Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Merry Christmas!!! We're just a little behind on that I know. We just returned home. On Christmas day we left to go on a 9 day trip to all different areas of Ghana. I'll be sending pictures soon. We left Christmas day and headed to Kumasi, located in central Ghana. We spent one night there and then headed to Tamale in Northern Ghana. There we did a little shopping and were treated to a private dancing/drumming performance. Some friends that we were traveling with had lived in Tamale for a time and knew some performers. It was awesome! The day after we left for Mole (which is still northern) on VERY bad roads. 2 hours on a Very VEry bad road! At Mole National Park (where we stayed) you can see African animals. Mainly elephants, antelope, monkeys, and warthogs. All different varieties of the monkeys and antelope. We took a guided 2 hour walk through the park. Very cool. After Mole we traveled to Kintampo, in central Ghana, to see the Kintampo waterfalls and then to Techiman to see a monkey sanctuary in the jungle. 2 kinds of monkeys: the colobus and mona monkeys. The nearby villages worship them and when they die, they actually bury them. We continued our journey back to Kumasi. Travelling from Mole, to Kintampo, to Kumasi was all in one day. Why? We really didn't want to stay in either Kintampo or Techiman if you know what I'm sayin'. Kumasi is a bigger city that is similar to Accra in general atmosphere. Here we visited some craft villages and THE MARKET. yeah, it's like the largest market in all of west africa, or so they say. We also took a day of much needed rest. We then headed down to the Cape Coast, which is obviously on the coast. Our traveling friends toured the Slave castle while Craig and I did some market shopping or browsing. We spent New Year's Eve in Cape Coast where our friend got her cell phone stolen at the restaurant we were eating at. The next day we traveled to Anamabo Beach Resort (where we stayed a month ago when my dad was here) for some relaxation and boogi boarding. It was a blast, except for the part where Spencer locked himself in the bathroom and it took an hour for the staff to get him out. Why? (I ask why a lot because Ghanaians ask why a lot.........to everything!) Because they don't keep spares at the front desk. They keep spares on the key chain with the main key, so that if small children did in fact lock themselves in the bathroom, then they would have both keys. He of course was screaming and bawling. He was trying and trying to put the key back in the lock but he doesn't know how to unlock, only lock. So they proceeded to take a crowbar and pull off any door frames that were in the way of the lock. They then tore off the netted screens on the bathroom window so that Craig could put his arm through the window, hold spencer's hand (he could do that because spencer climbed on top of the toilet to reach him), and keep him away from the door because the staff couldn't find any other way to get inside except by kicking the door in. What trauma for the little tike! Maybe he'll think twice before playing with keys again! After Anamabo, we traveled back to Accra. It was a great 9 days and I'm bummed that it's over and yet soooo glad to be sleeping in my own bed! Our traveling buddies were Ana, another fulbrighter here and my friend and her to best buds who traveled from California to visit her. Also our friends Luuk and Kate (the ones who lived in Tamale previously), but they only traveled as far as Tamale with us. anyway, hope you all had a wonderful holiday! We sure miss our family and friends! Pictures are soon to come! Love, The Waites