Goodbye Ghana, My Love

I'm starting my last day here in paradise (and at Paradise) the same way I have for the past two weeks - on the balcony, looking at the sea, feeling the breeze.  I won’t say for the 100^th time how much I will miss it here – well, maybe I will.  I WILL MISS IT HERE!

As you’ve read, I’ve had some highs and lows, felt a range of emotions about a lot of different things and had an amazing experience getting to know Ghana a little better.  I couldn’t have asked for a better “first date” with Ghana and definitely know there will be a second…and a third…and heck, maybe we’ll even jump the broom one day.  

I leave here a stronger, more grateful person and more thankful to God for all my blessings.  I also leave knowing these things (which I wasn’t 100% sure of when I arrived):

• I am from Ghana (after the 500^th person told me I looked Ghanaian, I’ll take it)
• I am brave (my best friend told me so before I came but I think I finally believe it after I read back through my adventures here and remembered that I came here alone)
• I am soooo American with a little bit of African sprinkled in – give me ice cubes and A/C or give me death!

Before I wrap up here though, I wanted to tell ya’ll a little about my trip to Kumasi.  It really is a wonderful city - very laid back compared to Accra, more ladies rocking natural hairstyles and a little bit more modern (the houses look modern, I saw a Bridgestone Tire and a really fancy Hybrid school).  I braved the busy busy market that's similar to the big one here in Accra) and no one said a WORD to me…it was amazing.  They kinda just let you do your thing without harassing you too much.  Much love Kumasi, I will be back.  

Now the road from Kumasi to Accra on the other hand, not so much!  HA!  The ride was so bumpy that I have two black eyes from where my breasts hit me in the face constantly and I’m in bad need of a chiropractor to do some adjustments.  During the entire ride I kept looking out the window, hoping to see that some massage man had his little shingle hung out so I could jump off the bus and get rubbed down.  No such luck.  

Once I arrived back in Accra (after six hours of having all my insides shaken up) and stepped back into the Paradise Inn, I wanted to cry like a baby because of the warm reception, the “we missed you’s” and the good food that made me feel like I was back home again.   

I’m happy and sad to be heading back to the "real world" – happy for what the new year brings, sad to say goodbye (for now) to so many wonderful friends (right now, Nenekwame is sitting next to me listening to my iPod one last time before I go.  Our habit was for him to run around with it for most of the day listening to my music until the battery gave out).  I am spending most of today with Jackie and Tymon until my flight takes off later this evening and know there will be some good food and fellowship in store for me.

As some of you know, I read a devotional every night that really does help me sleep.  Since I will be flying when the rest of you are ringing in the New Year, I read the devotional a little early today and it’s awesome.  Here’s a little piece: 

“God has created you to need and crave diversity and variety.  You require freshness and newness in your life.  As this year and this day come to an end, make a quality decision to step out into the new thing that God has for you.  And don’t forget to enjoy yourself.”

Much love and enjoy the “new thing” God has in store for you in 2011.  I can’t wait to see some of you really soon and thanks for following my journey.

Afehyia Pa (Happy New Year in Twi)!

Donna and I on my last day at La Paradise...I was very sad to leave.

U.S. Bound...and I'm Sad...

I arrived back into Accra a few hours ago and the minute I stepped back into La Paradise Inn I didn't want to leave.  I love the U.S. but boy am I said to be leaving tomorrow evening.

I will update you on the rest of my trip in Kumasi, more on my road trip back to Accra today and on my night - Kate and I are going out to party for my last night here.

More to come...

The Road to Kumasi

Yesterday, I left Cape Coast on my way to Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region.  I left the hotel in time to catch the STC bus that leaves at 10 o’clock…or so I was told.  When I was dropped off at the station, I was informed that the bus to Kumasi doesn’t depart until 1:30 p.m.  Uh, no ma’am!  Just as I was about to give up and go back to the hotel for a few hours, my buddy Kwabena (remember he was one of the taxi drivers at Kakum Park who helped me get in) came out of nowhere and saved me again.  That Kwabena is just full of solutions, I tell ya! 

He suggested another bus service that’s air conditioned, much cheaper and leaves more regularly than the STC.  While the bus isn’t as big and you have to wait for it to fill up before departure, he assured me that it would certainly take off before 1:30 p.m.  So, off we go to the bus yard in the center of Cape Coast.  We arrive as one mini-van was departing to Kumasi and another bigger bus was being opened.  

