall asleep!!
Tomorrow we would visit the Office of Lady Volta!!
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