Gastronomy in Ghana: Safari French Restaurant

How do you say Safari in French? What I do know is that Safari Restaurant (formerly Safari Livingstone) serves up veritable French cuisine, but the name, or decor is anything but French.

Conversations in Ghana: Constance Swaniker - Sculptor, CEO & Founder of Accents & Art

I fell in love this weekend. I fell in love with art of a different kind. I was equally charmed by confidence, passion and an understated manner that made me sit back and smile. Constance Swaniker, CEO and Founder of Accents & Art is all of that. Calm - very calm, quietly confident and unassuming given that she is behind a company that is slowly making its presence felt, and I say slowly because Accents  & Art has been around for over 11 years. It is a winner of accolades, which in her very modest way was not all that eager to discuss;  this from someone who is the recent recipient of an award bestowed on her by the Ghana Chamber of Commerce for the Best Entrepreneur - SME Innovation Award.
"We got that last night", she casually mentions.

Books: THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD by Elyn R. Saks

Title: The Centre Cannot Hold - A memoir of my schizophrenia

Author: Elyn R. Saks

Published: 2007

Genre: Memoir

I enjoyed this book tremendously and was also completely horrified by some aspects of it. Why horrified? The thought that one can go through the experiences that she went through; the misdiagnosis of her illness, the forced admission into mental hospitals and subsequent forced drug treatment - and all due to the fragile definition of what is defined as mentally stable. Mild depression or complete psychosis can, if there is no one there to speak up for you, earn you the type of treatment reserved solely for mentally 'unstable' people. Every time I gather with family and friends around a dinner table, I always insist that we all have a gratitude moment...the one constant for me is always 'I am grateful for my sanity'. I always either manage to elicit chuckles or curiously-raised eyebrows. And such is the reaction that mental health issues elicit wherever you are in the world. Elyn Saks takes the reader through a process of explaining what 'losing one's mind' truly means.

Books: THE SHAPE OF WATER by Andrea Camilleri

Title: The shape of water

Author: Andrea Camilleri

Published: 1994 (English Translation: 2002)

Genre: Fiction

The shape of water is one in a series of Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano Mystery books. This was a book club read that I would not have ordinarily chosen. It's a quick, simple read that is humorous throughout - some parts of which I attribute to a loss in translation of initial intended meanings. I also found some parts of the writing somewhat stilted. I most definitely did not enjoy any of the jokes, which I found quite juvenile, even in what is the realm of detective stories - which in their own right are meant to be entertaining.

Gastronomy in Ghana: Bella Roma

A lounge bar that combines a delicatessen and a restaurant all under one roof. Bella Roma has managed to draw crowds given it has only been on Accra's scene for just over a year. Their attempt of a Mojito is commendable - you just have to make a special request for the crushed ice, and the ambiance is - to borrow from my daughter's vocabulary - cool. It's one of those places where you will hear the strains of Cafe Del Mar over the music system one day and Cuban sounds on the next and it feels like you could be anywhere in the world.

Gastronomy in Ghana: Magnolia's Restaurant & Bar

It was my second visit to Magnolia's and this time I was more than impressed with the level of service. There has been a huge improvement since the last time I was there. The waitress introduced herself brought our menus and took our drinks orders the moment we sat down. They even go all out to provide the young ones with a special menu and colouring paper and crayons while they wait.
We went for waffles but decided on pancakes and chips and chicken wings - with milk shakes for the kids. Simple, well presented and tasty. Still love their toasted baguette with garlic butter that they bring out while you wait.

Does award-winning always mean good?

Twice in the last month I have had discussions around the issue of whether ‘award-winning’ necessarily equates to good. Different audiences, different situations. The discussions were around books and what enhances or detracts from their enjoyment. More concisely: does the fact that a book is listed as an award-winning work mean that, after we all rush off to buy our respective copies, due to its elevated status as a literary work, we will necessarily find it a good read?

Wandering eye: Paris Monuments

These are some of the pictures taken in Paris in the Summer of 2010. Taken from the top of Les Cars Rouges tour bus. It had just stopped raining after a scorching hot day, and the sun was coming out from behind the clouds again.

Who ever leaves Paris without these famous monuments captured on camera?

Books: FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen

Title: Freedom

Author: Jonathan Franzen

Genre: Fiction

Published: 2010

Inspired me to learn about: Carving out character descriptions through the use of first, second and third person narration.

Jonathan Franzen weaves an intricate tale in Freedom; which although does not have a plot that grabs, it held my attention sufficiently because of its almost mundane subject matter - the life of a contemporary middle class American family grappling with issues of love, marriage, infidelity and disappointment. Reading it did feel voyeuristic at times because The Berglunds - though struggling through their less-than-average issues are quite the average family.

Places in Ghana: Manhyia Palace Museum, Kumasi

It was a history lesson about the Ashanti Kingdom and it definitely had us enthralled for the two hours that the entire tour takes. Visitors have an opportunity to watch a video about the Kingdom and then after there is a tour of the museum itself.  We were fortunate enough to have a photo opportunity - which under normal circumstances is never allowed. There is an entrance fee of GHc3 for children and GHc7 for adults. The museum is most definitely worth the visit - our tour guide was excellent; it takes a great deal of talent to hold the attention of a five year old through a tour that long and he did it quite well. After the tour there is a small gift shop, in which you can buy crafts and curios.

