Ghana III--Kumasi, the Asante Capital

We flew to Kumasi, the Asante Capital, in a small prop plane--with 18 seats. This is a picture of Ghana's coast from the plane.

While in Kumasi, we visited the Manhyia Palace Museum (no pictures allowed) and spent a day at the cultural center where artisans were creating their arts and crafts in the open air (kente cloth, batik fabric, drums, paintings, pottery, baskets and jewelry).

While in Kumasi, we tried eating fufu, a Ghanaian traditional staple food, made of pounded and boiled cassava or yams, but we weren’t too keen on it. We much prefer Zambian nshima (made of corn meal or "mealie meal")! We did find some food we enjoyed--especially Jollof Rice, which is like a Ghanaian-style fried rice with tomato and chile seasonings.

a busy street in Kumasi at twilight

The Presbyterian Guest House in Kumasi, where we stayed.

The hallway of the guest house.

The entrance to the cultural center.

Artisans working outside at the cultural center.

Small wax figurines will be cast in plaster, then melted out and filled with molten brass to make brass weights.

Batik cloth drying on the lawn.

Ryan with our newly acquired djembe drum (on his back) and it's maker.

Molly drinking a sachet of water--much cheaper than a bottle. Just rip and suck!

A truck carrying a huge load of the above-mentioned water sachets.

Fufu in soup with hunks of goat meat.

Jollof Rice with more goat meat. Ryan really liked the Jollof.

Fried Plantains! The best--we ordered it after the Fufu which we couldn't finish.

We also attended worship at the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Adum Congregation Kumasi. It was right across the street from the Presbyterian Guest House where we stayed. Molly wore her clergy shirt and collar (one of the only clean shirts she had). Ryan wore a Daishiki and shorts and his Birkenstocks (he forgot to pack his clergy shirt). So Molly got us an all-access pass to sit in the very front of the congregation--which was a really interesting view point. Many people in Ghana, especially the men, now wear the traditional cloth--slung across one shoulder. You can see the men in cloth if you look closely at the photos in the church. Fortunately we weren't asked to preach!

Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Adum Congregation, Kumasi.

A view of the congregation: the choir on the top level--along with a brass band, organ, synthesizers, drum set and traditional drums.

Offering--they have huge 3-tiered golden buckets for each side ("tithe," "offering 1," & "offering 2") PLUS a brass bowl for a special offering because it was Education Sunday.

A funny "health tip" on the big screen at the front of the church.