Update.

A weekend away from the urban chaos of Accra spent in a little village on the far West coast of Ghana, next to the Ivory Coast.

We took a 4x4 which was owned by the American embassy (going straight through all the police checkpoints makes a change!) to a remote part of the country in the jungle.

We were aiming to get to a village which is built on stilts in a lake somewhere in the jungle. We found a guy who would row us there in a pirogue. We paid him with Jack Daniels. 

The water on the shore was as hot as bath water.

Everywhere around us was alive with the chirps of millions of insects.

A little boy in his back yard.

Entering the lake. 30 meters deep in the middle. Holds an array of crocodiles.

Approaching the stilt village.

Giving the stand in chief of the village an offering of whiskey. I'm not sure that's standard behavior for an American diplomat... 

A beautiful place.

Life is just ordinary for the people who live here. Fascinating to me.

The village boys challenged me to there local game which is meant to show if you 'have a strong heart.' The challenge consisted of jumping into the lake, going underwater and filling up and emptying a bottle without taking a breath of air. If you fill it and empty it twice it means you have a strong heart. I managed it three times!

Walking through the village with no pants on after I'd been in the water attracted more attention than usual.

We found a crocodile the next day.

This one was calm and they're surprisingly soft and spongy. 

This one didn't like me standing behind it.

 We went back to the jungle later and found some rope bridges to climb in the tree canopy.

 You still get swarms of insects that far up. 40 meters!

Long way down.

Ghana is a beautiful country.

These were some of the best moments I've had in Africa so far. Fantastic invigorating sights. Good respite from the ever grinding headache of sorting my passport out. Thank you, Will!