Greetings all,

We've now been traveling for a week and have already seen and done so much, but as we haven't updated the blog in a while there's still some catching up to do from our last few weeks in Ejura.

For instance, I finally managed to get to a Ghanaian League match. It was the last game of the season between the two Kumasi teams, Kotoko and King Faisal. Kotoko were second in the table while Faisal lay in third with only two points separating the teams, so this was a crucial match for both.

The atmosphere at the stadium was great with brass bands, drummers, and painted men dotted among the singing crowd. The stadium itself was a huge, open, amphitheatre-like construction that had recently been converted to a seated arena for the 2007 African Cup of Nations which Ghana hosted. As is typical in Ghana the crowd was littered with vendors hawking their head-top wares, so we soon settled down with a cold drink and popcorn and waited for the action to begin.

We didn't have to wait long for that action as within five minutes of kick off three goals had gone in and Faisal were 2-1 up. This rapid scoring was down to a combination of pacy skillful attackers, dozing defenders, and two flapping goal keepers made Peter Enckleman look like a class act.

As the half went on the tempo slowed ever so slightly and the defences got on top of things so that the score was the same when the half-time whistle blew. Faisal had definitely looked the better side, passing the ball around in the Arsenal style, while Kotoko were more Villa-esq and concentrated on getting crosses in to their towering centre forward. The second half was as equally end to end as the first and both sides had plenty of chances, but it was Kotoko's tactics that paid off as they headed home a cross ten minutes from time. The Kotoko fans around us went wild at this and began running and leaping round the stands. A point was enough to secure Kotoko second position in the league and in the end they did managed to hold on for a 2-2 draw.

All in all it was a great day out, and even Holly admitted she'd enjoyed watching her first live football match.

Back in Ejura I spent much of my free time walking around town and the surrounding countryside, making the most of our last weeks there. It was really interesting to see all the different plants and crops that grow in the area. Just outside the town there is a Cashew plantation where the arching trees form a huge shady expanse, the nuts themselves grow singularly on the end of the fruit. This fruit looks like like a big yellow pepper, but inside is sweet and very watery with a not entirely pleasant spongy texture.

Simon told me that many people used to collect and roast Cashews for home cooking, but in the last decade this has been banned as the nuts are so valuable for exportation to Europe. Its now very difficult to buy Cashews in Ejura unless you purchase a huge sackful at market. Ground nuts (peanuts) though are very common, these plants are seen everywhere and as the name suggests the nuts grow on the root underground. The nuts are eaten raw, roasted, salted, sweetened, and used as the basis for sauces and soups. They are much richer tasting than they are by the time they get to Europe, and I take every opportunity to stuff my face full of them.

Another walk we did was to a "powerful" river an hour or so out of the town. This river was in fact not much more than a trickle, but its power is supposed to be more of the spiritual kind. People come all the way from Accra and Kumasi to bathe in the waters, which are supposed to be restorative and even capable of curing madness. I had a splash, but only got slightly wetter. Still, it was a beautiful walk so all was not in vain.