The drive from Koforidua to Accra was smooth (well very bumpy and swervy at times but globally good!!) … it would be hard to present the chaos, the riot of colours and people, just the movement of the streets of Ghana! It is just so much visual.. you are looking and looking …. There were miles of gorgeous, verdant countryside.. this area was blissfully not burnt but allowed to grow wild. At some spots the trees would form a much needed canopy over the road … at other spots the sides of the street would be filled to the brim with market goods and teaming with people weaving in and out. As we approached Accra proper and the traffic was heavy people with all kinds of produce … hoses for the garden, fancy rugs for the parlour, scrumptious donuts, beautiful handmade belts, bags of nuts piled precariously high on the platter balanced on her head and of course, water… water in bottles or little plastic bags…. were being presented to you through the car window as we slowly chugged along. It is just a riot of Life!!!
We visited TK beads .. this is one of the most successful bead makers in Ghana next to Cedee Beads. I introduced Florence Asare in the last blog as the Queen Mother of the Koforidua Market … well she is also the manager of TK Beads … A very inspiring woman!!! Funky Frog was in bead heaven!! So many beads under one roof … The majority of the beads are handcrafted right at TK Beads or are from women in the surrounding area. Ghana is famous for these recycled glass beads the world over!!
Glass bottles are crushed and placed in the crucibles and then cooked in the ovens that look a bit like an outdoor oven to make bagels in Montreal!! This work is usually done in a shaded area but still the heat of the day mixed with the heat of the ovens makes for a really hot workplace!!!
We also visited TET Beads … an amazing innovator and designer of Recycled Glass Beads. Global Mamas is a really good client of his… he was busy fulfilling an order for them when we arrived. Funky Frog has a lot of Tet’s gorgeous Recycled Glass Beads .. my personal favourite are the pastel Recycled Glass Beads in various sizes and colours … He is busy designing new beads at the moment. Funky Frog will be uploading the new beads from Tet after resettling back!! There will be lots of new beads from TK beads as well … enough to make my luggage considered HEAVY!!!!