Manhyia Palace Museum
Kumasi

Gastronomy in Ghana: Abusua Restaurant, Kumasi

The service was quick, efficient and friendly. The menu offers everything from continental breakfasts of croissants and coffees, croque monsieurs, to banku with tilapia, fufu and kontomire.

Places in Ghana: Lake Bosumtwi, Kumasi

A sacred place on the outskirts of Kumasi (approx 30km). Lake Bosumtwi, (or Bosumtwe as per the signs) is the only natural lake in Ghana; it is within a meteorite crater and is said to be approximately 8km in length.  It was on my places-to-see list on our weekend trip to Kumasi. I am ashamed to say that three years in Ghana and my first trip to Kumasi; home of the Ashanti people.

A tranquil place, well about as tranquil as it can get with about 24 villages situated around its perimeter.

What do I write?

I was at a Ghana Women Writers Forum a while back - a group that meets regularly for book readings, critique evenings and anything literary-related,  and the question that kept coming up all evening was: What do you write?

Conversations in SA: Nthabiseng Sibanda - Founder & CEO of Puo Educational Products

Photo: Courtesy of Nthabi Sibanda

The use of mother tongue language in the family home and multi-lingualism in general are ongoing discussions worldwide. There are websites and organisations abound dedicated to both and they have become even more topical and pertinent now as the debate revolves around the preservation of language as a part of the preservation of culture. In a world where the far-reaching influence of western languages have permeated every aspect of our lives from entertainment to education and that hybrid in between;  Puo  (a Sesotho word meaning "language") is setting a standard in South Africa regarding the use of mother tongue languages across the entertainment and educational space.

Land of the Rising Sun

My thoughts are with the people of Japan in the aftermath of the most powerful earthquake to hit their country in recorded history, and the resulting tsunami.
Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, whose depiction of the 'Great Wave' a wood block print done between 1830 and 1833 has become topical in the midst of Japan's disaster.

Gastronomy in Ghana: Chase Restaurant & Lounge

You may have seen the huge billboards around Accra and wondered what they were advertising...Chase is a newly-opened restaurant in Labone opposite Labone Coffee Shoppe. It has a casual section that serves a wide range of fast foods, with an outside area and inside air-conditioned section.

A great place to be a woman

According to the World Economic Forum, Lesotho is ranked first in Africa in bridging the gender gap, and eighth in the world ahead of Britain and the U.S.
In a study using criteria that included, economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment the Mountain Kingdom fared exceptionally well.

Places in Ghana: Sisimbo Beach Resort

Our weekend getaway over the Independence long weekend was to Sisimbo Beach Resort in Kuntu village. A 3km drive from the Mankessim Roundabout on the Cape Coast road leads to the turn off, and a further 3 km on the dirt dirt takes you to the resort.

Red, Gold, Green and Black

Collage made from fabric pieces

About the Author

Who am I?

A bibliophile.

I believe you can never read too many books, and it irks me (deliberate use of a literary-sounding verb) that there are always so many books and so little time.

I read, I write, I golf (admittedly not as much as I would like given all the books I have yet to read), I travel (whenever the stars in my family's life are aligned), and I am an unapologetic foodie.

'Eat Mangoes Naked' is one of my all time favourite book titles; it inspires the hedonist within and reminds me of the possibilities of unadulterated fun in everything, even the simplest pleasures. 'Wanderlust' is one of my favourite words, no explanation required.

So, what inspires me? (Text below has been centered deliberately to make it look... poetic)

the sound of children's uninhibited laughter

eating bursting ripe mangoes the messy way - with juice flooding my mouth and dribbling down my chin

the smell of fresh rain

my morning cup of coffee

Friday afternoons that hold the promise of long, lazy weekends

the morning smell of a child's neck

the colours of a Flamboyant tree in bloom

slow-cooked lamb stew with dumplings on a winter's eve

the feel of sand between my toes

random acts of kindness

a good glass of red wine 

laughter that hurts my tummy and brings tears to my eyes

the purple blossoms of the Jacaranda tree in spring

hugs

Ghana's harmattan rain

the display on the treadmill clocking 45 minutes the morning after the night before

blue cheese with figs

a smile from a stranger

sometimes grey and rainy days

champagne

the feel of my Love's hand on the small of my back

the snow-capped tips of the Maluti Mountains

sunny Sundays

Joburg's thunderstorms

a brand new Moleskine notebook 

Paris in early fall

lazy Saturday afternoons spent braaing with friends

the bitter-sweet mingling of flavours of a well-made Mojito on my tongue

family

morning dew on freshly cut grass

and definitely, most definitely, a flaky on the outside, doughy-soft on the inside warm croissant eaten while leafing through National Geographic Traveler and dreaming of faraway places.

I lived in Accra, Ghana for three years;  but home for now is Neuilly-Sur-Seine, France. I write about my reading and writing, my travels and golfing and my eating exploits on AFRICAN wanderlust . Images of my wandering eye can be found on Wanderlust in Paris.

Thank you for visiting.