Ghana

Ghana…  When life was hard traveling through Guinea and Ivory Coast we all dreamed about Ghana. We heard about the white sand beaches, the other travelers, cheap beer and English speaking. Crossing the border was again very easy. We had to get out fill some paperwork, get stamped and our picture taken. All in all it took around two hours to cross. From the border we drove about three hours to Busua. We were going to stay two days at Alaska beach resort. So far the only difference Ghana is to the rest of West Africa is all the hundreds and thousands of churches and English signs. The locals speak their own dialect and most of them don’t speak English at all so that was different then I thought. I thought it would be like Belize. Don’t get me wrong it was still nice to be able to know what I was ordering and how much it cost. The beaches in Busua were absolutely amazing. We were told to live it up here; these will be the best beaches in West Africa. No rips, no litter, and fun waves to body surf. The two days went by pretty fast. Just down the beach was a restaurant we were told had Mexican food J J J. We spent the day body surfing and in the afternoon we all got our first burritos which were to die for. I could tell I was really going to like Ghana.

We left Busua and drove to the famous Big Millys. Arriving at Big Millys was a huge culture shock for all of us. We had spent the last 3 weeks being the only tourist or white people and now we arrived on a Sunday and the place was packed with them (finding out they are all volunteers). Myself, Ben and Steph upgraded to a 3 person a/c room for $10 U.S. a night. Since I was sharing the room with them we had to come up with some ground rules hat or towel on the door handle means for me to come back in 30 minutes or so. For the first two days we stayed there the people who didn’t get the Nigerian visas spent the day in Accra (40km pain in the ass to get to) trying to get them. Everyone was successful thank god. Now all along West Africa we were told Angola doesn’t issue visas and most likely we were all going to fly over Angola. Suse who just spend 4 years in South America (speaks Portuguese fluently) was able to basically get on her knees and sweet talk them in issuing us. We had to deposit money ($160 US) into their bank (that way the money is there account and it would be hard to refund us) then get a letter from our embassy with a stamp as a letter of invitation or introduction. Myself, Brittany and Jareb took a taxi to the bank then went to the American embassy. The embassy was closed from noon to 2pm for lunch so we waited and ate lunches ourselves (fufu-Ghana dish which made me almost puke). At 2pm getting into the embassy was easy. We were the only American with 200 Ghanaians trying to Visas. After 30 minutes of waiting we talked with a lady who looked at us like we were insane and was no help whatsoever. She said they don’t do those types of letters. I asked her if she could write a letter stating they don’t do those letters she said WE DON’T DO LETTERS! We left with no help at all. We later talked with Suse and she said not to worry. Basically everyone but the Aussies was unsuccessful. Suse said we could try again on Monday before we meet with the Angola embassy. That night Steph had chills and was really cold. Brian also spent the whole night puking his guts out (he was drinking the water) the next morning we were going to leave for Kumasi but both Brian and Steph were in no travel shape. They decided to go to the clinic down the road. Brian was going to get a something so he could hold water in and Steph was going to get tested for Malaria. Noon came along when Suse got the phone call. Brian basically had food poisoning, and was on 5 bags of trip and they wanted to keep him overnight. Oh yea and he had type 1 Malaria. Steph had type 2 Malaria and the doctor had no idea why she was as chipper and she was. Needless to say we were going to stay at Big Millys until Monday. On Saturday we did the previous mentioned centurion. Jareb lost, but beat Brittany so I lost $20 buck but didn’t have to pay the bar tab. Nico won the whole thing with little Rhys coming in second with 97 shots, everyone got pissed and it was a lot of fun… The next day Jareb woke up and said he wasn’t feeling good at all. He said he had a fever and chills. I thought it was him being hung over but after a trip into the doctors he now has Malaria as well.

On Monday we dropped off our passports at the Angolan embassy and then headed to Cape Coast. The drive to Cape Coast only took a few hours and we stayed on the beach again at this nice campground called Oasis. We ended up staying there 3 nights. The first night was our cook group again. We whipped up some stir fry and called it a night. The next morning Brittany, The boys, Ben, Steph and me when to the largest slave port in West Africa. It’s what cape coast was known for. We spent about 45 minutes walking through the museum then took the guided tour. I was really affected by being here. Seeing what the slaves had to go through before they were even slaves was very emotional. There was one section called the CELL where the bad slaves who tried to escape or resist it were put. They were locked 50 people deep in a pitch black cell. They were left there with no food, no water until they died. There are still marks where the slaves tried to grind their teeth against the cement to try to escape. While we were there, there was a African American women from Florida who was extremely emotional making a bad name for herself and every American. She was yelling at anyone who was on the tour talking about her ancestors and black rights. She was absolutely out of control. I believe in being passionate about something you believe in and at no way do I condone slavery or thing what our ancestors did was right. She was being a hypocrite because if she went into the museum she would know that tribes would capture other slaves and sell them so they can take over the land. Not only that but she made comments about Brittany (who is Asian), and other black people on the tour (saying how they forgot their roots)… The rest of the evening we played a 3 on 3 game of basketball in the 95 degree temperature with 90% humidity. It was Ben, Rhys, and Toby vs. Nico, Brittany, and me. We lost, and we all almost passed out from heat exhaustion (not my brightest moment). The next day we took a taxi to Kakum national park. This park was known for its canopy walk basically 10+ rope bridges stretched across the canopy of the rain forest. It was a little disappointing and probably the first time this trip I could have saved my money and not done it. It was okay but we had two large groups of American student with us and I felt hurried the whole time… We left for Kumasi the next day. Kumasi is known for the biggest markets in West Africa… To try to explain these markets in writing or pictures doesn’t do it Justice. They are massive, with endless rows of shops and stalls. It made for locals and not tourist. You can get anything from dried fish, to used underwear. We stayed two nights there at a Presbyterian church that had rooms. Everyone paired up double occupancy except me I was the lone man out which was good because I got the room to myself… We left Kumasi to go back to Big Millys again. It is once again our time to cook. We are also going to meet the two new people joining us on the trip and unfortunately loosing Brian then later in the week my best mates Ben and Steph.

