[NOTE: We’ve now made it home. This and subsequent posts were written when we had no WiFi and so could not post.]
April 11. Excellent buffet breakfast at hotel, then driven by Freedom to the airport and checked in for our hour and a half flight to Maun, Botswana. There, we shift some clothes and other stuff to soft bags and leave all of our hard luggage, with Percia, from the office of the operator of our tent safari. Percia has bought me some pain medication recommended by a dentist in Maun because our travel agents have written her that I’ve been having headaches that I think may be dental-related on flights I’ve taken recently.
Our half hour flight to Xakanaxa, which gives us great areial views of the Okavango Delta.    Before our flight, we meet and have a drink with our guide, Roger Dugmore, one of Africa’s professional guides originally from Kenya. He has been living in Botswana, leading mobile safaris for the last 30 years. He has a deep love and understanding of the country’s people and wildlife, guiding safaris in the Okavango Delta and Kalahari. Together with his brother David Dugmore and friend Ralph Bousfield they started the first permanent camp on the Boteti River, Meno A Kwena.
Roger has worked with numerous film crews for TV Documentaries In Botswana, Madagascar and Tanzania. Most recently he undertook a canoe expedition through the Okavango from Sepopa to Maun, paddling a distance of 300 miles in 16 days. In 2018 he circumnavigated the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, one of the largest salt pans in the world. This was undertaken with quad bikes and over a period of 16 days. His passion is about being out there and the adventure of the unknown. Carol, Phoebe and I have no current plans to paddle 300 miles in a canoe or to circumnavigate the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans on quad bikes though, of course, this could change. We take an instant liking to Roger, which is a very good thing, because he’ll be in charge of our lives for the next six days.
We take a slow game drive to our new camp away from home. Roger suggests that we just look and soak things in, forget about photographing, on this drive. For a while we adhere to that guideline, but eventually succumb to taking some photographs. Phoebe is the first to spot an impala and her digital zoom allows her to get more close up photos than I can get. The drive, in a comfortable, open jeep, is a good introduction to the safari experience.  
Arriving at camp, we get settled into our camp and meet the team of seven that will be looking after us (plus Roger). It’s dark and so getting settled is a bit difficult, but we get settled enough for the first night. We go out by the camp fire that has been lit for drinks (gin and tonic tastes mighty good) and then have an excellent fish dinner, prepared by Dorcas, our chef. After dinner, we get back to our tent and retire. Bucket showers will need to wait until tomorrow.
Bodumatau is a big game country. The camp is nestled on the edge of a marginal flood plain and lagoon (filled with water depending on seasonal rains). This is a spectacular remote area in the reserve. Our days will be spent exploring and looking for lion, cheetah and the elusive leopard. Quality time in this area is needed to appreciate the Moremi Sand Veld and marginal flood plains. The tented camps are set up in prime areas using designated exclusive campsites.
Accommodation consists of reasonably spacious walk-in tents complete with twin beds, linen and all amenities for a comfortable stay in the bush. The daily safari schedule will vary and will be determined by Roger. In the evenings we’ll eat gourmet three course meals prepared to the highest standards, served with a selection of South African wines, and fellowship around the campfire in this wilderness atmosphere. Bodumatau means “the place where the lion roars.”
Hey, it’s a tough gig, but somebody’s got to do it, and we’re prepared to make the sacrifice.
April 10. When you take a long trip encompassing multiple countries and large distances, you need to expect some “travel days,” days on which little will be done but get from one place to the next. Today is a travel day for us.
Our stay in Ghana has met or exceeded our very high expectations. What we’ve done and seen has been terrific, but the key to our enjoyment has been the people—first, being with Phoebe, second, having Daniel as our guide and shepherd and, third, all of the old friends we’ve been able to visit. All of these make for a truly distinctive and wonderful travel experience. Botswana will be totally different, but I’m expecting that it will prove equally engaging.
We arrive at the Accra Airport, and after enduring frustrating, but not disruptive, delays due to incompetence, checking out at the hotel and checking in at the airport, and spending a bit of time in the Business Class Lounge, we board our six-hour flight to Johannesburg (Joburg for short) on South African Airways. Flight schedules do not permit us to get from Accra to Botswana in one day, so we overnight in Joburg. Our landing is a bit more exciting than necessary, as the first attempt is aborted because of rain and wind conditions. Second time was a charm, though.
