We arrived in Ghana at the Port of Takoradi the morning of September 22. That first day we took a City Orientation tour.
First stop was a flour mill. The Ghanans seem to be very proud of their industries and the flour mill is one of them. The wheat is imported from Europe and then the flour is milled for domestic consumption.
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Filling and Sewing Flour Bags
We drove all around the city and mainly we saw vacant buildings. Ghana is very poor but the people are extremely happy everywhere you go. We had a lovely lunch at some hotel but never knew the name.
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| One of a multitude of vacant buildings |
Then we had a currency conversion stop at a Barclay’s bank ATM. While there we saw 4 goats in the circle which was just outside our bus. There are a lot of animals in the city and the villages. We saw a lot of goats, chickens, pigs, etc. Grace felt like she was in Henleyfield.
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| Goats in the City |
We drove through the Central Market. This is a madhouse so Grace and I stayed on the bus. Some of the group stayed in Takoradi for the market. We went on back to the ship. Those who stayed said the market was essentially one with food and that the sanitary conditions were not conducive to buying the food.
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| Central Market |
The second day we took a 2 ½ hour ride to Nzulezo Water Village. We were driven along the beach – Atlantic Ocean – for many miles before arriving at the starting point for paddling in canoes to the village. Ken was the oldest man on the tour. For some reason they must have thought the students were not experienced enough to paddle so Ken was one of the two older men that they asked to paddle from the front. Grace sat right behind Ken, who was in the front of the canoe and the pictures reflect this positioning. There were some 10 canoes in our flotilla that went down a canal and into a large lake and on to the water village where we were asked to contribute to the village. We did and got a very lovely carved replica of the dugout canoes that the villagers build. To some 65% of the population the religion of choice is Christian. The Muslim population is only about 15%. The British left in the 1950s when they handed over the colony to the local people. Several pictures below of this great adventure.
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| Grace is behind Ken who is paddling to catch up with the other canoes on the canal. |
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| After the canal the water village is further on a big lake |
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| Extended Family Members - Son Tristan and Daughter Megan with Grace and Ken at the Nzulezo Water Village |
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| Villagers using hatchet to make a dugout canoe |
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| Altar in the Nzulezo Water Village |
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Leaving Nzulezo
Then back in the canoes for one-hour paddle back to our starting point. There we had another lovely lunch and took pictures of the beach. It rained most of the day so we were soaking wet for the again 2 ½ hour ride home.
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| Extended Son Tristan shared a table for lunch with 4 young girls. Way to go Tristan. |
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| David Weitz, computer guru, on ocean front near water village |
In the morning Grace had taken a picture of the Crafts market that had set up on the dock just across from the ship. That evening when we returned Grace decided to test her negotiating skills with the local vendors. She was no match for them but she came away with the most beautiful Kente sash. All the women on the ship were jealous.
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| Crafts market across the wharf from the ship |
The 3rd day we stayed on the ship. We were supposed to go to an orphanage with another Life Long Learner couple and some 40 kids but we were so tired we didn’t make it. The couple, Ken and Marty Kurica, have a daughter who went on Semester at Sea a year of so back and she went to this orphanage and fell in love with what they are doing – rescuing abused children that had been sold into slavery either sex or otherwise. The bus left at 3:00 AM in the morning and returned the next morning at around 10:00 AM. Since we had planned a trip to the Ankasa Rain Forest which left at 7:00 AM we opted out. The bus actually came back at 3:00 AM so we could have gone. Thank goodness we didn’t go as we would have been completely wiped out. These tours are really hard work.
Actually that afternoon Ken went to the Crafts market across the way and bargained for 11 bracelets with our 10 grandsons names on them plus one for Thomas Shelton for his upcoming birthday. They were asking $4.00 each but Ken bargained them down to 7 Cedi’s, $4 and a Walmart T-shirt. About a total price of $15. A good deal but not the quality of the neck sash that Grace got.
On the 4th day at breakfast we sat with the tour leader for the Ankasa Rain Forest trip, Professor Fernando Opere, and he told Grace the hike in the rain forest was pretty hard. So Grace decided to stay home and study her courses. Again this was a good decision as the hike was not moderate at all in spite of what the tour information said. We left at 7:30 AM and after another 2 ½ hour drive we had gotten to the turn for the Ankasa Rain Forest. The tour guide said the next 6 kilometers should take about 10 minutes. But the rain from the day before had left big mud potholes in the road. We hadn’t gone 1 kilometer when the bus was stuck in a pothole. So all 26 people and the two tour guides got off the bus and 8 of us pushed it out the pothole on our first try. This was a smaller bus than the 60 passenger bus we had been on the previous days. Thanks goodness or we could not have pushed the bus out.
A little bit of info here. When we saw all the vacant buildings and the poverty we initially thought that the Ghanans should have begged the British to come back. However, after meeting the local people we had 2nd thoughts. These people are very very happy with their lives. More so than most countries where we have traveled. Something to think about. We don’t need to impose our beliefs on others just because we think we know what’s good for them. I tell you this because the tour guides didn’t even think about pushing the bus out of the potholes. They stood around and watched as we did the work, got trenched up to our knees and one of us even fell in the water and got soaked. We don't have any pictures of pushing the bus out of the potholes.
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| Our hiking group. That's Ken in the far back with the wide bim hat. |
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| Friend Bambi Ken found at lunch on the beach. One could go up and pet her. |
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| Ashley Leah Sophia Cory - 4 of the 5 young ladies that Ken joined for lunch |
Back to the road. We got back into the bus and went another 100 yards when the bus got stuck again. So out we came and repeated the pushing. Back on the bus and about another 200 yards and we got out again. However, this time we were into the pothole so that the bus was in water up to the bumper. It took 10 tries with the driver rocking the bus forward and then backward but we finally got the bus out. Then we walked one kilometer with the bus going through the remaining potholes somewhat easily with no one on it. We were smart enough after that so that when we left to come back we all got off the bus and walked about a kilometer when we came to the first flooded pothole.
Anyhow, we arrived at the Ankasa Rain Forest and met our guide for the hike. It started pouring down rain. It rained the whole hike. Guess that is why they call it a rain forest. It was a very strenuous hike. There were many steep up and downs and creeks to cross and with the rain you really couldn’t see much. The guide could only talk to some 4 or 5 people and there were 26 of us.
That night there was a beautiful rainbow over the sea as we left Ghana. We went to a party on Sally Stemmons patio. On deck 7 there are more spacious cabins and an outside patio.
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| Rainbow over Sally Stemmons patio |
The next night one of our extended kids celebrated his 20th birthday and we were invited to the special dining room where they have a very special menu.
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| Thomas Shelton with Grace & Ken |
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| At Sally's departure Party from Ghana |
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| The birthday party |
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| Grace with her new Kente sash |
On to Cape Town.