An hour goes by, all the seats on the bus have been purchased and we hit the road.  I was able to get a seat right in front with the driver so I could see all the sights on the way – um, yeah, I regretted my seating choice a few times during the ride when I saw my life flash before my eyes.  The road to Kumasi was something else.  Picture this: Speeding at like 80 mph when the road is clear and smooth, slowing down to change lanes or swerving to miss the many potholes when it isn’t so smooth, passing slow drivers in the lane going the opposite direction, honking the horn every 30 seconds (sometimes I wasn’t quite sure for what), passing through small towns about every 30 minutes, a near head-on collision with another car trying to pass a slow truck and some of the most beautiful scenery ever.  Whew, my adrenaline was pumping for the entire 3-hour trip.

One thing I noticed is that people generally keep out of the way of speeding vehicles and take heed to honking horns here.  In America, small children would never be allowed to play right next to a busy road for fear that one of them might venture into the street.  Well, not here in Ghana.  Very small children (I’m talking one-year olds) were near the road throughout the entire trip, but they knew not to even think about coming out into the street.  Even animals knew when they heard the horn to get the hell out of dodge – I can’t tell you how many chickens, birds and goats we came close to running down until they put some pep in their step.  I haven't seen much road kill here in Ghana and I guess it's because the animals know people here do not yield to them.  And I wish I'd gotten more interesting photos but I didn't want to be the snap-happy American on the bus.  I already drew attention to myself when I yelped when the driver almost mowed down three cute little baby goats.  Everyone on the bus laughed at me! HA!

Needless to say, I made it to Kumasi safely and I really love the city.  It’s what I would consider the happy medium between Accra and Cape Coast – somewhere in between the rat race feel of Accra and the bored to tears feel of Cape Coast.  I’m not sure exactly what it is about the city, but I instantly felt at home when we arrived.  I can totally see myself living here.  I only have two days in Kumasi and I kinda wish it was more.  But there’s always next time.  

Roadside fruit while I wait for the bus to take off?  Don't mind if I do.

I was THIS close to the front of the bus...I didn't even have to zoom to take a picture of these stickers.  Three favorite countries, love it!

Hello mountains...these just kinda popped out of nowhere after we passed one of the villages.

Dear Mr. Lumber Hauler, MOVE IT, we have places to be!

Walking on Treetops

Ok folks.  I’ve officially lost my damn mind.  Now, I’m good for going on vacation and doing some daredevil stuff that I would never do in my “normal” life, but I think this one takes the cake.  In my opinion, it’s bigger than climbing Dunne’s River Falls in Ocho Rios or riding a jet ski without a life jacket in Negril (ya'll know I can't swim). 

Picture this: Me, flip flops, a rain forest and seven narrow bridges made of wood and rope (about 1/5 of a mile in length) suspended 100 feet above one of Ghana’s largest rain forests.  Ready to commit me yet?

Well, lucky for me, I don’t have a fear of heights, flying, enclosed spaces, death or any of that sort of stuff.  My fears really center around failure, falling and not feeling secure.  Well, I think I put all those to the test at the Kakum National Park yesterday.  Taxi driver extraordinaire Richard Mensah drove me the 45 minutes from Elmina to the park in the morning and it was an absolutely lovely drive.  But of course, the trip wouldn’t be fun without a little drama to start it off.

Once we arrived at the park, I was told that the entry fee was $25 because I’m a “non-Ghanaian adult.”  From what I hear, I look like I'm from Ghana but I don’t sound like it...once I open my big American mouth the prices start going up.  Well, I totally refused to pay that much to “see some damn trees” and was all set to leave.  But Richard was having none of that and caucused with some of his taxi driver buddies out front to figure out a scheme to get me a cheaper price.  The consensus: Tell them I’m a student, pray they don’t demand my ID and pay $12 to get in (shout out to Kwabena for the bri-zilliant idea).  Well, one sob story about being a starving student in America “near Obama,” a serious pout and very little eye contact later and I was in for $12 (I told you they love Obama over here). 

Ya’ll, about 10 minutes into hiking uphill in flip flops to get to the canopy walkway, I wished like hell I had shut my trap, gotten back in the car and headed back to flatter pastures.  But, I’m not one for failure, so I was determined to hike my out-of-shape butt up those hills, through the woods and to that canopy walk.  Luckily, my focus was on climbing hills and not the seven shaky bridges that awaited me. 

