ELEPHANTS, HIPPOS, AND WORT HOGS, OH MY!

ELEPHANTS, HIPPOS, WORT HOGS, OH MY ( I apologize ahead of time for the length!)
The longer periods of time that I am in Accra, the more my urge to travel increases. Not that I despise Accra, I don’t, but it is a little intense for me. I love leaving the city and venturing out to small, remote villages. Or finding hikes in the jungle, and meeting different types of people all throughout Ghana. Our group did another organized trip to Kumasi (A city about 6 hours north of Accra) and it was really fun. They had markets with the most beautiful woven cloth, paintings, and jewelry. I find myself automatically gravitate towards any painting stand/booth. The artwork is so different here, they use the brightest colors and have the most interesting style. I definitely spent a good amount of money on artwork that weekend.
Our group stayed in Kumasi for the weekend, and were planning on returning to Accra on Sunday. A group of friends and I (7 total) decided since we were already halfway up Ghana, we should take this opportunity to travel all the way north to a town called Mole. Mole is known for it’s safari hikes, and wild animals. Usually, the trip from Accra to Mole is 14 hours by bus, but since we left from Kumasi it cut our travel time in half. So, when the rest of our group left for Accra, we boarded a bus to Tomale, a village about 6 hours north of Kumasi. We got to Tomale at about 5 pm, and met an amazing Ghanain man on the bus who shared with us all about his non-profit organization he had started in Ghana. He told us we should stay at the Catholic Guest House, which had cheap rooms for the night. So once we arrived in Tomale, he had his driver take us to the Guest House. He did this for us all out of genuine kindness, and it was encouraging for us to run into such great people. The Catholic guest house was modest, but was great for just staying the night. The rooms had 2 twin beds and a bucket shower. There was a great little restaurant down the street that we walked to, and had pizza ( unheard of!) And played cards that night. We had to wake up the next morning at 3 am to catch the 5 am bus to Larabonga (which is a TINY village right outside Mole).
We use our guidebooks ALL the time, which I hate to admit because it makes me feel like such a tourist. Not that the guidebook is the only thing that gives me away here. Haha But, for background info, the guidebook said to be careful in Larabonga for there are many many many "professional friends" as we call them. (People who cling to you instantly, can’t get rid of them, and try to be sneaky and rob you somehow.) We were a little nervous getting off the bus in Larabonga, but we were fine. There were a LOT of professional friends that instantly surrounded us trying to get us to go in their taxi, or see their house, or buy their food. It was definitely overwhelming. At the beginning, I tried to be polite saying "no thank you, no thank you, no thank you." But honestly, they were being relentless, and you can’t be polite with them. We had to be really stern, and eventually I got to the point of being somewhat rude, which I felt bad about but there was really no alternative. If you weren’t, they wouldn’t leave you alone. In Larabonga, we got a taxi to the Mole Hotel, which was about a 15 min ride. We arrived in Mole at about 8:30 am, and the hotel was phenomenal! There were 3 twin beds to a room, and actual shower, and AIR CONDITIONING! We felt completely spoiled. For a comparison, this room in reality wouldn’t of been half as nice as a motel 6, but to us it was great! We were all pretty tired from the journey, so the rest of the group decided to take naps, while I went out to this beautiful platform that overlooked all of the national park. The platform had chairs, and you could sit there and see the elephants below in the distance bathing in the water. I brought a book down there to read, when a man who worked at the hotel yelled "elephant over here" Naturally, I ran up and right behind the laundry lines was an elephant, just hanging out. We were able to get extremely close, and just observe it. So cool. When everyone woke up from their naps, I told them about what had happened, and they were all so disappointed they missed it, but we were going on a safari hike the next day where we would see a lot of them.
This hotel had a pool, (which is another HUGE luxury) and we relaxed and laid by the pool that whole day. It was hilarious, because I was sitting there in a chair reading, when a family of wort hogs walked up behind me. They just were hanging out by the pool as well!
