Ghanaian Adventures!

Current Location: Nsawam, Ghana

Sorry it has taken me so long to update! Internet is only available in Nsawam, and even then it isn't always the most reliable. We have had quite the busy few days, and I know it will continue to be so.

We have already had a few short trips, and we will likely take a few more. On Wednesday we went towards to the west side of Ghana near the coast. Our first stop was Kakum Rainforest. It was absolutely beautiful, and we did a canopy walk, which was on the sketchiest rope bridges ever over the tops of the trees. It was SO PRETTY! After that we went to a place called Elmina in the Cape Coast area. We took a tour of Elmina Castle, which was built over 500 years ago and was used largely in the slave trade. Over 1000 slaves would be kept there at a time. It was very sad to see, but so interesting. How slavery went on for so long is beyond me...

On Wednesday we went to Accra to get food. We can get the basics that we need in Nsawam or Obadan, but other things are harder to find so we stocked up on stuff like canned tomatoes and spices and harder to find things. We also found a place for PIZZA! It was so delicious! I miss good food and have been CRAVING mushrooms! Mushrooms are impossible to find here and I miss them so much. Same with sushi and things like that. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

On Saturday, we went on a trip to Boti Falls. Boti Falls is a beautiful waterfall a few hours north of us. We went to see the falls, and then went on a hike to see two awesome natural formations - the umbrella, which is a rock that has a huge overhang like an umbrella, and a three trunk palm tree, which is pretty self explanatory. It was a very hard hike though! Very hilly and rocky, I got quite the work out. AFter that we went to Aburi Botanical gardens for dinner and to look around. There were these amazing old trees called Silk Cotton Trees, and they were MASSIVE. We had fun climbing some smaller trees, and playing with an old helicopter that had broken down. Sadly, I left my camera in the tro-tro on the ride home :( Sammy is trying to retrieve it for me, but my camera (with 250 awesome pictures) is gone. Needless to say, I am heartbroken. Send happy thoughts my way that the camera shows up!

Today was our first day of class. I was rather nervous, but it went rather well. My lesson wasn\t quite long enough, but I improvised and came up with enough to fill the time. 2 hours is a very long time to fill with fun and education activities! The kids are very nice, but I am struggling with names. So many names at once is hard to handle. I will do my best, and hopefully by the end I will know everyone.

I hope to continue to update somewhat often but it will be hard to do. I miss everyone, but I am having an amazing experience here and wouldn't chane ity for the world (well, maybe for the world hehe).