Once I made it up all the hills and steps and actually saw the bridge, I still wasn’t alarmed.  No biggie, they said no one has ever fallen into the rainforest so I’m good, right?  Wellll…the minute I stepped on the thing I knew I was in for some screaming and plenty of cussing the whole way through.  On top of the bridge teetering from side to side, some of the wood boards not being nailed down and feeling like you want to turn back every second, there’s a RAINFOREST underneath.  Jesus wept.

Wondering how it all turned out?  Well, the obvious is that I survived.  I made it across all seven bridges and only lost my sh*t once when some dummy was determined to jump up and down in front of me to show just how NOT scary it is.  Richard was absolutely wonderful during the entire thing, staying very close to me, cheering me on from the front and back, taking tons of awesome pictures (I didn’t have time because I was busy concentrating on not dying) and sticking with me as me and my flip flops hiked back downhill to safety.  Ironically, I didn't see a single creature the entire time I was in the rainforest - well, wait, I should count those really big ants I saw right? 

It goes without saying that it was amazing and I hope I can bottle up some of that fearlessness and use it when I return back to my “normal” life. 

The hills are kicking my butt!

Just getting started...ummm, was this my idea?

I walked across seven of these ya'll...how amazing!

Determined not to fall because I promised my mama I wouldn't die on my trip to Africa!  HA!

Thank the Lord, I made it!

Returning to the Point of No Return

Among other attractions, Ghana is known for the slave castles on the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) in and around Cape Coast.  The most popular, Elmina Castle, is the oldest and largest slave castle in Africa.  Because of this, Cape Coast was definitely an important stop on my trek through Ghana.  So, I headed off early the morning after Christmas and was pleasantly surprised that Lola and Ayo (newlyweds from Nigeria) decided to postpone their departure back home to come with me.  Cape Coast is a 3 hour bus ride from Accra, so off we went at the wee hours of the morning to see Elmina Castle and whatever else they could cram into one day (I planned on staying in the area for two days).  

A quick history lesson: Elmina Castle was built more than 500 years ago by the Portuguese as a trading post for goods that over time became one of the central holding places for slaves traded during the Trans-Atlantic trade.  At any point in time, the castle held 1,000 slaves in captivity (usually 600 men and 400 women) for months until boats arrived to take them to America and the Caribbean.  African slaves from all over Ghana were traded to the Portuguese and British by the Ashantis for things as trivial as alcohol and guns.  Once brought to the castle, women and men were put into separate dungeons and left in crowded quarters to fight for food that was thrown in once a day and live among their own waste.  Lots of the women were raped by the overseers and the Governor of the castle and subsequently impregnated.  One “perk” to becoming pregnant by the captors was that these women and their children were freed and not packed into the slave boats headed for the Americas.  For others, the outlook wasn’t as “rosy.”  When the boats finally arrived to transport the slaves across the Atlantic, they were taken through the “Point of No Return” to the ship – some never to be heard from again because they died in transit.  Present day, Cape Coast is still a booming fishing town and has become one of Ghana’s intellectual centers boasting more than 20 secondary schools and colleges with a range of different concentrations.

Reading the history in a book is one thing.  Visiting the site is another.  I didn’t expect to have the emotional reaction that I did when touring the castle.  I haven’t really said this aloud to avoid sounding nuts, but I feel like my ancestors are from Ghana.  That I’m from Ghana.  The deep sorrow I felt when I was touring the castle and walking through the dungeons that still smelled rank of human waste hundreds of years later was overwhelming.  Like I was feeling the pain of my grandmother 10 times removed who suffered here in captivity, was stripped away from her family and crammed into a ship set sail for a foreign land.  

Of course, I haven’t put all the time, energy and resources into tracking my genealogy and maybe one day I will.  But for now, I have the feeling in my spirit.  The tour guide was especially attentive to me because he kept telling me “This is your history sister, these are your ancestors” because I was the only Black American there.  And I knew he was right.  I cry a little writing this because I knew this trip would be life-changing for me.  And I can’t put words to the change or even explain it yet, but I know I feel it.

I am deeply grateful to have been able to share the experience with Ayo and Lola, two of the most genuine and caring people I have met in a long time.  Lola is such a nurturer – she was so protective of me during the tour and in the hours following until they departed Cape Coast grabbing my hand and holding on until she saw the sadness pass and trying to do things to make me laugh.  When she said her and Ayo plan to have children right away, I thought briefly how lucky those babies will be to have her as a mother.