The following morning, we got up early for our hike. Our tour guide, Peke, was great and took us all around the park where we saw spider monkeys, baboons, elephants, worthogs, crocodiles, and elephants. It was amazing being able to get so close to the animals, and to be honest I was a littttllle nervous around the elephants because Peke told us they are the 2nd fastest animal to the cheetah, and if you scare them they will charge you and kill you. (Ps, I love how our tour guide literally said things like that to us DURING our hike. He wouldn’t tone it down either, he would go into detail about how they will charge you, and even if you climb a tree would charge the tree until you fell, and then would kill you. ) I told Peke to only give me the bare minimum information about the dangerous animals after that. Haha So, the hike was fantastic and I got some really cool pictures.
After the hike we stayed at the hotel for the afternoon by the pool, and later decided to go back into Larabonga to stay one night there. The guidebook explained this really cool sounding place where you could sleep on the roof of a guesthouse and look at the stars. We got into Larabonga, and again the people there were intense. I visited the mosque there, that was the first mosque in Ghana, and the 2nd mosque in Africa. I felt a little awkward while in Larabonga because it is solely a Muslim village, so all the women are covered head to toe. We tromp in there in our tank tops and shorts (it is soooo hot you would die if you wore anything else! ) and granted our shorts are long, to our knees even, but I still felt a little uncomfortable with how we were all dressed. I like to try to respect the culture of the place I am staying in, whether it be how I greet people, not using my left hand for anything (in Ghana, if you give someone something with your left hand, it is considered extremely rude. If you are holding something in your right hand, and need to give someone something and only your left hand is free, you stop, put the thing down that is in your right hand, and then hand them the thing with your right hand. And you NEVER eat with your left hand.).But so anyways, I felt awkward, but the people said they understood our culture was different so it was fine. After viewing the mosque, we found the guesthouse we were to stay at.
The guesthouse was run by two brothers, the Salia brothers. They were fantastic. They were so hospitable, and gracious. The place was an adobe hut pretty much, with about 4 rooms that had one bed in each room, with no electricity. We were staying on the roof anyways, so it didn’t matter. All 7 of us went up to the roof, were Salia put mattresses up there for us to sleep on. The ladder to the roof was a tree branch, the width of my foot, with notches carved in them. It took me a while to get up and down from the roof, because of my fear of heights. But it was super cool up on the roof. Once it got dark, the stars were beautiful and there happened to be a funeral going on that night (which is a huge celebration here) So there was drumming and singing all night that we could hear from the roof. The bathroom was a hole in the ground in a tiny room, and I can say that I appreciate actual toilets so much now! As travelers, we are now incredibly easy to please. If a place has a toilet (even with no running water) and a shower ( never hot water) we are thrilled!
So we spent the night in Larabonga and the following morning got up to catch an 8am bus to Wa (a village north of Mole). When the bus got to Larabonga, it was already completely full, so we had to come up with a different plan. Salia called his friend who came from a village 2 hours away to take us in his truck up to Wa. We thought he had a van, but when he got there we realized it was the back of a pick up truck! He had two wooden benches in the back, and the 7 of us fit back there. We were all excited because we figured it would be quite the adventure to ride in the back of a truck for 4 hours down bumpy dirt roads. Well, it was exciting.....for the first hour! After that, we were all about 4 shades darker due to all the caked on dirt, and our bottoms were completely numb due to how bad we were bouncing up and down. We finally made it to Wa, where we went straight to the Hippo Sanctuary.
The people in Wa were fantastic. They helped us find our way around, got us food, and showed us where we needed to stay the night. We were planning on going on the river tour in the morning to see the hippos, so we stayed the night in the lodge that offered the tours. The lodge was an adobe building with beds in them, no electricity so the rooms were pitch black by the time we got there. There was the option of sleeping in tree platforms about 40 ft off the ground, that overlooked part of the village. We decided to do that, and all slept on the same tree platform. There was no food at the lodge, so dinner that night consisted of bread loafs and crackers.
The next morning we woke up early to begin the walk to the river. Our tour guide led us there, and it was about a half hour walk. Once we got to the river, there were old, wooden canoes waiting for us. Each canoe had a man in the back who would do the rowing. 4 of us climbed into one, 3 in the other. The river was amazing, wide with thick green forest on each side. One side of the river shore was Ghana, while the other was Burkina Faso (bordering country). We paddled down stream for a while until we came across a family of hippos. Now, earlier in the week I had told a man working at a market that I was going canoeing with hippos, and he said I was crazy because they were mean, aggressive animals that you don’t want to go near. So, I was a little on edge once I saw the hippos. At least they were sleeping, but then our tourguide pulled these chains out and started clinking them together, apparently that wakes the hippos up. (Which I didnt think was such a great idea haha) But it ended up being totally fine, and it was sooo sooo cool to be able to canoe with hippos! We kept a safe distance, about 50 of so ft, and they didn’t seem to be bothered.
