Good Golly, It's Ghana!

Ghana is a special place.

Special because the amount of smiles that are on the faces of the men, women and children whom I met during our 4 day trip. Special because it was so easy and natural to be there. Special because I just really liked the vibe and energy. The people were incredible and the food was so so good! After only being in Egypt and Morocco, I never felt like I had been to the real AFRICA. Lonely Planet named Ghana: “Africa for beginners” and I would agree. English being the main language and with safety abound - not to mention the Ghanaians love for Obama (and subsequently Americans)- it was a fantastic place to be.

I spent my first two days in port ‘on call’. There was a Duty Free store directly across from the boat, so alas…I spent my nights awake micro-managing drunk students who decided to partake in cheap alcohol instead of the cultures of the land. Due to the fact that my sleep is my sanity, I was really off-kilter during the two days. However, immediately after I handed off the pager, I headed straight out and jumped on the first ‘tro-tro’ (small mini-bus taxi) to head East; I was back in my groove.

I was able to visit a Ghanaian hospital with my Childbirth and Fetal Abnormalities class. We wandered through the labor suites and spoke gently to the women in many stages of labor. It was fantastic and only confirmed what I know to be my latest interest.

A student joined me for 2 days as we wandered around the towns on the coast and visited Kakum National Park for a Canopy tour walk. It began raining in the rainforest and immediately the song: The Rains Down in Africa played through my head with new meaning. I huddled under shelter with local guides and enjoyed an impromptu lesson on how to make palm oil wine and enjoyed the fresh fruits of the forest: coconuts, cocoa, and papaya.

Luck being on my side, I was hosted one night by a woman I met at the National Forest at her home in a neighboring village. She was the manager of all the tour guides in the National Forest and was very ‘high up’ in the board of this eco-tourism venture. Oddly, the very night I stayed with her was also the 15^th Anniversary of the Canopy Walk. The canopy walk is a series of roped bridges strung in the treetops of the rainforest. (Mainly) tourists visit this attraction. Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust, the organization that manages and runs this tour, aims for it to be Ghana’s #1 tourist site in the next 5 years.

The 15^th Anniversary resulted in a huge awards banquet that I was invited to attend with her. White tents, beautiful decorations, full Ghanaian food buffet (I tried it all! Including the goat...), a band, alcohol, traditional elders and kings from the surrounding villages in their traditional cloths, plus little ‘ole me fully dressed in a traditional kente cloth ….really, could I have landed any better? I was one of two foreighn people at the event. I’m sure many thought: “Who in the hell is she?”

This was a very special evening as it afforded me the view of authenticity. Nothing was ‘for show’ and I felt very educated afterwards on the intricacies of Ghanaian culture. I learned that they eat very late and they drink very little. I also learned they are happy to dance in the rain.

I spent my last day with a group of new friends, wandering around the busy markets on the coast on the elusive search for Ghanaian chocolate! Aside from the gold they export, cocoa is a leading natural commodity for the country. (Their cocoa and chocolate is considered one of the world’s best. Who knew?) Sadly, another commodity has been found: Oil. As we speak, multi-national oil companies are moving in to start drilling. With the corrupt and exploited example that their neighbor, Nigeria, offers, my heart breaks for the changes that are about to occur to and within this beautiful, wonderful place. I feel like I was privy to experience a Ghana that will never  be the same once the oil starts flowing.

*many of these pictures are not my own. creative people surround me on this ship. I am only showcasing their talent.