Ahhhh....Ghana

The resort

Well, Britte' and I just returned from a fabulous four-day trip to Ghana in West Africa. Only an hour by plane from Nigeria, but a world of differences. We booked a room at a recommended resort on the beach about three hours from the airport. We arranged for an airport pick-up through our hotel and shared the ride with our school's superintendent and his wife. The driver proceeded to drive at 80 -100 km/hour (not really sure how fast that is in mph) which felt REALLY fast compared to the cumbersome traffic around Lagos all the time. We were whipping in and out between the cars, passing the slower drivers and narrowly escaping head-on collisions every thirty seconds or so. Britte' of course was comfortably dozing away without a care in the world, while I was fighting to stay awake so that I could face our premature death head-on! Fortunately, we made it to the hotel safe and sound, just a little exhausted. The resort we stayed in is situated right on a beautiful, pristine beach (very unlike the beaches in Lagos, which are covered with trash). The rooms were located in these little, white, bungalow-style buildings, surrounded by tall coconut trees and manicured lawns.  We had access to the ocean and a lovely swimming pool. We were excited to see that they had horses on the grounds that could be ridden for an hourly fee. So, we made an appointment, but of course the guy in charge of the horses didn't show up for our appointment:( They also had a crocodile pond that advertised public feeding times on certain days, but when we showed up to see the event, no crocodile feeding was taking place:( However, on the plus side, we had a working shower in our bathroom which we didn't have to hold in our hand, and the water pressure was wonderful compared to our present circumstances in our flat. The hotel also offered a buffet breakfast which was complimentary and pretty decent fare. For dinner, we had fresh-caught seafood from the local village served up in the restaurant each night.

View from the open-air restaurant.

Dinner: Red Snapper and Fried Rice.

The delightful pool.

On our first full day in Ghana, we took a car to Kakum National Forest. Here we participated in a Canopy Walk. We're talking walking on a one-plank-wide rope bridge 100 feet up in the air! It was a bit scary, but exciting too! It was a work-out trying to stay balanced and upright. Of course, as luck would have it, wouldn't you know, but we picked the one day of the week that is "Free Ghanaian Student Day" at the local tourist sites. This meant that we were bombarded with hundreds of little Ghanaian children dressed in their matching school uniforms. No they weren't calm and quiet. No they didn't really wait their turn. No they weren't any different from the kids back home - except that they were a little surprised to see the white people who were sweating profusely from every pore in their bodies. One little boy got curious enough to strike up a conversation with me. Once I proved to be somewhat safe, his friends joined in and soon I had my own little entourage, following me and wanting to take a picture with me.

Britte' having some fun on the Canopy Walk!

      Seven canopy bridges later, we decided to hike to the nearby waterfall and adjacent lagoon that we'd heard was lovely and a great place to take a swim. We paid for the hike, got introduced to our guide, and headed into the jungle for what we were told would be a short, flat, easy hike. Not true. First, our guide wanted to stop at every other tree or plant to describe what type of tree it was and what it was useful for. This was when we found out that our superintendent is not the most patient man around! It was comical for us to hear him mumbling behind us every time the guide chose to stop. And then of course, there were the attacking ants! Yep, Britte' got attacked by "pit-bull" ants that drew blood when they bit her. Finally....we made it to the waterfall - clearly, a disappointment. And no beautiful lagoon to swim in. Just a murky-looking pool of water. And I'm pretty sure I saw a snake slithering nearby, so no swimming for any of us.

Britte' NOT having fun with the attack ants!

Our gorgeous waterfall and swimming lagoon:)

Eventually, we left the jungle and headed to the town of Cape Coast where one of the famous slave castles is located. What an experience. It's sickening to hear our guide describe the treatment of these human beings who were seen as property. We toured the slave-holding cells where 200 men were held for 3 months time until they were transported across the Atlantic. We went into the cell where they held up to eight women at time who refused the sexual advances of the guards or governor. The really sickening thing was that it was actually better for a woman to allow the guards/governor to rape her and get pregnant because then she would be housed in town with a soldier, fed properly, and was somewhat protected until she gave birth. Then her child would be taken from her, she would be sent on the next boat to slavery in the Americas (North America, South America, or the Caribbean).  Also, they put us in the death room where slaves were thrown for trying to escape and left there to die a slow and agonizing death. The room had no ventilation, sanitation, or light. Our guide shut the door and turned-off the lights with us inside to show us how stifling the room could be. The castle also houses a museum that gives you facts & information about the slave trade. One interesting piece of info I learned was that the tribal chiefs in Africa actually were the middlemen in many cases, selling or trading their own people for a profit. This is something you definitely don't hear about back home. There is now a plaque in the wall of the castle that is a public apology from the African leaders stating that this atrocity will never happen again.

A view of the slave castle in Cape Coast, Ghana.

Our next full day in Ghana was spent mostly relaxing by the pool, trying to get a tan (or just a slight burn in my case). There was a wonderful breeze coming in off the ocean to keep us cool. This is what I imagine heaven being like. The only rift in our day was when we decided to take a short walk through the authentic fishing village next to the resort. Our friends had walked through the village the previous day and had no problems, so who would have known that we would experience anything different. On our short walk about 100 feet into the village, a girl walked out of a hut balancing a large bucket on her head, she walked past me and....grabbed my butt! I was taken aback just slightly, but managed to stop and look her in the eye while saying "Excuse Me?". She just smiled and walked off. We did not venture any further into the village, but turned around and headed to our retreat near the pool.

Mud hut in the butt-grabbing village.

For our last day in Ghana, we joined our friends for a highly vigorous walk into town (about 2.5 miles from the resort) in 90-100 degree heat. I swear I slathered the spf 50 on, but still managed to get red as a lobster. We made it safely through the butt-grabbing village and onto the main road to town. Along the way, we were overwhelmed with these adorable little Ghanaian children who upon seeing us began to chant in unison, "Good Morning, How are You?, Have Fun, Good-Bye!". It was very cute and obviously the extent of their English taught to them in school. Many kids got brave enough to come and touch us on the arm or leg and some even began holding our hands. We eventually made it to the fish market in town, walked up to the fort on the hill that overlooks the lagoon and the other slave castle and then turned around to head back to our paradise of a hotel. Our leader, the superintendent, asked if we'd like to walk along the beach on our way back, and we all heartily agreed. We passed hordes of villagers who were panning for gold and were surprisingly actually finding little flecks of gold in the sand. Eventually, we reached a spot where the beach turned into low rocks that you had to hike over to get to the next stretch of sand. It was then that we discovered Poop Rock...literally, we were walking through their pooping grounds, their toilet! And Britte' was in sandals! Britte' did not find it amusing at all and had a few words to say to our leader! We finally, made it through without any misplaced feet or falls and back onto the road to the hotel. I went straight for the shower, Britte' went straight to the pool to soak her feet in the chlorinated water just in case:)

Village Life - clay ovens for smoking local caught fish.

View of Slave Castle in Elmina, Ghana from the fort on the hill.

More village life in a fishing village.

A memorable, and mostly relaxing time was had by all! Unfortunately, Britte' checked her luggage and got her iPod and cell phone stolen:( This didn't surprise me because that was my exact thought when the flight attendant explained that our flight was slightly delayed due to there being "too much luggage" that needed loading into the cargo-hold. Should a seen that coming!