Tema and Takoradi, Ghana

Welcome back everyone! My apologies for the delays but when I say I have very limited connection thats no joke I’ve been trying to get this uploaded for weeks and its just not possible. So to combat all that time I made you wait I wrote it extra good and detailed. It took a lot of brain power on my end so I hope you appreciate it, I honestly spend more time and thoughts on my blogs than I do my homework. Enjoy my trip in Ghana!

My trip motto: whatcha ghana do about it

Ghana, day 1 we arrived in Tema, a port that sees only one passenger ship per year and it’s us. So naturally since this was a rare occurrence we received a grand welcome. As we were docking there was a cultural drumming and dance performance for us as well as an entire street length of popup markets with any kind of souvenir that you can imagine, so first impression of Ghana was pretty awesome. I got ready for the day and I had the Travel with a Buddy program. We were paired up with a local middle/ high school program called DUNK and got to do a city tour of Accra which is something they’ve never got to experience so they were so excited for it. Turns out they didn’t have enough buddies for all of us so a few of us were paired with the leaders of the group and they were just as awesome and similar ages to us so we got to relate a bit more, my buddy was Banibus. We toured the city, had a fantastic lunch, then hung out on the beach and got to know these bright individuals. Banibus is headed to Yale next fall and it very excited. 

I had a field program for the next two days this one was called Maranatha Beach community. It was this island of sand that had the ocean on one side of it and then the Volta river on the other side, quite the phenomenon I must say, I still dont fully understand how it was possible. We got to hang out on the beach and with the locals for the next couple days. We rode in the colorful dugout canoes with very questionable motors on the back but dont worry there was 4 life jackets for all 20 of us in the boat. The best part of the trip was getting to go to the school on the island, in a community of about 1,200 they had over 420 students enrolled from ages 3-12, after age 12 they send the top students to private school off the island and the rest just get started working for the community. The kids were all so loving and playful and since they lived on the island we got to hang out with them the whole time we were there! In the evening over a bonfire they performed a traditional cultural dance and drumming on the beach and let me tell you those people can move. Then they wanted us to dance and so we gave it our best efforts and we basically got laughed off the dance floor but I’m coming home with an abundance of new moves so watch out. Our sleeping situation was a bed in the sand in a little hut with a bug net around it that was not preventing any bugs from getting in to attack, hopefully my Malaria pills are effective, fingers crossed. We woke up for sunrise and breakfast (little did I know this would be my last meal for almost 30 hours), got an impromptu village tour the next morning because we learned that our second school visit was cancelled since the kids were on a holiday that apparently nobody knew about, I suspect a ditch day was organized.

Afterwards we got to go fishing and basically what it consisted of was lugging in a giant net to the beach and pulling in everything in the little bay of the river. We caught about 10 little fish and about 200 littler fish. I would define littler as smaller than my pinky.

The village kids took advantage of the catch and played a form of dodgeball with these littler fishes. We received a mangrove tour, a long slow boat ride around the islands on the river not aware of our time allotment or destination. We did make a pit stop at a crocodile farm for about 7 minutes and I spent that time using the bathroom aka peeing on the beach and holding baby crocodiles. As I was holding it I discovered that “they haven’t bit anyone yet but theres a first for everything, maybe it will be today”. After that slightly terrifying moment we boated back to the bus and bussed back to the ship and then I tro troed to the rainforest. 

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Mom, please prepare yourself for this story because I would consider it equally as nerve-racking as what you call the Morocco incident.

Without a shower, change of clothes, or restock of money which could’ve been completed by boarding the ship, I continued my adventures of Ghana. You may ask why I chose this and the answer is I didn’t. What happened was I signed the overland travel form, which means that while the ship went to its second port in Ghana I would have to travel by land and meet the ship in Takoradi in a couple of days. So obviously I wanted to take advantage of this so initially I signed the form just to keep my options open. I later learned that if I signed I was legally not allowed back on the ship under any circumstance for immigration purposes after a certain time. We arrived late so I had no chance of such ship boarding, so there I was hoping that I would run into my 2 other friends (Ali and Drew) I planned to overland travel with. This seems like a simple thing but without any service, minimal planning, and lack of communication the past three days it can prove to be difficult. In my mind I envisioned myself having to figure out how to travel 300km all on my lonesome in Ghana without any service. I did have about and hour of panic on the bus ride back to the ship. Luckily I found them immediately prancing in the markets outside of the ship and in that moment I knew that this would be a good adventure, the odds were turning in my favor. 

