Leaving Ghana and Headed for Cape Town

Spending five days in Ghana was quite an experience!  I had to keep telling myself, "Hey I'm in Africa".  I guess some things were as I imagined them and some were not.  I witnessed lots of poverty, but I also saw beautiful beaches.  With the official language of Ghana being English, navigating all the places to go was much easier, although the accents were vastly different and sometimes difficult to understand.  The way they spoke reminded me of Jamaica.  The folks here are very religious, both Christian and Muslim, with most every other business having a religious-oriented name:  The convenience stores, beauty shops, even the local bars (one, called the "Jesus Spot").

The vendors were pushy, but friendly, and once they asked your name they never forgot it.  Even seeing you several days later on the street, they would call out "Mr. Tood, my man, how are you"?  Before they knew your name, most called me "Papa" (as a sign of respect, of course:) for someone older than they.  It was a bit disconcerting at first, but great fun in the end.  I bargained hard, and bought bracelets, African masks, a few works of art (batic), and some local chocolate (as Ghana is one of the world's largest producers).

As you might expect it was hot and humid here, so hikes were interesting, but often quickly tiring.  Not to mention the fact that you needed to be slathered with a layer of high-protection sunscreen, then a layer of Deep Woods Off everywhere you went.  We went to the largest city, the capital of Ghana, Accra for two days then, day trips to the the market in Takoradi, the rainforest, and canoed to a water village.  The latter was my favorite experience and the pics will show you why.  The children in the village were loads of fun and loved having us visit.  We took them gifts of pens, paper, and coloring books and donated money to help them improve the small one-room school there in the village of 500 people.