So we met this rasta named Steve....And other Ghana happenings

I have been looking foward to this trip to Ghana for so long that I can't believe it is finally over and I am already back in The Gambia ready to start the last term of the school year. We spent 12 whirlwind days hiking, swimming, riding, drinking, gazing in amazement, eating, laughing, and rowing our way through Ghana. It was an an amazingly packed but fun filled 12 days and while I am not necessarily well rested, I am refreshed and rejuninated and ready to plunge back in PC life here in TG. But first a quick recap of the trip....

Day 1: We arrive in Accra after a long flight that goes from Banjul to Dakar to Freetown, Sierra Leone to Monrovia, Liberia (weird to actually be on the ground in these two countries given the history. Monrovia's airport is really just one big UN camp with lots of helicopters and tents) and then finally touches down in Ghana. Despite the roundabout route, it all pays off in the end cause we get fed after each stop so we arrive in Ghana with bellies full of croisants and serious coffee buzzes. Our good luck in the traveling department starts almost immediatly as we find a hotel, figure out the bus situation and find an amazing Mexican resturant all in the span of about 2 hours. After enjoying a nice mexican dinner, which is a very rare commodity in West Africa we head back to our lovely budget hotel, enjoy some Star beer and get some sleep to prepare for the week ahead.

Day 2: Our bus to Hohoe in the eastern part of the country near Lake Volta doesn't leave until 3:00 so we putz around Accra for the first part of the day, not really having enough time to do anything to cool since the city is so sprawling. We do manage to check out Independence Sqaurewhich is pretty much just a massive amount of brown concrete with a statue and flags but Jim and I do meet some charmingly polite Ghanaian school girls. When they first greeted us we were a little defensive because we are a bit used to be assaulted with outlandish requests and questions but these girls were delightful and set the tone for the rest of the trip as we continued to meet exceedingly polite and friendly Ghanians almost across the board. We chill at the bus station for awhile and eat delicious street food (the variety and tastiness is amazing!) while we plan our attack for getting a seat on the bus. We are so accustomed to the crazy and somewhat desperate rules of public transport in The Gambia that we are suprised but pleased to find that people in Ghana can actually queue half way decently. The only decidedly West African thing about the bus trip to Hohoe was that it took forever and half the bus was filled with an array of plastic furniture (there has just got to be a better way to transport goods then buying half the seats on a bus!). I enjoyed the a good 3 hours of the 5 hour bus trip as it provided our first glimpses of the beautiful, green countryside of Ghana, but not before you got through the sprawling suburbs of Accra. The infrastructure and highway system was almost as beautiful as the countryside after 9 months in The Gambia with its nearly absent level of infrastructure.
After a very long bus ride we arrive in Hohoe, nab a hotel and head to bed early to prepare for a big day of hiking the next day.

Day 3: We wake up early and grab a tros-tros (Ghanaian name for bush taxi, I find it funny that all the WA countries give somewhat silly double names to their bush taxis) to Wli to start our whirlwind tour of eco-tourism in Ghana. We arrive in the very friendly and immaculatly clean village of Wli nestled in the moutains of the Volta Region along the Togo border and head to the tourist office to arrange for a hike. Despite it being Palm Sunday in a very Christian nation, we find a guide to take us on the hour and half hike up to the upper falls. The hike was great, albiet strenous and very steep, and well worth the effort when we got to the top and took in the awesome views and pristine waterfall from a fresh water spring at the summit of the mountain. We spent some time relaxing and swimming in the upper falls, drank the icy water (we did think giardia at first but our hearty stomachs pulled through and none of us got sick), and splashed in the falls. After the lovely isolation of the upper falls we checked out the lower falls that was very crowded with Ghanians enjoying the weekend. The majority of them also happened to be very drunk which lead to groping which lead to slapping and then we headed back to finish the hike. Exhausted after our steep hike, well above see level in very humid weather, we came back to the hotel with high hopes of a shower, beer and food. We had sucess with the beer and food but didn't get water for a while. But being smelly didn't stop us from enjoying the spicy fufu and the multiple varieties of cold beer.

Day 4: After spending the night in Hohoe we set off semi-early to head to do a hike at Mt Adafajato, which is said to be the highest mountain in West Africa. We were all pretty drained from the hike the day before and the mountain didn't really look all that much higher then then the mountain the previous day so we opted for a shorter hike through cocoa and coffee fields to an enchanted waterfall tucked deep inside the understory of a decidious rainforest. The hike was really cool cause it was just the four of us and a guide and the trail was really overgrown because not many people take it so it felt a bit more adventurous and it as just cool to see such a dense, thriving understory. After the hike we spent the majority of the day trying to get transport out of the backwater village where the hike started from. We ended haveing to walk a bit and then found some awesome beans at another tiny village where we managed to find a ride our to the main rode. Unfortunalty that ride, which at the time seemed heaven sent, ended up getting our driver arrested when we got to a police check point because the care was "overloaded". Anyone who has traveled in a developing country knows that there is just no such thing as overloading a vehiclem, so I think the police were just bored and looking to pick on people. The whole arresting fiasco ultimatly led to the cabbie bribeing his way out of an expensive fine with Carson there as moral/financial support but it also led to us finding really cheap transport to our next destination thanks to a rambling drunk man on the side of the street who kept ruining the scams of the other drivers who were trying to give us toubab prices and gave us the real prices and telling us in detail how to get to our next destination the cheapest possible way. We arrive at our next destination very easily and are even lucky and hit a market day and thus avoid a 5k walk. Next up is Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, and we are all excited to check out this site and have fun with the monkeys. Especially Carson.

