Ladies and gentlemen, it is my proud honor to present my Web pages on Ghana, thus far: http://www.travelingtiger.com/travelingtiger/africa/ghana/ghana.html
Got back uneventfully from Bobbo’s house yesterday night. I had originally planned to leave for Medassi early this morning, but Steve, a fellow-traveler who collects kente, had planned to go visit a kente dealer today, and since this dealer works with collectible kente, I decided to tag along and see piles of kente. (Duh!)
We did indeed see piles and piles of kente, and I took a bunch of photos (not sure if any of them will come out, though – I was at a bad angle and it’s very difficult to get photos to do justice to kente). Some of them were gorgeous – handspun, indigo-dyed ones from Mali particularly attracted to me – and some of them seemed a bit humdrum for me. I left Steve to bargain with the dealer for me on a green-and-yellow kente that I absolutely loved. If I don’t get it, though, I won’t be too upset – I already bought one that I like, so I don’t really need a second one.
I finally found Busy Internet, and sure enough, they have wireless and Ethernet connections for laptops. So I have been busy uploading my web pages – it’s a slow process, sadly, but I think I will finish in time to meet my guide Chuku, who will be taking me to Medassi in the morning. There I’ll spend a day studying with an adinkra maker (adinkra is stamped cloth in very complex patterns), seeing how they boil the bark to make the ink, then stamping some of my own pieces, then carving my own stamps out of pieces of calabash gourd. I plan to visit several Ashanti weaving villages and see if I can work out a day of lessons, then head north to Tamale and find the one remaining indigo dyer in Dagoba, the main production center for indigo-dyed, handspun fabrics. Rumor has it there’s a handspinner there as well.
Anyway, I had better run soon – my website is nearly uploaded, I’m caught up on email, and I need to meet Chuku. The next time I update my blog, I’ll probably be in Medassi, north of Accra.
