The air conditioning in the five star hotel tempered the heat building outside, while I sat having breakfast in Accra Ghana. At the table were my two fellow travellers, Anthony Honnis and Paul Blackwood. We were all employed by Landberry Mining a Company with mining interests in Ghana. Paul's wife Margaret was also breakfasting with us.
I was not happy at the thought of leaving the comfort of the air-conditioned building in the capital, to travel into the Ghanaian interior for meetings with local tribal leaders. However, some of these tribes sat on land that Landberry Mining was keen to explore for minerals.
My co-workers were both senior to me and as such their remuneration was far in excess of what I was being paid by the company. In addition to that, I always drew the short straw when it came to venturing into jungles for meetings with tribal leaders who spoke little or no English. Meanwhile, Anthony and Paul got to meet with Ghanaian leaders in there air conditioned offices in the capital city.
Paul had even been able to bring his wife, Margaret, on the trip, with her expenses paid for. Such a luxury had not been offered to me, not that my wife Penny would have been interested. She was at home caring for our two teenage daughters. I didn't mind Margaret's presence. She was an attractive middle aged woman; quite pleasant company, if a little conservative. I'd learnt at dinner that she spent most days shopping at the westernised shops or reading in her hotel room.
Immediately after breakfast I was collected by a car, which drove me to a helicopter pad. There, a young African man came up and introduced himself as my interpreter. He was different from the one I'd had for my previous journey into the interior, three days earlier.
"Kilani's not well," he told me.
I thought little of it. So long as I had someone who spoke the lingo and assisted me to get a result the company would be happy with. The company liked success. A positive result would see me secure a nice bonus and show me and the small team who worked under me in a good light.
The young African was pleasant enough, his English was good and we soon struck up a conversation. He told me the tribe we were going too was his tribe, so issues around dialect wouldn't be a problem.
The helicopter transported us over a mixture of scrub and jungle into the interior, where a sturdy four-wheel drive waited. The heat was oppressive and the air conditioning in the car did little to alleviate it. After a two hour drive we reached what I thought was our destination. The village was by the river, just as had been described to me.
The interpreter got out and spoke to a man there. After a few minutes he returned to the vehicle, said something to the driver and the vehicle moved on.
When I questioned this, the young African told me that this was not the true seat of power for this tribe. He said any agreement with them could be overruled. We would proceed to the correct village. I saw no problem with this, apart from having to continue in the hot vehicle.
We drove for another hour and a half through jungle, until we came to a clearing with some huts.
"For the seat of power this looks a poor village by comparison to the other," I thought.
In the clearing were probably close to 10 huts, built with traditional materials. My interpreter told me to wait, left and returned with a welcoming party that led me into the village. I'd done this before in Africa and was used to being a high status guest. The villagers were well aware they could gain some considerable wealth via me and my company.
What surprised me on this occasion was when my interpreter indicated to the many villagers seated around the circle, it was a group of older women. I had never come across this previously, but again made no comment.
As usual with these meetings, things moved slowly, with much eating and formal welcoming. I needed the tribe to agree to our trucks crossing their land. After some discussion the Africans started to converse among themselves, ignoring me.
"Do you think the Chief likes what we're proposing?" I asked my interpreter.
"Ashoki is not the Chief. The Chief is back in that first village."
"Then what are we doing here?" I asked, somewhat annoyed.
"Ashoki is the...how do you say...the priestess...the spiritual leader...the witch. She lives alone in the jungle, but comes in times of...uncertainty," he said, clearly choosing his words with care. "The tribe will not agree to anything unless she foresees it bringing good fortune."
"Ok," I agreed, before we sat and waited for the talking to finish.
Eventually the old woman turned and spoke at length. I waited for a detailed interpretation, but all my interpreter did was whisper to me that I was to receive a gift.
When she ceased talking, all eyes turned to one of the huts. Shortly a man emerged. It was hard to work out his age. He was possibly about thirty, but it was difficult to tell.
The man came and sat in front of the old women, between myself and them. I noticed him continually fidgeting with his finger. We sat there in silence for a time, until one of the old women gave what sounded like a curt command.
"She's told him to give you the gift," my interpreter said.
"Well he doesn't appear that keen," I whispered back, noting the pained look on the man's face.
"No; he's not," came the confirmation and then silence.
After a minute dragged by another curt command came from the group of women. With that the man stood and walked to me. He pulled at his finger and I saw he was trying to remove a ring. Eventually it came free. He held it tightly for a second and then held it out to me.
When I hesitated he spoke. Whatever he said caused the women to start calling to him and it didn't sound friendly in any way
"He said he hopes it gives you as much pleasure as it's given him." the interpreter said. "The women do not like him saying that."