After the river tour, we decided to start our trek back to Accra. We went back to the village of Wichio, and got in the back of a different pick-up truck that already had 20 people in it! We were all so crowded and uncomfortable, but luckily that ride was only an hour. Once we got to Wa, we found a bus that was going to Kumasi, and got on that. The bus driver said the bus would leave at 1pm, and it was only 11am. So we walked around the station, and ate lunch at a few stands. We went back to the bus, and waited until 4 pm for it to leave! But, TIA. (This is Africa). The bus left at 4 pm, and we got to Kumasi at 1 am. We were planning on spending the night in Kumasi, and getting up early to take a bus to Accra, but it was already so late, we decided to just take a night bus back to Accra.
The bus station in Kumasi is easily one of the craziest things that I have seen in Africa yet. Haha It was so hectic. Keep in mind it was 1 am, we had been traveling all day and were exhausted. Immediately after we got off our bus, we were swarmed. There were easily 1,000 people at this station, and we were the only white people. The people were all yelling at us, grabbing us, trying to get us to board their bus. (There were about 8 leaving to Accra that night.) As hard as we tried to stay together, it was impossible. The 7 of us were all trying to find eachother and decide what bus to take, while being pulled in different directions. Some of our group were freaking out, while I think I was so tired I just found it somewhat amusing. We eventually picked a bus, and sprinted to it! Once on it, we all calmed down and everyone was fine. We all passed out as soon as we got on the bus, and eventually made it back to Accra at 5:30 am.
This trip has been the most spontaneous, adventure filled trip I have ever taken. The people I traveled with were great; easy going and fun to be around. The week flew by, and I did things on this trip I would have never imagined myself doing. It was a wonderful yet exhausting trip, and I am excited to take it easy in Legon for the week! Sorry this entry has gotten so lengthy, hope you enjoyed!
-Nat

CAPE COAST'IN IT UP

CAPE COAST’IN IT UP
After we had been in Ghana for about 2 weeks, our group of 45 people went on an organized group trip to Cape Coast. We traveled by bus (with air conditioning, what a nice change!)to Cape Coast, where we stayed one night in a place called Hans Motel. The motel was built on stilts above a body of water with crocodiles in it. So there were crocidiles randomly walking around, but mostly stayed in the water. We were given the option of getting up early in the morning, and taking a paddle boat ride with them. I vetoed the idea of being in the water with the crocidiles, I figured I would like to be alive to see the rest of Cape Coast.
That day, we went to the Cape Coast Slave Castles. I had prepared myself for the fact that I knew it would be intense to go and actually be in a spot where such horrible things occurred. Once we got there, it was breathtakingly beautiful. The castle was a bright white that contrasted the intense blue color of the ocean behind it. There were cannons lining the walls, and from the castle walls you could see fishing boats on the coast coming and going for the day. Automatically, I started walking around, taking as many pictures as I could so I wouldn’t forget how beautiful this place was.
We then started our tour and our tour guide took us around the whole castle explaining the different aspects of it. The first thing he showed us was the male slave dungeons. There were two huge oak doors that opened and when they closed we were in complete darkness. A passageway led us down further and further until we were finally in the pit of the dungeon, where there was one tiny window at the very top (literally the size of a 5x7 picture frame). Our tourguide informed us that this room, (that was extremely crowded with 45 people in it) was meant to hold 150-200 slaves at a time. It hit me all of a sudden...that I was in the same exact place that held so much suffering. It’s hard for me to fully explain the impact that moment had on me, but I was not ready for how powerful it was. Suddenly, this beautiful place was not beautiful anymore. I was nauseated and literally felt sick to my stomach. I was not ignorant to the horrors of the slave trade before I went the castle, and obviously learning about it in school disturbed me and made me wonder how people could do that to each other. But, actually BEING there was so much more intense than I can write down in words. Throughout the rest of the tour, I could not take any more pictures, it felt wrong. Going to the castle was moving and I am so glad I did, I think everyone needs to experience something like that, to fully realize how lucky we are.
