Ghana

The first day in Ghana I went exploring with a group of friends: Diane, Ross, Russ, Matt, and Alex. As soon as we stepped off the ship, we were swarmed by vendors, mostly trying to sell us bracelets to remember Ghana by. They would ask our name and then want to sew it into a bracelet made with the colors of the Ghanaian flag. And then they would ask for money. And then if you got past those people, the people with stalls selling paintings and jewelry and trinkets and bags would try to lure you over. When all six of us finally made it out alive, with or without purchases, we walked toward town. To even get out of the port area we had to pass a cocoa warehouse which smelled incredibly strongly. It smelled rotten to say the least. Except even before we knew what the smell was, I could identify something sickly sweet. Turns out that Ghanaian chocolate is fermented instead of roasted like most other chocolates. Hence the lovely rotting smell. The walk to the gates of the port was about ten minutes long over dilapidated railroad tracks and dusty ground. When we made it out of the gates we were accosted yet again by people trying to sell us flags and tshirts and more bracelets. And taxi drivers. We were trying to go to a bank first so we wanted to head to the closer area of establishments according to our horrible map so we thought we would just walk. We had no idea where we were really going but eventually (after being honked at every ten feet by people wanting us to get in their taxis) we made it to the market circle. Not where we meant to go first but, hey. We finally found ATMs that would take our cards and then we went to the market. It was Sunday so people were mostly selling fish and produce (yay for more odors). After walking around a while we were really hungry so we got a cab to Captain Hooks seafood restaurant. One of the only well-known establishments in Takoradi. All six of us piled into a tiny sedan meant for only 4 passengers. Luckily the driver didn’t rip us off on the fare though. He was the only one. After that the prices were outrageous. Lunch was great; five of us split a seafood platter “for two” but we were all stuffed at the end of the meal. After we ate we walked to the beach. It was beautiful. Very different than the market and city and port. After the beach we got two taxis back to the ship.

On Tuesday, I did a Semester at Sea trip called simply, Village Experience. I signed up for it months ago just because it said we would be given traditional African names. I didn’t realize that was pretty much the whole basis of the trip. I really enjoyed it though. We took a bus to a village in Elmina where the villagers drummed and danced for us and we had a big naming ceremony for all of us. I have lots of videos to show people when I get back. And my African name is Efua Maannan. The first name is based on the day of the week you’re born and the second part is given to you by an elder I think. They try to name you after someone respectable from the village because that’s who you’re supposed to grow up to be like. Something like that. For lunch we went to Coconut Grove Beach Resort. The food was delicious and the beach was gorgeous.

Thursday, the last day in Ghana, I went back to Elmina on another SAS trip to see the castles and slave dungeons. It was quite an experience. The rest of the time we were in Ghana, I stayed around Takoradi. I went back to the market circle a couple of times with my friends. During the week they sold household items and clothes more than food. There wasn’t a whole lot to do at that port but it was a good experience nonetheless. I’m probably leaving out a lot but I can’t think of anything else extremely significant right now.