Ghana might be one of the last places on Earth that I ever imagined visiting.
But, like I’ve said plenty of times before, this trip was all about facing fears and doing new things, so I planned on embracing Ghana to the fullest by traveling overland between ports instead of with the ship. Luckily, the same friend I met in South Africa had also lived in Ghana for over a year so she provided us with a WEALTH of information. Here are the three most important things she told me:
1. If you have a list of ten things to do in a day, you might finish one.
2. If you get that one thing done, you should throw yourself a party. Maybe even a small parade.
3. Everything in Ghana takes FOREVER!
That’s it, people. That’s all you need to know. End of post.
Kidding! But seriously... infrastructure is missing, transportation is limited, and traffic is insane at best. So with that and the fact that Ghanaians would be incredibly friendly, she sent me on my merry way—to learn patience or have patience thrust upon me.
The first day in Ghana, I had a field lab for my Women Writers class. We were supposed to visit a Maternity Ward and birthing unit in a local hospital in Takoradi. I wasn’t quite sure what that had to do with writing, but it had a hell of a lot to do with women, so I didn’t fight it. Plus, when I was working at a children’s hospital in Dallas, I spent most of my time in the NICU so I was excited to spend more time with babies.
Little did I know that I’d get the biggest treat of all time.
At first, the visit felt pretty forced and invasive. It’s not every day that women allow you to see them at their most vulnerable, human moment. I actually tried to leave at one point, ashamed at making a spectacle of childbirth, at treating these women as potential observations rather than dignified human beings.
Then it happened.
As I turned around, the midwife picked up a newborn baby boy, and without warning, promptly placed him in my arms. I was holding a miracle. One look into those bright, open eyes made me realize how closed mine had been. As I gently rocked him, watching his arms bend and flex, legs stretch and recoil, I looked around the room with fresh eyes. I saw a smile on the face of the mother. I observed knowing and comforting glances exchanged among the women in the room. I heard the giggles of the midwives as they chatted with each other.
I finally saw what should have been apparent from the beginning—they were a family.
It was a really precious moment.
The rest of the day was a bit uneventful (in comparison) until later that night when a few of us got taken out by a local friend. Apparently everyone in Ghana was out that night, including the mayor of the town and a local radio celebrity. I met them both. Not shabby.
The next morning, our real overland adventure began!
Six of us set out to make the journey from Takoradi to Tema (Accra) to meet the ship in three days. I won’t lie… I was nervous. But on we went!
Interestingly enough, the one time I was on high alert and ready for Murphy’s Law to be enacted was actually the one time when everything seemed to fall into place. A shuttle took us straight from the ship to a tro-tro station (local group taxis). The tro tro fit the exact number of people we had accumulated, and, get this, it was ready to leave right when we arrived. Still can’t believe it.
The tro tro situation is a funny one that will come up again later, only with a little less luck.
Our tro tro took us to Cape Coast. We drove all along the Gold Coast, which was really something special. I just hadn’t realized how tropical this port would be… yes I realize that’s dumb, but hey, I’m without internet. I claim ignorance.
We finally arrived at our ‘resort’… the Oasis!
I put resort in quotes because this is what our room looked like:
But really, his place was a gem. It had a huge restaurant and bar. It was right on the beach next to the slave castle in Cape Coast. And it came complete with the most beautiful view from the front steps of our hut.
Once we settled in, we made a day trip inland to see the canopies at Kakum Park. We did so in less stylish fashion by packing 5 human beings into a teeny tiny taxi. I wish I had taken pictures of how low we were ridding. It was definitely not safe for us or the car. But the park was well worth the trip.
The whole thing was a bit touristy but it was nice to get a tiny piece of nature back into our trip. Plus the view above the trees was spectacular.
And hot… don’t know if you can see that wonderful sweat accumulation in the picture, but damn was is hot.
From there we decided it was time for lunch and a break from the heat. We had heard of some friends staying at an alligator park that had an amazing restaurant so we left to check it out. Ya, you read that right. Lunch with alligator petting—you better believe we did it!
All the way at the back, but still! So cool!