Day 5: After a night of relaxing at the guest lodge and a glorious rainstorm (you never imagine that you would miss precipitation till you go 6 months without it) we wake with the sun in order to go feed the monkeys while there nearby the village forging for food. It was really cool to just stand there and hold out a bananna and have these little human-like hands and eyes come within inches of your face, staring at you right in the eye and peeling the bananna one peel at a time, till success and the little critter snatches the prized fruit and scampers up to the treetops to enjoy his reward. The consensus at the end of the feeding session was that a) opposable thumbs are kick ass b)monkeys make grown men giggle like school girls and c) science is cool. But we just didn't get to fufill every Westerners fascination of monkeys we also learning a lot too. In all the monkey sanctuary has close to 400 Mono monkeys and the village started the sanctuary in partnership with Peace Corps and other divisions of the Ghanaian government to protect the monkeys from getting hunted for food. Like most West African villagers, the people of Tafi Atome were orginally animist and worshipped the monkeys as protectors of the village and the people. After Chrisitianity was introduced, many people converted but about 30% of the village population remains animist. And if Ghana is anything like Gambia, a lot of animist traditions and beliefs get meshed with the introduced religion to form a hybrid version of Islam or Christianity that is uniquelly West African. After our early morning nature and monkey walk we make the 5k trek out of Tafi Atome to the main road to start our marathon travel day to Cape Coast. Luckily for us public transport in Ghana is a delight and we enjoy the beautiful ride and tasty street food on the way. We make it to Cape Coast just before night fall and navigate our way through gritty and touristy-leechy Cape Coast which is a bit of a rude awakening compared to the peaceful friendliness of the East. Eventually with my uncanny nack for navigating through unknown cities we fend off the bumsters and make our way to the lovely Sammosa Hotel. We arrive dirty, smelly and hungry and collectivly suffer until we finally manage to have a very late but very delicious late dinner.

Day 6: We wake up semi-early and very eagerly head out of the tourist trap of Cape Coast and head north to Kankum National Park to do some more hiking and do the famed canopy walk through the top of the rainforest. After eating some really funky fufu at a road side stand we head up to the park and our pleasantly suprised to see an American like national park with a great informational exhibit and reception area. We set off for the hike through the canopy walk with a small group. I must admit while the canopy walk was cool I was a little underwhelmed but the two adorable biracial East Londoner children who were in our group that kept declaring they are "braver then superman" made the experience. After the canopy walk we headed back to Cape Coast to get transport further down the coast. Rachel and I found a really cool fair trade women's co-op called Global Mama's (www.globalmams.com) (how very hippy-Peace Corpy of us) and did some shopping before grabbing a taxi to Elmina. The taxi ride was really short so we got to check into the hotel and the go tour Elmina Castle that afternoon. Elmina Castle is the biggest former slaving post on the West African coast and was the export point for over 300,000 slaves during it history. We got a very informative tour and got an extensive tour including, the holding rooms, the room of no return and the officers rooms on the upper floors. The overall experience was a very strange mixed up jumble of feelings and reactions from appalled, shame, and sadness to being defensive. I was also a bit suprised to find out that among the 30 or so people in our tour group from all different countries, the four Americans were the most well informed on the history and consequences of slavery. I guess our education system has gotten one thing right. Following the tour we did some exploring of our own and enjoyed the sunset from the top of the castle which was very picturesque. A dance troupe at the resturant below us started warming up for a nightly performance and busted out some of our pathetic African dance moves on the top of Elmina Castle which may have been slightly culturally insensitive but we needed to blow of steam after a heavy experience and let loose. Plus no one could see us so we figured we were safe.

