Goodbye Africa

Well I will be leaving Africa in about 12 hours. I can't wait to get home and see everyone, I have almost 2000 pictures/video to show people. I have enjoyed the trip a lot, and hope to get a chance to come back one day.

Pictures

One of the jerseys I bought

A picture of a river that runs through Accra. Overtime people kept putting their trash in the river so now it is more of a dump.

Another Picture of the river

This is a picture of our beach resort hotel. Everyone gets assigned a little villa when staying here. This resort was by far the favorite due too being right on the beach.

Another picture of the beach resort.

This was our villa at the resort.

Here is a picture inside the male dungeons at one of the castles. This area was almost pitch black, and you could only see it due to my camera flash.

Back in Accra

So after leaving Elmina we traveled to bojo beach, where you had to take a canoe ride out to the island. Our group swam there for a couple of hours, played sand volleyball, then headed back to Accra. We just started working with Ashesi university and will continue to do so over the next couple of days.

Here are a few pictures in no specific order. I will try and upload some more tomorrow.

The male dungeons at cape coast castle

The inside of cape coast castle.

A view from the outside of cape coast castle

Canopy Walk Pictures

Today our group went to the Kakum national park and did the canopy walk which consists of seven bridges that let you walk out above the rain forest. The highest point is around 40m.

One of the bridges on the canopy walk

Another view of the walkway

Looking over the railing

Looking at one of the tree houses that connect

A short 10 second video showing the walkway

Pictures

Another Picture of the large market in Kumasi

Once again another picture of the market

The largest open market in west Africa. Our driver said on Friday or Saturday it would take 3-4 hours to drive through it.

This is just at a restaurant that we ate at. I tried fufu here for the first time.

A picture of what our hotel in Kumasi looked like.

Picture of the roads in Africa

I will upload some pictures tomorrow of the castles and canopy walk.

What has been going on the previous few days

A recap of the previous few days since I did not have internet.

July 3^rd

Today was when we would be participating in a African naming ceremony. We went to a village called Torgorme, were we sat in the middle surrounded by the elders, and village chief. Part of the ceremony had us participating in their dances. (I didn't do to0 well) Afterwards we were then presented with handmade pots with our African names on them. My name is Kujo (pronounced like the Stephen king movie about the dog) meaning ‘’ born on Monday ’’and last name of nyayuie meaning ‘’good news’’.

We didn't get to go to the US Embassy because we had to change the itinerary around, and we would not be in Accra during the 4^th of July. We stayed on a hotel in Akosombo that had a little zoo with monkeys, crocodiles, turtles, and an Ocelot. The hotel had Jet skis that you could rent for 25 Cedi for 15 minutes, which is about 18 U.S dollars. (Too expensive)

July 4^th

Today our group got to ride the Dodi princess on the Volta Lake. The boat was a little bigger than a BB riverboat. The boat cruised for 6 hours around the lake with a live band on board, as well as receiving a meal for lunch. We ended up meeting some fellow Americans in a volunteer group on board, and hung out with them for most of the trip. This group was made of people from all over including the U.K, U.S, Peru, and Israel. One of the girls in the group was actually from Ohio so we ended talking to her for a while.

During lunch the boat ran out of fish to serve, and one of the customers wanted fish, and started a little revolt on the boat with chants of ‘’We want Fish’’ it was quite amusing. Half-way through the cruise we stopped at a little island where we could swim in the Volta Lake. After the cruise we came back to the hotel to eat dinner , and then swim afterwards for the next 2-3 hours.

As of right now I am in Elmina and have just gone through the slave castle and dungeons. I will update tonight with pictures.

More Kumasi

This morning we got to visit a weaving shop, were people made ties, shirts, and other clothing. I bought a tie. and a arm band that one of the kids in the village made for me. Our group proceeded to some wood carving shops were I ended up buying a mask, that stood for unity. Later tonight we headed to a house of our teachers friend were we watched Ghana play football, and have dinner.

Tomorrow we will head to akosombo (I think thats how its spelled) to participate in an African naming ceremony. The name given to you depends on the day when you were born, so it will be interesting to find out what that is. Thats all for now, I keep updating when I can.

Kumasi

Today we arrived in Kumasi which is about a 4 hour drive from Accra. Kumasi is home to the largest open market in West Africa. Since today was a holiday the market was not as crowded, our guide said on Friday and Saturday the market is so crowded it would take 3 or 4 hours to drive through it.

At the restaurant that we ate at today I got to try something called Fufu, which is like dough that you eat with soup and have to swallow whole without chewing. One of the customs here in Ghana is that you are not supposed to eat with your left hand, this has been somewhat difficult for me. Also passing something with your left hand is considered disrespectful as the left hand is considered unclean.

The last stop was at the palace for Ashanti kings. We toured the museum and had a tour guide give us a brief history of the kings. I couldn't get any pictures though due to cameras being banned.

I will try and upload some pictures, but the internet is going in and out.