Scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and then we set off from the Rainforest Lodge and turned off on the “Stingless Bee” track near an institute investigating this matter. We drove through Andrew’s village and saw women stirring large cauldrons of porridge over fires in their front yards and birded along the way. Overhead in the early morning light we got great views of the Rosy Bee Eater, a hummingbird-like bird with a deep rosy breast, easily visible in the dawn light!
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| Vieillot's Black Weaver on nest |
We drove to the Abrafo Forest Preserve nearby and walked into the woods and saw several new birds including the Naked Faced Barbet, one of a family of stocky forest birds with very large bills. The naked faced one has a very cute goatee hanging off his bill!
We finally took off west towards the Ivory Coast border and drove and drove and drove! We went through palm oil plantations, messy little towns, fields and rubber tree plantations. We hit the coastal town of Sekondi which has a large Dutch fort (which we didn’t see) and many two- and three- story wooden buildings dating back to the British era, late 1800s, with shutter-covered windows- unique in the country as far as I can see. There we stopped at a fancy hotel for a good lunch buffet: fish/squash/corn soup, and then the usual chicken and fish dishes.
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| Fishing Boats taking off |
Our stalwart driver took us off again for several hours more of driving. We stopped occasionally to check out birds; in one pond we saw some lovely Little Grebes, small diving birds with chestnut heads. At 5:30 we finally arrived at the town of Half Assini which is at the tip of a peninsula of land that goes into the Ivory Coast at the ocean’s edge. We checked into the Gracia Hotel which is supposed to be pretty basic, and it is, but it’s also a pleasant enough place. Our room has a king-size bed, two desks, a full bath, although you have to use a bucket of water to flush the john, and you have to switch on the hot water ahead of time to get any!
We arrived at the dining room at 7 and Bob and I each got our usual 21 oz. Club Beers and went into the small dining room which consists of a buffet table and a table for us. Around the top of the room was festooned white cloth streamers with pink plastic flowers and ribbons entwined! All ready for a fancy wedding! We had a good dinner of fish and manioc stew, fried chicken, rice and beans and then a platter of the sweetest pineapple I’ve ever eaten! To bed as tomorrow promises to be a long and arduous day. Breakfast at 4
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| Kids playing in a river |
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| Festively decorated dining room!! |
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| Dinner! |
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