Ghana continued...

Ghana: Day 2 and 3

So I may have misjudged Ghana prematurely.

The roads are terrible and accidents are inevitable…having been in 2 accidents in 2 days, I feel I can say this is true.

Everyone is super friendly…sometimes to the point that can be seen as overbearing and too much from the American standpoint.

Plus, the women are much easier to have a conversation with. They are not looking for an American wife and will try to sell you things but do not get easily upset and frustrated if you decide not to buy.

On Tuesday (Day 2) we woke up early and headed cross country to Kakum National Park. What was supposed to be a 2 ½ hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive because of traffic and markets occurring. Once we reached the National Park, we initiated a ½ mile walk up a steep slope into the rain forest. With temperatures ranging between high 80s and low 90s with the equatorial sun beating directly down on us, it was a long way up.

Once we reached the top, we climbed into a treehouse where we began our canopy tour. The canopy tour was not what we had expected. It was composed of several bridges looping around in a circle back to the point we were at where we exited and headed back down the mountain. It was a cool experience but not worth the amount paid for it.

We were also supposed to partake on a walking tour of Elmina; however, it was so hot out the tour operator turned it into a driving tour where we looked at the slave castle, markets, a main square, a cemetery, and a few mosques and cathedrals.

We began our long drive back to Tema with our 2 buses. We then met another SAS bus at the rest stop and continued our journey with 3 buses. The 2 coach buses and small bus (more like an 18 passenger van) weaved through traffic on high speed highways. A car next to the front bus (van) lost control of his vehicle and swerved into the driver’s door of the van forcing it off the road and into a ditch. Very luckily, the van did not flip but the 2 buses behind it were forced to slam on their breaks to miss hitting both vehicles. Everyone went flying into the seats in front of them and luckily no one was hurt. The police showed up to take a report and our 3 buses traveled back to the ship with a 4 motorcycle police escort.

Wednesday (Day 3) we traveled 2 hours to Eastern Ghana to a bead making factory to see how they recycle glass and rocks into beads. The man doing the presentation was very knowledgeable but we were at the bead factory for only 30 minutes and it was not worth the money spent to get there.

On our way there we were detoured by the central market and road construction. Our bus ended up taking out someone’s electricity because it was too large to fit through and instead of stopping to help we just kept on driving. The look on the people’s faces was something I will never forget.

We stopped at a bead market after leaving the factory and lost half our group in the middle of the market. It had narrow passageways, large rocks to step over, congested traffic of people, and our tour guide was moving too fast. We found everyone eventually but were forced to stand in the hot sun while we waited for our tour guide to go find the missing people. The ladies working the bead market rounded our small group up and brought us out of the sun to sit with them underneath their covers so we were in the shade.

We headed back to the ship and stopped at an approved ATM on our way. We decided to eat and take a breather before we headed out to tackle the vendors selling merchandise. We bartered and made deals on amazing merchandise. Although at some places it was hard because they knew the exchange rate and they knew how little we would be actually paying for what would be big priced items in the US.

After purchasing some really great items, we returned to the ship where I spent the night relaxing and preparing myself for my History field lab to the Slave Castles in Elmina the next day.