Right before Big Millys there is a place about 30 minutes away called “the barrier” Suse dropped myself, Ben and Steph to go food shopping. We took a taxi 10 minutes from there to a market called Mally Market. We were buying supplies for dinner (Steph and my famous coleslaw) when Ben looked up and saw the darkest clouds ever. We had all the supplies minus breakfast so we decided it was time to get out of dodge. We negotiated with a taxi to take us back to big millys right before I got to observed up-close and personal my first insane tropical storm. Once we started driving the wind blew like a tornado and tin roofs, garbage and even a half sheet of plywood landed in front of the taxi. The taxi sign even blew off his car. It was pouring down rain with massive wind. We even had a palm tree collapse in front of the taxi. We were driving on the smaller road to Big Millys when a huge coconut palm tree collapsed about 50 yards right in front of our vehicle blocking both sides of the road. By the time it hit the ground every kid close by came running to cut the coconuts and free the road. There was one boy no older than 7, butt naked, and after he wrestled a coconut free from all the older kids he danced a very comical celebration. You would have thought he kicked the winning goal in a soccer match. Once we passed the tree there was a maroon Nissan Xterra that passed us. About 5 minutes later around a corner the Xterra and another vehicle had a head on accident. Both drivers looked bloody but were walking so that is a good sign. Shortly after that we say another taxi went around a corner and didn’t turn and rode off the road. We eventually made it to Big M safe and only a little wet. It was one crazy drive. Our plan is to be there until Wednesday so the two new people can get their Angola Visa…

We met the two new people Cecilie (23 Denmark), and Yoshi (73 Japan).  Both will be a great addition to our family. I instantly bonded with Cecilia. She has been volunteering at Ghana a month before and is really excited to join the trip. Her original plan was just to go to South Africa but after a few days she decided to go to Istanbul with everyone else. On Sunday 20^th of May I was feeling really tired and not myself. I thought it was just the heat but I didn’t even have the energy to pick up my Kindle and read it. The next day Monday I told Steph I would go to the hospital with her to keep her company while she got tested to see if the malaria is gone. I talked Denise to go with me and within two hours I was looking a sheet of paper that said I had + 1 malaria… WTF! I guess the anti-malaria medicine I am on was fighting it but that was the reason I have been so exhausted. The next two days I took it easy and took their prescribed medicine. I only had one fever night, but it passed within a few hours.

On Wednesday we drove 5 hours to Aylos bay right on the largest manmade lake. We stayed at this awesome little hotel/campground right on the lake with a rope swing. Myself, Ben, Cecilia, Rhys, and Toby spent as much time as possible swinging and playing in the fresh water. We had to get out because it was getting dark and the mozzies were coming out. That night we slept under mango trees and around 0200 in the morning monkeys decided to climb the trees and throw mangos at our tents keeping us up for most the night.

The next day we drove 6 hours to Wli (a national park) we got there around 4pm and quickly hurried up a 35 min hike to one of the most spectacular waterfalls ever. All of us minus Carlos, Maria and Denise went up. The water was little higher than waste level and the waterfall was 100 feet plus. It was so powerful that we felt like we were getting beat up by the water. Rhys, Toby, Ben, Nico and I linked arms and walked right through it. We were all laughing and having a great time. By the time we got back to the truck we got stuck in a torrential downpour. After the rains past we all set up camp and spent the night at the foot of the national forest. The next day we drove a few hours to a endangered monkey sanctuary. The monkeys are called the Mona monkeys. We walked about 10 minutes into the forest when our guide started making this weird noise. Rhys and I looked at each other when all of a sudden 100 of the cutest monkeys came out of nowhere. The guide gave us bananas and the monkeys would crawl all over us and eat the bananas. The guide told us that there are only 400 Mona monkeys left in the world and they are called the god messengers. They were so adorable; I could spend all day watching them jump from tree to tree. We left the monkey sanctuary and drove back to Aylos bay (the manmade lake) this was going to be Ben and Steph last night here with us so we canceled cook group and everyone but Carlos ate at the hotel restaurant. Ben and Steph went around the table and gave a speech about everyone. It was really sweet and they are going to be missed. I instantly became best mates with them. I told them that because of them I am still here. I told them from the start I was second guessing myself and really concerned of this trip and the fact I made the wrong decision. After meeting them everything turned great and I am so happy that I am on this trip. I will miss them deeply and hopefully one day I will see them again. The next day we took off to Big Millys (again). We will pick up our Angolan visas and spend 3 days there. It will also be my birthday (which I could of spent it in a whole lot worst of places) not sure what I will be doing. Because of the malaria I can’t drink because malaria eats your liver. Anyone that knows me also knows that I have a very high liver count (unknown reason) the VA hospital has been trying to find out for years why my blood test comes up high. So I will be sober and enjoying my 31^st birthday in GHANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!