Once in a while there are events that I am forced to wait a while before I get to share, tell the story behind the pictures and the Savvy Madam event at Golden Tulip in January this year is one of them. Not that it is government secret and incredibly confidential but the post-event recap is still hush hush.

I am however, mighty proud of the founder of the Madam Network who put the event together. After business school I'm sure she has a lot in store for professional women who want to network and make an impact. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures which feature Deborah Vanessa and friends.

One of the amazing things that inspires and continues to encourage me while in Ghana are the brilliant, absolutely ingenious young entrepreneurs in the country. From the first week I landed, I reconnected with my old schoolmate from Presec, Edward Tagoe, met his partner Kwame Pocho (with whom I've eventually partnered with on Team 1000 words) and the amazing Anne Amuzu. Anne is the the CEO of Nandimobile and after my contract with MEST was over a few weeks ago, I was excited to cross over the bridge to MINC & work on client testimonials for their soon to be relaunched website.

To brave, ambitious and successful Ghanaian entrepreneurs who support each other. We are who we've been waiting for:

Client: FC Beauty
FC Beauty - Nandimobile Testimonial from itake photos est. 1985 on Vimeo.

Client: Agape House New Testament Church
Agape - Nandimobile Testimonial from itake photos est. 1985 on Vimeo.

Client: HotJobs Africa Ltd

HotJobs Africa - Nandimobile Testimonial from itake photos est. 1985 on Vimeo.

The first time I saw Sarkodie in concert was in DC, I remember wishing a lot more people had attended the event, I blogged about my first Obidi Pon Bidi live performance here: Sarkodie Rappaholic Tour - DC Edition. I did get the chance to take close-up pictures of the young Ghanaian rap phenom as he'd been nominated for local and international BET awards. In recent times, Sarkodie has carved a niche as the best wordsmiths in Ghana rap. The free concert in Kwahu during Easter was a reminder that he's still on top of his game and the crowd couldn't agree more.

 

 

 

More pictures here: 

If you've been in Ghana over the last decade or so, Kwahu has become synonymous with Easter celebrations. And this year, in true local-turned-foreigner turned-local-tourist fashion, I decided to take a trip where I'd never been: Kwahu oh Kwahu!

This blog post is the second of a series of Eats And Treats where I get to share local delicacies across the world during my travels. See the one about ahaban (leaf) wrapped Waakye and Grilled Tilapia here.

Back to Kwahu:

Our first stop was at the Modak Hotel at Pepease, one of the townships that collective make up the famous Kwahu. From childhood stories told to me, Kwahu has always been known as a golden city where successful traders, merchants who came to Accra went back to build houses that were almost anachronistic to the surrounding abodes. Contemporary, huge gated-mansions in the midst of huts was definitely something remarkable elsewhere outside the major cities in Accra and yet Kwahu's rep was exactly for that and how many of these modern buildings were juxtaposed with sedentary life and huts in villages.

At Modak, I settled for goat meat light soup and fufu and while I used a spoon, my colleague reminded me the most efficient way to drink light soup is to tilt the entire bowl towards your mouth and gulp it down. The soup was really good, I almost lost my appetite when  I realized I could identify the teeth of the goat on top of my meal. I closed my eyes and proceeded to tilt the entire bowl towards my mouth...

Still cautious of the street food, I forgot my handy bottle of pepto at home so I settled on pictures of fried guinea fowl, khebabs & sausages and fried shrimp. More pictures of the street carnival and Sarkodie concert coming soon...

Entrance to the hotel at Pepease

Signage

Chop Time

Goat Teeth

Modak #2

Guinea Fowl

Kelewele and groundnuts

Fried Shrimps

Khebabs and Sausages