Ghana

Ghana
Day 1: We arrived in Accra on Thursday afternoon. Dee Dee, a friend of mine has relatives in Ghana who picked us up at the airport and brought us to their lovely home right nearby. The welcomed us with a water ceremony. Irene told us a story about how long ago after a long walk through the Sahara Desert, people would arrive at the door of a house. Before letting them in, they would be given water to wash up because they were so dirty from the journey. In symbolism of this, we were given water to drink in cute little glasses and everyone in the room shared what they were thankful for. It was Thanksgiving Day, so this was very fitting. We had a wonderful dinner and I felt very welcomed. I couldn’t figure out the long distance on their phone and my calling card wouldn’t work, so I went to sleep exhausted and feeling sad that I had not been able to call home on Thanksgiving.


Day 2: Dee Dee had been to Ghana before, so mainly shopping was on her to do list. I met up with some other friends, Jimmy and Amanda on the morning of the second day so we could be tourists. They had hired a driver named Emanuel. Emanuel meet us at their hotel at 7:00 and we left Accra and headed toward Elmina. The rainforest was first on our list, and on the road up there we were stopped because of a parade. It turns out that the president of Ghana was in town and they were having their big yearly celebration. It was amazing!!! There were tons of people and they were carrying their 9 chiefs above their heads in things that were like thrones or beds. Then, the president with several protection vehicles drove through.

From there, we continued up the road to Kakum National Park: Ghana Rainforest. We didn’t see any animals beside lizards and butterflies, but it was a nice change to relax and hike. Well, relax until we got to the canopy rope walk. We walked across seven rope bridges that were hanging high above rainforest. It was interesting, but I will definitely NEVER do it again. Once you go on the first bridge, there is no turning back. I’m really glad I did it, but unless I hear that Ghana follows the US safety regulations it’s not happening again.




Day 2 Continued: Yes, day 2 was a very long day. We let the rainforest and headed to the Elmina Slave Castle. It was a very moving experience. The castles had once been a Portuguese mission but were taken over and used as a holding house for the slave trade.




Day 3
Shopping! Prices were much cheaper. After shopping we headed to my hotel where I met up with Dee Dee again. It was a relaxing evening and next day before heading back to Lagos. Ghana is so different from here...they don't have nearly the naturaly resources but they are struggling do much less. The second we hit the airport we could feel the difference.