After that adventure, we decided it was time for naps, then a group dinner. I honestly hadn’t expected much from Ghanaian food, so I was shocked when this was placed in front of me…
Snapper, lobsters (mini ones, but still), fried plantains, vegetable rice, South African white wine…
Tracy = Happy!
Then, about 2 hours into dinner (which is only halfway done in Ghana, by the way), we got the greatest surprise of all.
Earlier that day, no less than 12 people had set out from the ship with the intention to ride bikes from Takoradi to Tema and then donate the bikes upon arrival. Just in case you glazed right over that, let me repeat: bicycles, 100 miles, Ghanaian roads, women trying to sell plantains from their heads, kids and animals running in the street, 12 insane Americans, 5 days to complete the journey.
WHAT?! To say I feared for their lives is an understatement.
But wouldn’t you know it, at 9pm at night, in rolled 8 of those brave souls right to the Oasis Beach Resort. We. Were. Shocked. And boy did they have a harrowing tale to tell. Turns out they had only made it 5 feet before 3 of the bikes broke down. They didn’t finish fixing the bikes until 1pm, and after that only made it 20 miles before needing to hitch rides because of nightfall. I think there was even mention of a guy with a gun at one point. Truly unreal.
So clearly, a celebration of life was in order. To Le Tour de Ghana!
We spent the night eating, drinking wine, telling stories, and eventually running out into the ocean for a group night swim. It was one of the more memorable moments of the trip. So much fun with such good friends.
The next morning, we woke up leisurely for breakfast and a tour of the slave castle next door. The tour was sobering to say the least, but incredibly informative and humbling. I’ll just leave it at that.
After that, we were in need of something a little lighter, so we wandered around the local markets, bought gifts for friends, ate local produce (the pineapple here… just wow), and decided it was finally time to move on to our next stop in Kokrobite.
This time around, the tro tro situation was slightly less successful. Two hours, lots of bargaining, driving in circles, and 8 very frustrated and tired tourists later, we were right back where we started—literally. It was a disaster. We had gone nowhere. So we threw our hands in the air and decided to take a local bus. And thankfully we remembered a key to travel abroad—ice cream makes everything better.
So once we found ice cream in bags (yes, this exists) there were smiles once again!
A three hour bus ride and a 1 hour taxi later, we landed at our destination—Big Milly’s Backyard Beach Resort.
This place was just as hilarious as the last. We had yet another hut on the beach, and this time, we met up with 8 other friends who were also staying there. After some street meat and a beer, we were able to shake off the tro tro debacle from that afternoon. We spent the rest of the night in revelry, celebrating our successes and drinking away our failures. “Here’s to the Night” should have been playing in the background. It was that good.
The next morning, after another long and relaxing Ghanaian meal (not a single meal we ate took less than 2 hours) we decided to head back to the ship which had finally arrived in Accra. By this time, we had grown to a group of 16… which is tough to manage even in a place with reliable transportation.
But once again, the Ghanaian gods were smiling upon us because, wouldn’t you know it, we found a tro tro that fit exactly our number of people. AND WE FOUND MORE ICE CREAM. I guess travel karma had swung in our favor, because this was a massive win all the way around.
Tight squeeze? Sure. Really, really sweaty? Obviously. But the drive was hilarious.
The next day a few of us toured around Accra, but it was so hot that we decided to spend our last few hours in a Mexican restaurant drinking tequila and telling stories about the week in Ghana. It was the perfect end to an amazing week of overcoming obstacles and solidifying friendships in the process. We all felt so thankful and happy to have made it through the ups and downs with each other.
The only thing left to do was CHEERS!
So many more little details here and there really made Ghana a special experience. It’s hard to get them all into a post that anyone would actually bother reading, so please do email me or comment with questions if you have them. It’s an experience that I still love talking about!
The only sad part about Ghana was realizing that our next stop, Morocco, would be the last one on this incredible journey around the world.
But in the name of staying in the present and not getting too far ahead of myself, I’ll save all of that for the next post.
Until then!
Question of the Day: When everything goes to pieces, ice cream is my cure-all. What’s yours?
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