Day 7: After a good and informative day at Elmina we headed to our next destination further down the coast, Princess Town. On the way to Princess Town we made one of the most important discoveries of our 12 day journey. The sell ice cream in a bag for the equivilant of 20 cents! We were appalled that it took us till day 7 to find out this very pertinent information but we tried out best to make up for lost days the rest of the trip. Living in a ridiculously dry and hot area with no electricity causes one to become a glutton for anything below the freezing point. Ice cream (even bad ice cream) no longer becomes a treat it becomes the reward that gets you through a month of sweaty frustration at site...I really can't stress the importance enough in the life of African Peace Corps Volunteers. So after the ice cream in a bag rocks our collective worlds we continue to Princess Town which is a small village on the coast, 18 k in from the main road. There is a really old German slave fort there but it isn't all that important in the grand scheme of hisotry and has gotten a bit rundown. I thought it was delightly rundown compare the pristine whitewashed walls of Elmina. Since PT is off the main road a bit it dosent' get the huge influx of visitors like Elmina or Cape Coast gets so it is more quite a relaxing. Since I am getting tired of writing and you of reading, I am going to give a quick rundown of the 2 days we spend in the village. We meet Joseph and Grace the ultimate caretakeing duo of the fort, explore the pristine beaches (some of the most beautiful I have ever seen), the guys despertly try to prove which one is more evoluntionary fit by trying to crack open coconuts for juice - interestingly the gay boy wins, we eat delicious red-red, sleep at the fort and tell lots of ghost stories over warm Castle stout to make the experience of sleeping in a former slave fort even creepier.
Day 8: Jospeh the forts caretaker helps us arrange a canoe trip up the river with Rasta Steve and we spend the morning paddeling up river in a dugout canoe to a couple of moonshine palm wine stills in the bush. The stills were really cool and very West Virgina like. Carson was super excited to see the stills cause like the Chemistry dork he is, he used to make his own homemade beer back in the States. While at the stills we also get to taste some of the palm liqour straight out of the distiller. It was the 95% proof and to drink it people cut it with water but it still is some of the strongest liquor I have ever had. Rasta Steve insisted that the four of us must finish the cup before we could leave so we pony up and get it done. We also got to taste a drop each of the 95% proof stuff before it got cut with water and even just one drop was enough to take your breath away. And all this boozing at 9 am! Needless to see the dugout canoe ride back was interesting. After our canoe trip we chill at the fort for a bit and rest while we avoid the mid-day sun. Later in the day we head to the beach and brave the walk across the mouth of river at the ocean to the deserted side of the beach and hike to the point and discover even more pristine, empty beaches and marvel at the beautifulness all around us, splash in the waves for a bit and then head back to cook dinner. That night we pull the beds outside and sleep under the stars listening to the waves crash on the rocks below us. Good stuff indeed!

Day 9: The happy troupe becomes one less as Jim leaves to go visit his friend from home who is a Peace Corps Vol in Ghana while myself and the marrieds (which would be weird if they weren't such cool people) head further West down the coast to Axim for some more beach fun. Since we have been staying in budget accomodations the whole trip we have been flying under the radar of the Easter vacationers but when we get to the beach front hotel in Axim that we are treating ourselves to for the Easter weekend, we find that it is all booked up. But like the resourceful PCV's we are we convince the staff to let us squat in the internet cafe of their somewhat fancy beach resort. Super ghetto I admit, but we get to enjoy all the amenities of fancy resort with good food and bumster free beaches and still convince ourselves that we are not sellouts cause we aren't paying full price. We spend two nights at the beach, relaxing and I also manage to break a body board and slice a huge cash in my finger on a massive wave while trying to show Carson my wicked boogie boarding skills and Rach has a near death expierence in the gigantic surf. We also meet a really great woman named Lori who is traveling through West Africa and end up having great, life and career changing converstions with her throughout our stay. And we also have lots of time for books and coffee which makes us all happy.

Day 11: We head back to Accra and do some last minute shopping for yobal (traveling gift that is required whenever you return from even a short trip, you have to bring something for the people of your compoud. Its considered really bad form if you don't) for the peeps back in TG, eat delicious Mexican food and crash early. The last day in country we make a mad dash downtown to find some authentic woven Kinteh cloth that is the hallmark of Ghanian Asanti culture since a lot of stalls were closed the previous day because of Easter Monday. We find some fairly quickly and have a good time haggling with the lady. In Ghana, people name their children after the day of the week on which they were born. Apparently the name for females born on Monday is Ajua. It is a joke in Ghana that people born on Mondays are cheap. Now lets put that togather, Ajuas are cheap (says the name out loud, it will help) it matches up with an ethnic sterotype we have in the West. The lady doing the selling is joking with us as we try to get a lower price and says to Rachel: "What are you, Ajua? That price is to low." The three of us stand there with a look of baffled shock and all the sudden Rachel just busts out with "Are you calling me a Jew?" (which she is). The woman looks at us, equally as baffled and starts to apologize. The akward moment is quickly lost in the haggling but the three of us found it quite funny that a Ghanian lady called Rach a cheap Jew. Maybe it was a little "had to be there funny", but oh well. So we buy our Kinteh cloth and happy with our purchases then head to the airport to catch our flight only to find that they sell kinteh cloth at the airport for roughly the same price we paid. We had a more authentic experience though....haha, right?

So that is the very long rundown of the Ghana trip and if you have gotten through this whole post I am impressed. The trip was great, and just the refresher that I need to dive back into work here in Gambia. It was great to see how far Ghana has come and that development in West Africa is possible with good leadership and citizens that take pride in their country. Maybe someday Gambia can be where Ghana is now. Inshalla, inshalla ("God willing" in arabic and the standard response for everything in this very fatalistic culture).