Title; Obama's Ghana

Entry:

Ghana was amazing. I had a lot of fun there and hope to go back some day. I would love to go to all these places again but Ghana is first on the list so far. The people were so nice. There are no public jobs so most, if not all of them are venders selling goods to each other and to tourist. So, naturally they all want you to buy whatever they can find and will do anything to get you to buy it. This is pretty typical anywhere we go because most of us stand out as tourist and tourists are there to spend money. But despite them struggling to get anyone to buy something from them they are super friendly. Many people asked for your phone number or email address upon meeting you. They would ask you your name an where you were from and then get your information.

There were also the people who left greater impressions by helping for long periods of time. One girl (Rebecca) I know spent most of a day with her taxi driver. The taxi drivers there all offer to take you around all day. They will drop you off and arrange to meet back with you to take you back or to another destination. In the case of my friend, she went to a theatre because she is studying Drama and Theatre. There wasn't a show going on but they let her go back stage and get a thorough tour. After that, she even went to lunch with her taxi driver. They're just that nice to be with. It's easy to feel safe here but you always keep your guards up.

Also, one of my tour guides left a great impression on me. His name ironically enough was Sam. For most of the time I was in Ghana I was on a trip called Volta Eco Adventure. We toured around the Volta region which is named for Lake Volta, which is one of the largest man made lakes. There was a damn, the Akosombo damn, constructed in 1962 if my memory serves me right (opened in 1965) on the Volta river which created Lake Volta behind it. The damn also serves as the major supply of electricity to Ghana because it is a hydroelectric plant. On the trip we crossed the famous bridge, the Adomi Bridge. It is Ghana's largest suspension bridge. Just past the bridge we visited a small town then moved on to the highest peak in Ghana, Afadjato. After hiking to the top of the peak and back down we left to go to Wli falls in the same day which was not to far from the peak. Wli falls was a nice place to cool off after the intense hike in the heat of Africa. That night, we went to the Chances Hotel in Ho which was nice. It's funny cause the building we stayed in was the Brick House. We couldn't help but sing "She's a brick---HOUSE!"

The next day was the best day by far. When we were on our way to the hike on our first day Sam taught us a traditional song in Ewe (a dialect used in the Volta region). It took us a while to get it down but when we did get it we sang it for the rest of the trip. I still get it stuck in my head. The song came in handy the second day of our trip. We went to a small village to see and feed some monkeys that the locals believe are sacred, Tafi Atome. When we arrived there was a school house of kids just as w got off the bus. We were able to interact with them through the song that Sam taught us. The song is one that all the people in that area know so when we started singing it to them they all came out and started singing with us. It was amazing. The kids all clapped the beat and sang. Some kids even dance a little. I'm so glad Sam taught that to us and he seemed proud of us. He told us at the end that we were his first group to actually learn, sing, and interact in the way that we did. If you ever get a chance or want to go to Ghana I highly recommend going with Sam (elismatoursghana@yahoo.com -ask for Sam).

The monkeys were also pretty darn cool. The guide we were with made a sound kinda like a kiss noise to get the attention of the monkeys. Then we all got a half of a banana to feed to them. You had to hold it firmly in your hand if you wanted them to stick around otherwise they would take of with it. When you held the banana up they would come down to the closest branch and reach out. Then, just like we would peal a banana they would peal down to where your hand stopped the peal and take the small bite and leave. Then you'd get a different grip on the banana and another monkey (or the same one) would come down for another bite. All in all the Volta Eco Adventure was amazing. We even all got a chance to get out of the bus and give it a good shove to get it out of a mud pit we got stuck in.

The last day (and the first day) I shopped around Tema which is where we made port. It was a pretty cool place to be but most people spent most of their time in Accra which is one of the major cities in Ghana.

P.S. The people there loved Obama. They sold shirts with him on it, they made snacks called "Obama biscuits," and there was even and Obama Hotel. So, you can imagine how exciting it was when he came to Ghana recently. I also have some shout outs and another day to talk about (Neptune Day- I shaved my head!) but I am pretty tired and have a bit of a cold. Nothing major but stay tuned!