Dec 18
If you’d like to download this video to share with your church family you can use this Dropbox link.
Dec 12
Harmattan Haze
During our dry season we get northeasterly winds called harmattan that bring dust from the Sahara. Sometimes it causes clouds of dust to descend upon us and linger for days. It obscures the sun and coats everything in the house with a fine layer of dust. The worst we had seen to date in Nalerigu was back in early January 2015.
This past weekend set a new record for our time here with an incredible haze that filled the air.
Our house from 30 meters up
I flew my drone up and recorded some video along a route I filmed back in August when rainy season was nearing its end and everything was green. Keep in mind that this footage is of the same place (east of Nalerigu towards the creek) and at the same time of day (late afternoon) only four months later.
Dec 3
Time to Setup that Christmas Tree!
Every year we do a little timelapse video of our Christmas decoration. Last year we got fancy and made a 360° video version. This year we went back to the basics and just set the camera on the tripod.
See all the past years’ below: Read More
Nov 4
Heidi’s old high school Keswick Christian School had a banquet with the theme “I Am Second” and asked her to contribute a video for the program.
Nov 3
Zenabu’s Baby Naming Ceremony
My good friend Kolbugri‘s second wife Fozeaa just had another baby girl and they invited us to the suna (baby naming ceremony). I was honored to be invited to the observe the ceremony where the Muslim elders come and bless the child. This is a private ritual that I had not yet seen in my three years here.
Here’s how it went down. An Islamic name was chosen by the lumaam (maalam) based on the child’s gender and birth day of the week. One of the men brought the name over on a piece of paper and presented it to the father and who passed it around to those attending the ceremony.
ZENABU was the name to be given. It is a transliteration of the Arabic name زينب, or “Zaynab” which was Mohammed’s daughter’s name. It is also connected to the Hebrew name ‘Zenyeb’ which means ‘pride of her father’. Read More
Oct 31
White Volta Rapids North of Gambaga
The White Volta River flows east to west just a few miles north of me and I’ve hiked down the Gambaga Escarpment to it several times. I recently visited a section of the river that appeared to have some rapids in Google’s satellite imagery. I was trying to find the exact spot that Dr. Rudolf Fisch photographed in 1901 and suspected (incorrectly) that this was the place.
My friend Nils accompanied me and we biked from Nalerigu to Dintingi to the scarp, hiked down (with our bikes), then rode to the farm settlement of Ayoobu, and hiked along the river bank to the fishing settlement of Achebu (Kyeebu). It was a trek of about 17km.
As we approached Achebu, we could hear the roar of the rapids. As we came out in the open it was a sight to behold! The massive river gets funneled down through a narrow spot full of volcanic rock which causes it rush and explode with energy.
I met Frances, the chief of the fishing settlement. He’s a kind man and a Christian – in fact, he was reading his Bible when I arrived. The settlement was a mix of several ethnic groups: Mamprusi, Kusasi and Ewe. The latter surprised me a bit for Ewe are typically found in the southeast of Ghana and southern Togo. However, they explained that Ewe are fisherman and tend to follow major bodies of water wherever they lead.
-
- Our local farmer guide
-
- Fishing boats along the White Volta
-
- The White Volta rapids north of Gambaga
-
- Polished lavarock along the rapids
-
- Massive pits have been carved out in spots
-
- Fishermen string nets between the rock cliffs along the river
-
- Nils on the rocks
-
- Birds eye of the White Volta looking East
-
- Francis, chief of the fishing settlement of Achebu
