Happy New Year! I am currently in Accra, and I will travel again tomorrow to Hoehoe in the Volta Region where I will spend 10 days or so.

I saw in 2007 with a lovely crowd of people at Green Turtle Lodge, in an evening that started with a huge tasty fish barbeque, followed by traditional drumming and dancing by a local group, with a big bonfire and bubbly on the beach at midnight. A new year to remember indeed! Tom (owner of GT) devised a special cocktail called a ‘James Brown’ which I we drank to pay tribute to that very funky man who sadly passed away on Christmas Day, very sad! Christmas Day itself here was quite a quiet day, spent at home with the family and with me me recovering from the 6 hour church service the night before, from 8pm until 2am!! By midnight a lot of the congregation were fast asleep, but I was being kept busy playing bass in the band (so much so that I got blisters on my fingers!). Boxing Day was a more lively affair, and I spent the afternoon parading through the streets of Sekondi with a traditional Masquerade group, whose colourful costumes I will not even attempt to describe- check out my photos to see what I mean! I was invited to join by their leader, and so him and I led the 100 or so dancers and musicians through the streets, which was completely exhausting and exhilarating! A lot of people were a bit confused to see an obruni leading the parade, with nevertheless were very happy and some even came and gave me money! On Saturday I returned to Sekondi to watch a charity football game with Tom from GT, the game was in aid of a local orphanage. A lot of ex-Ghanaian stars were playing, including the legendary Tony Yeboah (who is now retired, rather fat, and went off after 10 minutes!) and Michael Desailley (who captained France in World Cup 1998, but was originally from Ghana) which was very exciting indeed! It was a fun game, and the stadium was packed so should have raised a lot for the organization.

I am now back in Accra, two and a half months since my arrival, and it seems far less frantic than it first appeared, but then I guess I am just now well adapted to Ghanaian life. I had a wonderful, if bizarre, time last night, drinking in a traditional Irish pub in Accra, where I bumped into three Catholic priests from Ireland, based in Nigeria, whom I’d met at Green Turtle at New Year. They were certainly up for the craic and the evening was a little bit like an episode of Father Ted in Ghana! Great stuff. Anyway, that’s all for now. Tomorrow the Volta Region beckons, so will update on my return.

Best wishes for a peaceful 2007!

James x