Overall, it was a moving, necessary and eye-opening experience returning to the point of no return for so many of our family members.  I hope their souls are at rest and that they’re proud of us.

Elmina Castle, the largest and oldest slave castle in Africa.

More info on the slave trade in Ghana

"The Point of No Return" - I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but this space is about a foot wide and maybe 5 feet tall and all slaves were made to go through this exit to the ships waiting to take them to the Americas.

Looking through the eyes of our ancestors

Ayo and Lola

I'm Back Online...and PICS working!

Hey!  I missed ya'll!  After two wireless-less days in Cape Coast (but lots of adventures), I've reached Kumasi.  So far, I love it.  It has a totally different feel than Accra so I can't wait to get out there and tear up the town.

First things first - FOOD!  I'm venturing out to find some local grub and will post some good stuff later on tonight for your reading pleasure.  And guess what...after nearly the entire trip is gone, I can now post pictures.  So scroll down to your favorite posts to see the accompanying pics...I'll post more tonight.

I hope you all had a wonderful couple days since last we "talked."

Ghana: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Well, it’s Christmas Day and I sat on the balcony in front of my room for the last time this morning.  Every morning since I’ve been here, I have sat on that balcony looking out over the little shanty town and just beyond to the sea that runs into the sky.  The breeze in this spot is unbelievable and I usually end my day writing and listening to music in this same spot until the bats and mosquitoes run me back into my room.

Tomorrow, I’m leaving Accra to go to Cape Coast in the Central Region and Kumasi in the Ashanti region.  I have fallen in love with my new family, this sea, that breeze and will always remember these days at La Paradise Inn as some of the happiest of my life.  While I will be back in Accra for one day on my way back to the States, the times I’ve had over these last few days will stay with me always. 

Today, I received the best Christmas gifts ever – hot water, the beach and a farewell dinner that I will never forget. 

About the water.  Since I arrived a week ago, I have yet to get the hot water in my shower to work no matter the amount of tinkering from the hotel workers.  While the water hasn’t been frigid, it’s not been warm - best SAT word I can think of is "tepid."  But it’s no big deal really since Ghana is so hot.  Well, today when I turned on the nozzle out poured the most wonderful, warm water ever.  I showered like it was 1999 ya’ll!  It’s such a small thing that I take for granted in the States but one of the most precious gifts I have ever received on Christmas. 

The next is the beach.  I brought in Christmas dancing and partying on Tawala Beach screaming “Merry Christmas” at the top of my lungs into the sky at midnight.  Me, Donna, Victor, Kate and a few others all went down to Tawala beach around 11:30 to listen to music, drink and usher Christmas in the right way.  I have never spent Christmas on a beach and even if I do it every Christmas until the coming of the lord, it will never be this way again.

Last is our Christmas/farewell dinner.  I want to cry thinking about how wonderful Donna, Victor, Ann, Roland, Kate and newlyweds Lola and Ayo from Nigeria have been.  I know I will be friends with Kate, Ann and Lola forever because we cliqued like we’d known each other our entire lives.  They’re all my sisters (and I just met Lola yesterday!)  We all gathered in our usual dinner spot, the cabana by the pool, for a wonderful dinner of guinea fowl and potatoes, a game of “Guess that Tune”, telling jokes, talking sports, telling tales of getting beaten as children and our love and respect for our parents because of it and just enjoying our last day together before everyone checks out of Paradise tomorrow and goes their separate ways.

But we all have the precious gift that we have found in each other.  Tonight’s dinner had people from Italy (Victor), the UK (Donna), Africa (Lola and Ayo), America (Me) and Sweden (Ann and Roland) and we were all speaking one language.  It’s more than amazing and I will miss this place and these people.  Farewell Donna, Victor, Kate, Nenekwame, Ann, Roland, Lola and Ayo – much love.   

But, there’s no time for tears because I’m off to other adventures in Africa first thing in the morning.  Merry Christmas ya'll, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with gifts that can’t be bought from the store and enough love to carry you through to next Christmas and the next.  I have to be up in 4 hours...now ya'll KNOW this is about to be a hot mess!  HA!

Donna and Victor party it up until 12:01...and then bail on us.

Can you hear me saying "Merry Christmas...HO HO HO!!!!"  No?  Well, I was screaming it loud enough while I danced like a wild woman on the beach.

Happy times!

Kate and I are pooped...we worked up an appetite and are waiting on some good chicken off the beach grill.