"OK. Thank him very much," I replied, taking the ring from him and smiling.
The man didn't return my smile. He merely turned and with slumped shoulders, walked back to sit behind the group. The old women then spoke again.
"She says the ring came into the tribe a year ago. It was traded with people from the north. I'm not sure who...people from the desert I think."
"Ok," I replied, wanting to move things along and get back to civilisation. "Tell her I'm very humbled at receiving this gift."
"She says it belonged to her nephew. The one who just handed it to you. He's not a leader, but had some standing in the tribe. He traded with the tribe from the north and was gifted this ring. She says it has great power of a...of a sexual nature," he said, turning to me and raising an eyebrow.
I smiled back at him. I'd heard such mumbo jumbo before about these tribal gifts. Rhino's horn and snakes balls. I held up the ring and smiled some acknowledgment to the old woman, hoping this would conclude matters, but she continued.
"It can bring great pleasurer for the wearer. Makes women appear very desirable. If they touch another with the ring, both the wearer and the other will feel a surge of feelings," the interpreter told me.
"Feelings?" I queried.
"Sexual feelings."
At this point the interpreter raised a hand to stop the old woman. He turned to me.
"In other words it will cause whoever you touch with the ring to become very horny," the interpreter said with a large smile across his face. "And you will be very horny also."
When I joined in his laughing the whole circle began laughing. I think they saw this as my being happy to accept the gift. The Priestess spoke again and I looked to the interpreter.
"She says your...penis will appear like the most beautiful thing to your lover. Large and firm. When it goes inside her you will both feel as though it is the perfect fit. She will feel it in every nerve ending, no matter how many babies she has pushed out."
"Really?" I replied in disbelief, fully aware that I wasn't hung like a gorilla.
"Yes! It is true. She says your lover will not have experienced such pleasure before."
"Ok, ok; this all sounds amazing," I said, not believing a word of it. "It is a wonderful gift and I accept it with gratitude."
When the interpreter translated this there was widespread smiling among the group and they jabbered away in their language. Suddenly the priestess appeared very solemn as she spoke to me again. Eventually the interpreter had his say.
"She says that the ring is a...how do you say...a two edged sword. While it will bring you unlimited sexual joy; it may also lead to your destruction, unless you are very cautious. She says her Nephew was a weak man and showed little caution. He became too...uninhibited. Too uncaring in the manner he used the ring to entice woman in the tribe. He was not cautious; having relations with many he was not entitled too."
"Oh! You mean he strayed out of the hut?" I said, making light of this little tale.
"Initially out of the Hut and later in the Hut. He had this great gift, but became very...how do you say...indiscriminate. He cared not for age or status. This has caused much anguish and thus he has been made to gift the ring to you. It can only be exchanged as a gift to another man."
"Well it doesn't appear to have caused him too much anguish. He looks very upset at losing his ring," I said, noting the man's sullen look.
"As our witch has told you. It's a double edged sword. It's brought him pleasure and pain. He's a selfish man. Right now he's thinking only of the pleasures he has lost."
"I see."
"You are a white man from far away. You are seen as a wise man, who will not be corrupted by the ring. Do you still want to accept this ring?"
I didn't understand much of what I'd just been told, but it didn't matter. The problem was I had no choice. Landberry Mining wanted to drive trucks through this land, in order to get to the ore that lay beyond. If this tribe had offered me a dead rat I'd have accepted it. I nodded my acceptance of the gift. Now I must reciprocate.
I had the interpreter tell them of the payment, both monetary and in the form of goods that would be coming their way. They all looked very excited at hearing this. When the gift swapping appeared to be at an end, I theatrically slipped the ring onto my wedding finger. A loud cheer went up from the crowd.
"They were very keen for me to take this ring weren't they?" I said to the interpreter.
"They were more keen on you taking the ring, than getting the goods you spoke of," he replied.
Suddenly the sullen man at the back called out. My interpreter spoke.
"He says be careful about leaving it off your finger for too long. The ring doesn't like that and you will begin to get sore balls if you do."
We both burst out laughing at this and the entire gathered group did likewise, even the sullen man. Then we rose to leave, exchanging all the usual tribal formalities, before being walked out of the circle.
I was extremely happy to have secured trucking rights through the tribes land and didn't give the ring much thought once we were back in the car. My interpreter fell asleep, but woke when we arrived at the first village. He said something to the driver who stopped the vehicle.
"I'll get out here if that is alright Robert," he said.
"Sure," I replied a little surprised.
He jumped straight out, wishing me good fortune and I resumed my journey.
Through the rest of the journey to the helicopter I thought about the success of my negotiations and about getting back home in a few days. Then my mind turned to the ring still on my finger.
