Tailors, fufu, and lies that the Lion King taught me

Above: warthogs, a misunderstood hyena, and a nice baboon (with baby! so cute!)

As my time in Ghana draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about things I still want to do before I fly home. Sure, 3 weeks may seem like a lot of time, but put in working, packing up, and many good-byes, and the time will fly by.

Today was one first for me- the first time I’ve ordered a custom tailored outfit. Here is Ghana it’s common to choose your own fabulous fabric and bring it to a tailor. Getting a dress made, not including the fabric, will cost me 10 cedi (less than $8). And luckily, there is a tailor right outside the gate to my house…and two more across the street, should I ever feel like branching out. There is one first encounter I’ve been dreading, and that’s with fufu, a doughy-looking food eaten with stew or soup. I’ve tried a similar food- banku- and wasn’t a big fan. But fried plantains- oh man, I’ll miss those when I go home!

So, onto my beef with the Lion King. First, the movie misrepresents baboons- see my post about Mole National Park. I assumed that all baboons would be jovial creatures who at the worst would hit me playfully on the head with a stick- WRONG- the baboon who stole food was not Rafiki, that’s for sure.

Next, Lion Kings makes it seem like hyenas are despicable creatures- WRONG. I went to Achimoto forest this weekend and saw a spotted hyena that’s part of Ghana’s ongoing animal education/conservation efforts (Accra’s zoo was moved to make room for the new presidential palace, and some animals are still in Accra, while others are in a town a few hours away). This hyena was adorable- his eyes said “please love me- I am so cute”. As my friend said- “how could Disney make a villain out of him!” In Disney’s defense, warthogs do seems like they could be sorta loveable, so they didn’t miss the mark too badly on that I suppose.