Ghana Spirit Busua

... in it for my ghanaian vacation spot. But, i am SO glad i went back on that, because it was refreshing. The trip there was a bit long--we left accra at 10am on a tro tro to takoradi, then switched tro tros 2 more times and finally ended at Green Turtle around 3 or 4pm. There was some hassle in traveling--including the usual, overly-grabby men in the tro tro station (one of whom on this trip was more inappropriate than any other man i have ever seen yet in ghana-- something ...

... and enjoying the beach. I spent most of my time with a very nice Dutch gal named Else. She has been volunteering in Ghana the last three months as a teacher and heads back to Holland to finish her studies in a few weeks. It was fun to chat with her about her experiences living with a host family and the work she did here. We spent one morning on a very relaxing canoe trip through the mangroves that surround the banks of the river in Akwidaa. Our local guides Emmanuel and ...

... did it ever live up to all my expectations! While Ampame is a small village there is one hotel and conference space called Brotherman and this is where the celebration was. Women in their beautiful bright colored outfits arrived to celebrate, wonderful drummers playing African beats and they even arranged for local dancers to be there. Diana asked me to be apart of the dance train into the eating area which was a blast. As the drumming began we danced through ...

... in the sea, where I tumbled and landed on my shoulder and face. I was lucky as I must have unconsciously remembered my judo moves, and did a judo fall in the sea (well, that s what I like to think I did anyway!!). Nats was very amused. We had a really good time in Ghana, and after our rest, we felt refreshed and ready to take on India!!!

... them after 15 or so minutes of searching but then Mum entered the water and, with that amazing knack which only mothers seem to possess, made everything alright by finding them within seconds. Happy Rach. Total relaxation mode. It was lovely. Except for one night where Kristy decided to go for a drunken swim by herself which ended with her nearly drowning and Clare having to go in and rescue her... that wasn't so relaxing.

... the day of our excursion to Kakum National Park with 60 children. Katherine was too sick to go which was really unfortunate. Moses was busy traveling so Ansah got to go instead. He was supposed to be working at the lodge but since we needed another adult and he had asked to join us the night before he got to come and was so happy to be going - even though he was 40 minutes late and held us all up. But we did eventually get rolling. The teacher in the minibus with ...

... I didn't keep them hidden outside the classrooms. On the way back through town, once our work was done, we still had a small entourage of children. One of them I am hoping to take home with me. I couldn't get his name as there is a bit of a language barrier, but he is six years old and very small with dark skin and a beautiful smile of white teeth. When I first noticed his gorgeous head covered in chalk I tried to rub it out of his soft, fuzzy hair and ...

... before turning in for a nap. It was pouring out when I went into my room, making it much easier to sleep without the heat overwhelming me. But when I woke the skies had cleared and the sun was out, heating up the day. In the afternoon we walked to the village to meet with the wildlife club, consisting of about 60 students. Only about half of them showed up. We got them to design badges for the club and then had them vote on the best one. The ...

... excellent meals a day. The dinner menu changes often and I look forward to trying new things. You have to order dinner in the afternoon and tell them when you want it served. I quickly noticed that this is fairly pointless, as it is always at least 20 minutes late and they always serve us three volunteers at the same time, regardless of what time we had requested it. I guess that is because we are usually sitting together. So I ...

... s. This is a beautiful house on the cliff side of the beautiful beach. They have a gazebo that sits right on the edge of the cliff and you have the best view of the beach and the tiny tropical island. So this is where you eat, right on the edge of the ocean with all this beauty around you. The pizza was the best we've had in Africa. There is a little guesthouse bungalow there as well; we'll have to stay there the next time ...