A Very Happy Monkey Boy

When I first announced to the kids that we were moving to Ghana, the initial reaction was pure excitement.  One of the first things out of Xavier's mouth was that he wanted a monkey.  I explained that we couldn't really have a monkey as a pet, but that we would find some monkeys to visit.  As the initial excitement turned into the reality that we were leaving Grandma, our favorite island and so many friends, I had to pull out the "big guns".  I promised Xavier I would take him to the Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary for his birthday.  His 7th birthday is next week and I had to ante up.  The kids had two days off school following mid-terms, so we hopped into the Pajero and headed North.  After a very bumpy and dusty 5 hour drive, we arrived in Kumasi, the center of the Ashanti culture and 2nd largest city in Ghana.  I had found a tolerable looking hotel on the internet - the Amis Wonderland - and we checked in to find that it did, indeed, make us wonder......how could so many bizarre, tacky items be placed in one place?  Everything from the 4-foot tall, neon orange & yellow fake sunflowers to the too-small-for-the-bed pink satin heart-shaped bed cover to the rule sheet which stipulated that "no two males can share the same room" had us wondering where on earth we were.

The next day, we headed off for a 2 hour drive further north and a small village near the monkey sanctuary.  It's a fairly remote area & there aren't a lot of places to stay.  I found an orphange on the internet that had very quaint sounding guest bungalows & was only about 15 minutes from the monkeys.  We checked in to find that it was an orphange for mentally ill children, which added a whole other dimension to the stay.  Our bungalow was sparse, donkeys, chickens and guinea fowl roamed freely and it gave the kids a good idea about what village life is like.  Sophie & Xavier played with some of the kids from the orphanage and overall it was just another fascinating and educational aspect of our whole adventure here.  The best part was hanging out behind our bungalow, watching the lightning bugs & stars that somehow just seem to shine brighter in the rural African sky. 

From the orphanage, we drove to the monkey sancutary and it was amazing!  The monkeys live in the rainforest at the edge of a village.  Due to a long-standing belief originating from a village elder & a fettish, the villagers believe that the monkeys are like humans and hurting or killing them will bring evil spirits to the village.  So, the monkeys are treated like people and wander amongst the villagers like little, long-tailed humans.  Whenever a monkey dies, the villagers bury them & hold a funeral, compete with music & grieving.  We were able to feed them bananas and nuts straight out of our hands and watched them swinging through the tree tops.  Butterflies, bugs and beautiful, old-growth trees were everywhere - Xavier was in heaven.  I think we could have left him there & he would have been very happy! 

We wrapped up our trip with another night in Kumasi (NOT at the Wonderland) & a tour of the cultural center where I got a beautiful drum with Ashanti symbols carved on the outside and some other great things to bring home.  Xavier had one last request and we visited the Armed Forces Museum (after the 2nd or 3rd room filled with weapons, I had had enough of the guns and went to chat with some old man on a bench outside which was far more fascinating).  On the way home, Xavier declared that this birthday was the best ever and made up for last year - when I had to have surgery on his birthday.  It made me realize how life can change so quickly & in such unimaginable ways.  We never know what the next moment will bring.....I think I'm starting to like that :)