The next day, we went to Kakum National park, where there were canopy walks above the rainforest trees. We hiked up to the top, and there were bridges( I call them Indiana Jones bridges) that were the width of a wooden plank and had ropes on the sides. The bridges were about 200 ft above the ground, and it was beautiful. Walking above the rainforest was easily one of the coolest things I have ever done. However, though it was awesome, it was extremely terrifying. I am deathly afraid of heights, and getting me across the first bridge was quite the task! I had such a great group of friends that went with me though, and got me across in one piece! After crossing the first bridge, I was thrilled! I had conquered my fear, only to discover there were 7 more bridges ahead.......! I can imagine I was super annoying to be around that day, my legs were shaking so hard the whole bridge would swing when I got on it. I held on to those ropes for dear life and walked across at a snails pace. But, in the end I was glad I did it, definitely an experience I will remember the rest of my life.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER:)

Time has a funny way of speeding up when you want it to slow down, which sounds so clique but it is the best way I can describe what is happening here in Ghana. The last 7 weeks have gone by in a flash, and I feel as if I have been here in Ghana for a year already. So much has happened already during my stay, and I thought I would do my best to write a recap of the past month or so. The internet here is insanely slow and unreliable, which makes it impossible for me to email everyone, so writing a blog may possibly be the best way somewhat keep in touch. The only place to start is the beginning......
We arrived in Accra, the Capital of Ghana late at night on Jan 12th, and were assigned roomates and rooms. Initially, our dorms seemed very modest. We live in the International Student Hostile, but Ghanian students live here as well. There are two twin beds in a room with 2 dressers and tile floor that is peeling almost everywhere. You wouldn’t consider walking around the room barefoot...there are cold showers only and when the power goes out, bucket showers are what is done. Handwashing your clothes and drying them in front of your room is normal, unless you are willing to pay some local women to wash your clothes for you. Obviously, this type of living was a transition for me at first. Now that I have been here for almost 2 months, I realize that living in my hostile is such a luxury! The other dorms on campus fit 4-5 people in one room, and their power goes out daily causing them to use bucket showers almost every day.
I was nervous about the food before coming here, I was told to expect pretty much only rice and chicken. And believe me, there is a TON of rice and chicken, but there is also many other things to eat as well. There is a night market right across the street from my dorm where everyone goes to eat. I usually eat a Chaboom in the morning ( an egg sandwhich) for 50 peswas (which is about 30 cents) and then during the day on campus there are places where you can eat at. My favorite food for lunch is a meal called RedRed. Basically, it is rice and beans with a spicy sauce mixed together, and then fried plantains are added. It is a must for me, and I am officially addicted to it! I will try to find the recipe and bring it home to make for people! At the night market, there is also a vegan stand with a woman named Ranet who runs it. She is so funny, and we taught her how to make guacamole the other day. I think that is the hardest part about the food here, there is nothing even close to Mexican food . Which for everyone who eats with me regulary knows I could eat for every meal! But the vegan stand has the most amazing vegetable and groundnut(peanut butter) soup, which I add rice to and is fantastic.
Everyone uses public transportation here. We get around in tro tros, which are vans that fit about 16 people in. (When in reality, they should fit only about 9). At first, I was terrified of the tro tros. Getting on one is quite the process. You stand at the tro tro station, and all of these vans will drive by with the door wide open (while people are in them) and the mate( the person literally hanging out of the door) will be yelling the destination of the tro tro. You have to flag it down, and usually about 10 other people want the same one so you need to get to it fast because people get pushy! It slows down, not even to a complete stop sometimes, and you jump in. Once you are in, there are so many people crammed in the van that sitting on someone usually happens. Now that I use the tro tro’s all the time, I find them hillarious and I always manage to get myself into a new adventure every time I take one. Half the time I think they are yelling a different destination than they actually are, so I end up on the other side of town. But, whenever that happens, we just use our motto for this trip: TIA (This is Africa). If you get upset about stuff like that, you won’t make it here, because it happens all the time. And I mean ALL the time. You order something at a restaurant, and it takes 2 hours to get your food, and it may not even be what you ordered. You buy a bus ticket that leaves at 1pm, and it will leave at 4 pm. The concept of time here is so different, well actually there really isn’t a concept of time. But, TIA. We have all done a pretty good job adjusting I think.