Our travel agents have arranged for us to get a VIP service in Joburg, so we are met at the plane and escorted through the baggage and immigration process expeditiously. As we emerge, we are met by our travel agent’s representative, Freedom Dube, who Carol and I know from prior trips. Freedom escorts us to our hotel, The Peermont D’Orleale Grand. There’s a casino here, but not sure we’ll make it there..
Because of restrictions on the type of luggage we can take on small planes in Botswana (no hard luggage or wheels), we were going to repack in Joburg and leave our non-qualifying luggage with Freedom to be delivered to us on the way back. A couple days ago, though, it occurred to me that we might be able to store luggage near the airport in Maun, Botswana, which would be more convenient, so our travel agents arrange for us to do that.
Before leaving Ghana, we discovered that the FASUL employee who headed the team making arrangements for us in the villages in Ghana, Frank Bannor, would be in Joburg, so we arranged with him to have dinner together at the hotel tonight. Frank has come to South Africa in order to get a PhD in economics. He’s 33 years old and married with a one-year old daughter, Audrey, back in Ghana with his wife. Great to talk to Frank about his PhD, which will consist of three papers on aspects of the impact of climate change on farming in South Africa. Though the program is generally four years, he hopes to complete it in three. Not only was the conversation interesting, the food was excellent (I had a fillet in peppercorn sauce that was delicious.
After dinner, we took a walk over to the casino, where Phoebe made a killing. She’s still down at the casino, trying to add to her winnings.
Upstairs to pack and get organized for tomorrow.
April 9. Breakfast at the Four Villages, finish packing and settle up our bill. Joe Kwarteng comes by again for a final farewell, with his son, Joe Jr. we chat for a while and then Joe asks us to hold hands and he gives an extemporaneous prayer, grateful for our coming, for what we have done, for our friendship, and wishing us safe travels from Ghana and that we will see one another again soon. We feel very well looked after, as family members.
Steven, our driver, picks us up at 10AM, without Daniel, who spent the night in Accra. There is one advantage to not having Daniel–the car is much more comfortable with four than five. Joe kindly leads us in his car, Steven following, to three different places, at the third of which we are able to change more dollars for cedis.
Our 4-hour drive to Accra is over good roads. I continue to be fascinated by the landscape of shops, people and signs, and the picture they paint of Ghana culture. So, if you’ll excuse me, here are a bunch of photos that add to the montage of Ghanaian life that we experience.  
             Actually, a long drive provides opportunities for talking. Carol and I were telling Phoebe about our new book of poetry and photography on Southeast Asia, called WHERE FOREST TEMPLES WHISPER, which will be out at the end of the summer. Carol said that she was really frustrated that we’d been unable to find a publisher or agent for the children’s book we’d done a couple years ago, called CHILDREN ARE CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD. We began talking about new ways we might approach getting this book out and have come up with a bunch of ideas that ought to keep us out of trouble for a while after we get back home. I think we’re happiest when we have a project that we’re invested in.
We get to our hotel, a Holiday Inn near the airport by mid-afternoon and have lunch. After lunch, Phoebe and I swim in the pool (Phoebe more than me). Carol joins us and reads in the shade.
Up to the room for blogging and games, then down to meet Daniel and Euther, the Chicago investor who came to look over the pineapple farm. We had a delightful dinner with Daniel and Euther, a Liberian-born University of Chicago-educated lawyer who used to work for Latham & Watkins and now is involved in venture capital in three African countries. Euther is married to an Ethiopian-born lawyer who works for Skadden and they are expecting their first child in June. Wonderful evening talking with Euther and Daniel, who were connected–how else?–by Dick Kiphart,
April 8. After breakfast at the Four Villages, we attended church services at Dr. Annie’s Pentecostal church, where everyone is decked out in their Sunday best. Carol and I had been there before and were anxious for Phoebe to experience it.
The services are loaded with singing and religious fervor. Phoebe enjoyed it, and so did I, except that the pastor went on for at least 45 minutes with a sermon that said, it’s hard to be a good Christian and you’ve got to act like the Bible says, not just come to church on Sunday. Forty-five minutes is a very long time for that message. Dr. Annie is extremely devoted to and active in her church and was happy to have us attend and take photos. In general, Ghanaians are very religious people and many shop names carry religious messages, such as, “God With Us Beauty Parlor.”          
