Egypt vacation, part three

Two giant seated figures, the Colossi of Memnon, used to flank the entrance the mortuary temple of Amenophis III on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor. The temple is lost to the ages, but the now faceless colossi remain. Above is a picture of the back of one colossus.



Next stop, the enormous temple complex of Karnak. We got there in the heat of midday. Notice the tourists above taking advantage of the shade of a lone palm tree.



Ram-headed sphinxes line one section of the path.



Karnak being one of the highlights of Egypt, hoards of people were there during our visit.



Standing shoulder to shoulder with crowds of overheated strangers did not enhance the experience, but we tried to focus on the unbelievable scale of the place and its floor to ceiling heiroglyphs, pharoah and god figures and obelisks.



We found an place free of people, at least for a moment:



Proof that we were there:



Columns galore:



Stay tuned for the next installment of our Egypt vacation!

Egypt vacation, part two

Where do they have the most flavorful fruits and vegetables? Egypt, apparently. Man, the veggies there are delicious! In Ghana we've gotten used to flavorless tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers, so we were blown away by the fantastic produce we ate in Egypt. The cucumbers were extra yummy, especially with the freshest feta cheese we had ever eaten.



Carrots fresh from the donkey cart:



Many locals here wear traditional clothes. This man's long shirt is called a galabiya. Looks comfy.



The ankh is a symbol of life. Here's a wall of ankhs.



These two don't shop at the same store:



More pictures of Egypt to come.

Egypt vacation, part one

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Egypt. Although my expectations were fairly high, they were surpasssed. I loved the place.

We had been wanting to visit the land of the pyramids for years, but now seemed like the perfect time to go, since a couple of friends recently moved to Cairo, and another friend who wanted to see us was going to Egypt for a work thing and was tacking time on the end for a vacation.

After a day of recovering from a red-eye flight to Cairo, four of us headed out to Luxor. First stop, Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, interestingly painted and carved tombs of royalty. Alas, photos were not allowed inside the tombs there, so we don't have pictures to share with you. However, we do have photos of the next stop, the Temple of Hatshepsut.



Inside were paintings of Queen Hatshepsut, various gods and goddesses, and below, offerings to those gods and goddesses. The plants on the right resemble art nouveau design to me.



There were lots of other tourists there, mainly Europeans.



This chapel in the temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor.



Heiroglyphs look cool, but we don't know what they say.



These statues depict Queen Hatshepsut as pharoah. According to our excellent guide, Ayman, Hatshepsut was the only woman to rule as pharoah, and sometimes she is depicted as a man to show that she ruled just as men did.



More coming soon...

Latrine Celebration

Yesterday I went to Volta region to attend the commissioning of a KVIP (latrine) in a village that hosts some refugees. Our embassy funded it through a grant to a local NGO. We're proud to have had a part in it. Believe me, latrines are a wonderful thing, and Ghana needs many more of them. (Maybe they would keep people from defecating on the side of the road or on the beach.)

The ceremony began in the village center. Below, a member of the village council tells the crowd why we are there.



Village elders, the chief and queen mother were all present. Here is the okyeame, or spokesman, of the chief, recognizable from the staff he carries.



Between speakers, we enjoyed a dancing and drumming interlude.



After the speakers were finished, we proceeded to the latrine site. There, some more spontaneous dancing and drumming broke out, complete with hankie waving.



Here's the ceremonial handing over of the keys to the queen mother.



Hmm, it appears that each stall accomodates 2 people.



Altogether there are 12 stalls with individual doors. 6 are for men, 6 are for women. (The men's and women's sections are separated by a dividing wall.



Now we know where to go if nature calls in Likpe Bakua.

Give me a sign

In Ghana, many hand-painted signs for businesses include pictures because there are a fair number of people who don't read. Here are some examples seen in Accra.

Need any rubber stamps?



This beauty salon lists its services. What do you suppose "tonging" is?



This barber shop shows an example of a haircut you might get.



I hope all those phones don't ring and wake this guy up.



Something to cool your drinks on a hot day (i.e. every day).



Drums for sale.



The following signs do not picture the products sold, but the mascots of the manufacturers. Looks like the Onga booth was supposed to have been removed.



Cowbell is a brand of milk and chocolate milk. I guess if you drink it, you will play soccer well.

Scenes of Osu

The most happening section of Accra is a neighborhood called Osu, a place full of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. Normally it's so full of people that one feels awkard snapping photos, but Sunday mornings there are fairly sleepy. These were taken at about 9am on a Sunday.

Frankie's is an Osu landmark. It's a hotel but is best known for its restaurant and bakery. They also sell decent gelato.



If one needed business services or passport photos, one might head to Hilarious Services. I wonder what makes them so hilarious?



Need a toothbrush? Just ask the guy with dozens of toothbrushes on his head.



Here's a typical Osu street corner, overrun with signs, and with a bit of trash and rubble along the ground. Notice that there is a street sign. Despite this, none of the taxi drivers know the names of the streets. They just know landmarks. So you can say "take me to the street just before Frankie's," and they'll know what you mean.



Here's a tailor shop off the main drag. It's housed in a former shipping container.

Dakar

After a few weeks of no new blog posts, I bring you old news -- pictures from my trip to Dakar, Senegal in late October/early November.

I was in Dakar for work, but I had a chance to look around one day. My colleague, Emily, and I went to Goree Island, a short ferry ride from Dakar. It's a pretty spot without cars, pleasant lanes to stroll along, and colonial-style buildings.



Sadly, Goree is also known as a spot from which slaves were sent across the Atlantic. Far fewer passed through here than through the slave forts of Ghana, however. (See previous blog post about Ghana's Cape Coast Castle.)



Back in the city of Dakar, it was nice to walk around. Unlike Accra, Dakar has lots of sidewalks, shops full of enticing merchandise, and French cafes and bakeries. It seems more urban than Accra, with taller buildings and wider avenues. Not wanting to appear too conspicuous, I didn't take photos while meandering the busy streets.

Instead, I took photos from the inside of a car, so many turned out fuzzy. Live and learn. Here is a shot of a streetside mural:



Dakar's beach is much nicer looking than Accra's. I didn't get that close, but from the road it looks pretty great. The water is turquoise blue, rather than the gray Atlantic off Accra, and I don't see a sea of plastic bags lying around. (There is actually a Club Med resort just outside of Dakar.)



Dakar is known for its lively music scene. Someone told us about an outdoor club/restaurant called Just 4 You, where live bands perform nightly. Lucky for us, Amadou and Mariam were performing during our visit. I already knew their music thanks to our friend Jules, who provided us with a plethora of African music CDs before we moved to Ghana. Little did I know I'd eventually be sitting 5 feet from the stage, watching these amazing musicians.



Amadou and Mariam are a blind married couple from Mali with an incredible band. They had most of the audience dancing, including old and young, African and European. One African man who must've been at least 60 was the most energetic booty-wiggler I've ever seen. Amadou and Mariam's two on-stage female dancers got a big kick out of him. They descended from the stage to dance with him. I tried to take a mini-video with a digital camera, but apparently I used the wrong setting, so you'll have to imagine the scene in your heads. Trust me, it was highly entertaining.