As you can imagine from how I described the tro tro’s, the driving is insane here. Literally cars all over the road, and people selling the most random things on the street are crossing the street all over, which I am still amazed I have not seen anyone get hit. The first week I was here, I still had the mentality that cars will stop for pedestrians. That quickly changed when I was almost hit 10 times. Hahaha Drivers stop for nothing, and drive like maniacs. In a single lane, they will fit 3 cars in the width of it, and zig zag into the oncoming traffic lane, like they are playing a game of chicken. MY friends and I joke that crossing the street here is like playing a game of Frogger (the computer game where the frog has to make it across the road with all the obstacles in his way). And most roads are dirt, and filled with pot holes, and they just fly through them causing the cars to bounce around!
But, even with the crazy driving, bucket showers, and lack of a sense of time, I love it here. Everything is so much more simple. Kids play soccer outside for fun, and people enjoy eachother. I find the lack of computers, videogames and television refreshing. I love when I get back from class and just am able to sit at a table with friends drinking a bottled coke in the shade. Life should be more like that. The Ghanains think it is hillarious that we are in such a rush. They joke with me and ask why I am sprinting when I walk. I am trying to perfect the "Ghanain walk" which is painfully slow to me, but am working on it. It is beautiful here as well. The most intense natural reds, browns, oranges, greens, and yellows I have ever seen. The dirt here is even beautiful. It is such a deep red that I find myself taking pictures of just the dirt. I live on campus which is in Legon, (a smaller city right outside of Accra, the capital). And Accra is hectic and full of life. The nightlife, restaurants, and shopping is all there. I don’t particularly like Accra, but it is nice to have a place where if you desperately need something like Shampoo, you can find it. Once you travel outside Accra to the more rural African areas, it is gorgeous. Jungles and villages with clay huts are everywhere up and down Ghana, and the people that live in the villages tend to be a bit more friendly than those that live in the city. Which I think is true of almost everywhere. And maybe I shouldn’t even use the word more friendly, they just take more time to talk to you and get to know you.
Which brings me to the people. I absolutely adore the people here. The most helpful and accommodating people anywhere. Being white in a place like Ghana can be intense at times, just because we stick out so badly that the attention can come to be overwhelming. And they aren’t rude to us or anything, but they don’t see many white people so they all want to talk to us, and touch us etc. One thing I have had a harder time adjusting to is their concept of personal space. They are very touchy with eachother, and so they don’t even think twice about grabbing your arm as you are walking by to try to get you to check out their shop. When that happens and you aren’t expecting it, it can be scary. We associate that with hostility, and they don’t mean it in that way at all. My name is "Obruni" which means white person. When I say hello, they will say " ohhhh Obruni!" and they think its hillarious. I laugh and say "Obibini" which means black person. At first, I didn’t know if that was politically correct to say, but my Ghanain friends tell me that there is nothing offensive about it, they say "You are white, I am black, and acknowledging it shows that you respect eachother and our differences." I think that is really cool, and I love how their culture is so accepting of everyone. They do laugh at me when I attempt to speak Twi (the local language) even if I pronounce it correctly, they still laugh. I take it in stride, because I can assume how funny it must sound to have some white girl trying to speak the local Ghanian dialect. I am learning quickly though, and can have a conversation in Twi now, and am continuing to take a Twi class so I can get even better.
I have made many Ghanian friends who help me understand the culture even better, and it is especially great to sit next to friendly Ghanians in classes, because many of the professors have heavy accents, and the Ghanians will see that I am struggling to write down what he said, so they will move closer to me, and tell me the words I can’t understand. Or when the professor tells the class a joke, and everyone laughs but me (because I am the only white person in a class of 300) and it probably looks like I have no sense of humor, but I honestly just can’t understand when they talk really fast. But, the people around me will lean in and restate what was said, just slower. They probably have no idea how much I appreciate that, but being the only one out of the loop is definitely no fun, so I am extremely grateful when I sit next to Ghanians who go out of their way to help me.
This entry is getting entirely too long, I apologize! There was so much to catch up on though, and from now on I will write more regularly, so keep checking my blog for updates! Feel free to comment as well, I would love to hear from you all! Bye for now:)