After church, we stopped by Dr. Annie’s clinic, which is named “St. Anne,” after her daughter. It’s a small clinic with three doctors; Annie, her son and one other. We’d seen her previously operating a very much larger clinic, but she seems passionately devoted to this clinic and interested in raising some money, from us and others. Annie, of course, is now a rabid Cubs fan.    
We stopped for some lunch with Daniel and Priscilla. At Nicole’s invitation, we went to the Kumasi Cultural Center in search of drumming lessons. While we didn’t find the drummer, we had an interesting walk around the area, seeing a few craftsmen (Sunday is not a great day for that), and encountering diverse, sometimes chaotic scenes on nearby streets and, of course, some cute kids.        
Daniel had to take off, mid-afternoon, because he got word that an investor from Chicago was arriving in Accra tonight and wanted to see the pineapple farm early tomorrow morning. He has made arrangements with our driver, Steven, to pick us up in the morning and drive us to our hotel in Accra. Daniel will meet us at the hotel for dinner tomorrow night. I told Daniel that, since the fellow from Chicago (whose name is Euler) had stolen him from us, we’d be pleased to have Euler buy all of us dinner tomorrow night. Daniel laughed and said he’d try to set that up with Euler. I told Daniel that if Euler is not available for dinner, he can just give Daniel the cash to pay for it.
We have dinner at the Four Villages. Later, Joe Kwarteng and Priscilla stopped by to chat for ah hour and to bid us farewell and a good journey on.
April 7. Breakfast at the Four Villages, joined by Daniel and Priscilla. The meal turns into one of the delights of travel, meeting an unexpected fellow traveler, in this case, Nicole Poindexter, who is pretty-much a full time resident of the Four Villages, though her home is in DC, she was born in Texas and has lived in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Nicole developed a business in the US, which she sold, giving her the freedom to do what she was passionate about. To her surprise, that turned out to be providing electricity by means of solar energy to rural villages in Ghana.
Her passion bursts through clearly as she describes the interesting journey that she and her co-founder have been on for two years now in Ghana, through their company, Black Star Energy, Ltd. Daniel is extremely interested, and both he and his dad may be great contacts for Nicole. We also plan to put Nicole in touch with the Kipharts’ friend, Willy Foote, who runs a company called Root Capital that funds rural projects around the globe. Few things give me as much pleasure as discovering and trying to foster these kinds of neat connections. (Aside: we all pay a pretty high price for what technology enables, but there are definitely upsides. Between the time I wrote a draft of this post and the time I was ready to post it, Nicole and Willy had already exchanged emails.)
After breakfast, Phoebe, Priscilla and a friend of Charity’s head off to shop at the bustling main Kumasi market. The plan is for them to be back by 11AM, and for all of us to head for Dr. Annie’s clinic. But, we’re operating on Ghana time here, so the market takes much longer than planned and they decide to go on to shop at a mall, where Phoebe buys gifts for family and friends.
Meanwhile, Dr. Annie arrives at the Four Villages with her beautiful daughter, Anne, who is a junior at university. 
Carol and I sit with them on the porch and chat for what we anticipate will be a short time before Phoebe, Priscilla and Daniel arrive. We have a lovely, relaxed and long chat ranging from politics to life in Ghana, before the rest of the group arrives 1 3/4 hours later. Phoebe reports that the market experience was “interesting”, read “chaotic.”
We decide to have a quick lunch at the Sports Bar, before heading off to Dr. Annie’s clinic. But the quick lunch is not quick. At all. Priscilla has to be at the hospital for work, so her lunch is packed to go. The rest of our meals arrive slowly, one at a time, except for Carol’s lunch, which arrives only after the rest of us are finished. So, we tell them to forget about it.
We pile into the car to head for Dr. Annie’s, but it’s almost three, it’s a forty minute drive in traffic, each way, so we bow out and call Dr. Annie to tell her. She is very understanding.
Instead of the clinic, Phoebe has a cooking lesson back at Four Villages with Charity, who is an accomplished Ghanaian cook, and, in fact, teaches cooking.
Excellent dinner, prepared by Charity, with an assist by Phoebe–chicken in a delicious, spicy sauce and a dish with spinach and hard boiled eggs.
After dinner, we played a few games of Bananagrams with Daniel. I did not win any of the games, though, personally, I think I was robbed when the others disallowed my word, “qizenvam.” When challenged, I said that the word meant to trip over your left foot, as in the sentence, “watch out, Betsy, don’t qizenvam.”
Retired early. Though not a lot of fireworks, it was a pleasant day.
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