Our other adventure this past weekend was to the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary about 10 miles and worlds away from Kumasi.  Out of the city and in this conservation area we were able to breath some fresh, but heavy and humid air.  We finally got the sense that we are in a tropical environment near the equator with the lush plants and numerous birds, bugs and butterflies.  Against some very good advice we did take a Tro-Tro to Owabi – these are converted cargo vans that fit more people than you could ever imagine and were called Combi’s in Swaziland.  If you think that drivers in the US are pushy then you have not spent time in Africa and in particular in Ghana.  That was probably my first and last Tro-Tro experience while we are here.  The driver did take us all the way to the entrance of the Wildlife Sanctuary where some men at the entrance turned us around and directed us to the guide’s house.  The guide, named Amoah, was dressed in his traditional clothes to go to church with his son and invited us into his house while he changed in to his guiding clothes which included rubber boots and a machete!  He then led us on a beautiful 2 hour walk through the trails on the sanctuary and pointed out birds, butterflies and we even saw a monkey.  The butterflies were the most amazing part of the walk, we have never seen so many different types of butterflies and the colors were fantastic.  We were definitely the only people in the sanctuary and we left our guide a large tip for going out of his way to take us on a Sunday!   Later that evening we had are largest and most spectacular thunderstorm we have had here and then went out for amazing Indian food at Moti Mahal – if you are ever in Kumasi you must try this restaurant.  – Leah