Sept. 25 – Stroll through the town of Takaradi with Lunch

Although we did not have anything planned, we decided to go to the markets in Takaradi were where were docked.  We had a short cab ride to the middle of Takaradi and the market. This market is built in something that resembles a large circle with paths going in all directions.  You can walk around the outside of the circle and visit the shops or go inside the circle to the dense maze of shops.  All the shops in the inner circle are separated by a walkway about 3 feet wide and then covered with corrugated aluminum roofing that hangs over the walkways about 12 inches on each side.  As we started into this inter circle it started to rain and the effect was that all the rain water runs off the stalls and into the center of the walkways so it is like walking under a waterfall as one moves down the pathways of the markets. It did not take long for all of us to get absolutely drenched so we did not stay long in that area.

It was a short walk from the markets to a restaurant that was recommended as a place to try authentic Ghana food.  We sloshed up the street a few block to the Silver Pot for lunch.  Julie had been hearing about a dish called fufu that is a combination of a root plant called cassava and plantains.  This combination is mashed together and served as something that looks like uncooked bread dough. It is probably similar to poi that is served in Hawaii, but I have not tasted that so not sure about that comparison.  As she inquired about ordering fufu for lunch the waitress told her that fufu was served in a spicy peanut soup with either meat or fish.  Not feeling like eating fish and not being able to order just the soup and fufu, Julie opted for the meat and was told the meat was goat.  Shortly after placing the order, a large bowl of warm water and a container of soap were brought to Julie because the way you eat fufu is with your right hand, and then you eat the soup and meat with a spoon.  The spicy peanut soup was very good, the goat was medium and the fufu, to me, tasted like the undone, underside of a dumpling, but Julie was a great sport and finished almost everything including the fufu.

A final note to the lunch adventure – I said earlier that most of the villages we passed through has pigmy goats and chickens running loose around them, and as we passed through these villages Julie always remarked, with a warm fondness, how cute the goats were especially the babies.  I have noticed since her lunch that she no longer remarks about how cute they are – she just licks her lips as we pass.

On to Cape Town!