Our first challenge (some may call it a foolish mistake) was not doing planning or research of any sort before we left. We had no idea where we had to go let alone how to get there. Our first effort was to order an uber to take us across the country for an equivalent of $30 and he sadly denied. There were taxi drivers all around us offering to take us but none of them committing to taking us the entire way or offering a reasonable price. We agreed on a taxi ride to the bus station (a random dirt lot, with some very sketchy happenings) to get a VIP bus (large coach bus packed with people) turns out there was no more going that night since this adventure started at about 4pm. So we went to another bus station and I cannot stress enough about how not bus station like these places were, they looked like junkyards. Our taxi negotiated with a tro tro driver to take us part way and then find a another tro tro to compete the journey. Tro tros are tough to explain it is something you just have to experience at some point in your life to be able to understand, and it is not a pleasant time but I’ll do my best to describe the essence of a tro tro. Tro tros are large minivan/ bus things that have 5 rows of seats that fit comfortably 3 in a row but a 4th if you fold out the bonus seat and possibly a 5th, 6th, or even 7th if you pack in just right. The outside of the vehicle and sound it makes while running makes you really question the safety of your life but its cheap transportation. So cheap that 3 of us made it to our destination 6 hours away for $19 no other public transportation can beat that bang for your buck but I cannot express the feeling of doubt and unreliability that I felt when I was sitting near the door that wouldn’t quite close and floorboards that were rusted out to the point where I could see the road beneath me. We boarded and sat next to a man with weed whacker. Causal. The ride itself was terrible; so hot, bumpy, sweating, uncomfortable in too many ways to explain. But it got us from point A to point A .5. We still had half the way to go. We were lucky to have a local on our side to find the next tro tro because the way they do it is drive through the main road of the city and just honk and yell out where the tro tro is going, and its up to you to slow it down. I think I would still be in that village if we didn’t have assistance, but we obtained our second ride successfully and continued over the thousands of speed humps and potholes between stops at over 25 police checks. Police checks, where police with huge guns stop every car on the road and shine a flashlight in to inspect the vehicle, the clearest answer we got as to what they were looking for was people being kidnapped which supposedly happens often, but hey at least they are checking. About 10 minutes into the 2nd ride another passenger says to us “hey are you semester at sea? I’m a local tour guide for your programs” we were like what are the odds we are on this tro tro at this hour and happen to run into this guy. His name was Richard and he helped us get to our lodge that night near the jungle. Which ascetically looked like a very nice place but had amenities that consisted of beds harder than the ground, one sheet for three people to sleep with, and no running water. So no shower and no food since it was 12am in the jungle we also didn’t account for bringing enough cash to pay the hotel for the night but we were hoping that they would fix their credit card reader would work in the morning. 

After much debate with the reception desk in the morning we finally got away with paying partially cash and the rest on the card, they refused to let us pay with entirely card, but we were okay and caught a taxi to Kakum National Park. A taxi not much bigger than the old style honda civic iykyk with 9 people inside at one time, you may ask how is this possible? well if you put 2 people in the drivers seat 3 in the passengers and 4 in the rear it is very feasible. I will admit not the most comfortable or safe but effective without a doubt. We arrived with enough cash for the Canopy Walk but nothing more, no water or breakfast or souvenirs because we had to save enough cash to get ourselves back to the ship, so we were in extreme ration mode at this point. The canopy was quite unclimactic but somewhat entertaining considering the receptionist at the hotel, Mary had been tagging along with us the entire time. Mary was very sweet to us, she mostly just laughed at us but at least we had some local company to assist us. As we were trying to find a cheap way back to Cape Coast on the tro tros with our remaining money (about the equivalent of $8), I happened to come across triple the amount of cash that we had so quickly we were high rollers and quite upset that we had money this whole time and never ate or drank water. Back to the tro tros, remember these are registered as 15 passenger vehicles (comfortably fit 12), on this specific ride we counted 23 people. In one tro tro. For over an hour. In 90 degree heat 100% humidity. You could say it was a little uncomfortable. 

The rest of the day we hung out at the beach in Cape Coast, well not before several men asked Ali and I if we needed husbands. We declined and I do not have a Ghanian husband…yet. We found a local place on the beach called Orange we finally ate some food after about 30 hours, drank some clubs (their water), learned some dance moves, and swam in the ocean that was clearly marked with “danger no swimming” signs everywhere. The locals all thought we were nuts. Turns out it was rightfully marked because I took a good amount of waves that held me under for just a bit over my liking. Our next task was to find the cheapest taxi home because we had our limit of tro tros by that time. We actually ensued a fight between taxi drivers and about 8 people were getting into it and yelling, almost in tears about who would be giving us a ride back to the ship. As this was happening Ali and Drew were arm wrestling the kids. We did get a ride but not without extreme tension due to the fight and then a strange sex podcast on the ride back.

The shower I took when I got back to the ship might’ve been one of best showers of my lifetime.

The last day in Ghana I went back to the exact place I had just left the night previous because I had a field class (basically a class field trip worth 20% of my grade).  I did the math and it was about 8 hours of bus/ taxi riding in less than 20 hours. We visited the Cape Coast University and listened to a lecture from a professor about the African Diaspora and how it affects tourism in Ghana. Following this we had lunch next door to Orange (the place with the clubs). Lastly we visited the Cape Coast Castle which has a deep rooted history. It was the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade routes, it was the place that the British would hold the slaves in dungeons before they were shipped across the Atlantic, mostly sent to Latin America and the Caribbean only 6% of Africans involved were sent to the United States. It makes you realize how large of an operation this was and how many innocent people were ripped from their homelands to live a life of pain and despair. The message of the tour was focused on the Door of Return and the African Diaspora coming home this year in celebration of the abolishment of slavery. Standing in the same location where thousands of people suffered and died was tough, its a feeling that I dont really know how to put into words. We were standing in literal dungeons where people were enslaved and suffered to death from starvation, disease and torture. Another focus was how spirited these people remained in the situations they were thrown into. Their culture, food, dance, lifestyle has been adapted in many places in Latin American and the Carribean, they were able to make a home out of these places and now have significant influence on many cultures. 

As I reflect on my experiences in Ghana I realize how different individual life is, not only in Africa but down to the little villages and communities. I’ve always grouped Africa into one lump in my mind but that is absolutely wrong. I’m so appreciative of the new view that I have of the world now simply because of 5 days traveling in a place that is nothing like my home. Another point I would like to mention is people are good. Yes, bad things happen and there are wars but in general every person you meet is a decent human and wants the best for everyone. Now please enjoy my insights, the list is long because I’m learning so many important life lessons. 

1. tro tros can fit upwards of 20 people
2. there’s a rainforest in ghana
3. animals in the jungle are “nocturnal” 
4. the card reader at rainforest lodge does work despite Mary insisting that it doesn’t. 
5. any amenities you expect usually aren’t provided 
6. red red is spicy
7. if you ever find yourself in ghana drink a clüb
8. travelers sickness is a real thing
9. bucket showers are inconvenient 
10. take care of your trash- it ruins beautiful coastlines if you dont
11. take out more money than you think you need, guarantee it will come in handy
12. fufu is not good
13. if you dont buy things at the markets you will get physically harassed 
14. ghanian casinos are rigged 
15. if someone tells you not to do something you automatically have to do it
16. you aint seen potholes until you’ve taken a taxi to Kakum National Park
17. you can get anything you need on the road through the window of your car
18. balancing things on your head is harder than it looks
19. im not as good as the ghanian dancers
20. its a sign of disrespect if you pee on someones home
21. you dont need a surf board to surf
22. sand gets everywhere when you live in it
23. if you need to find yourself a husband come to ghana
24. clothes are optional in the village 
25. goats love coconuts

Final note: I do love hearing from you all I literally have no idea what is happening in the States, we only get updates if something significant happens. So please email me anything, update me about your life, tell me what you had for lunch (I miss American food alot ), and feel free to ask any questions you may have about my adventures, I’m more than willing to share. I really try to limit my writing because I can’t imagine anyone actually reads all this jabber. Oh and I’m open to suggestions, if you hate my weird jokes let me know they can be limited (not completely removed I spend alot of time on them). 

email: alyssa.richter.fa19@semesteratsea.org

Next stop: Salvador, Brazil