Blogs from Greater Accra, Ghana, Africa - page 65

Heya everyone So I've officially finished my vacation in Ghana. My shuttle to site doesn't leave until Friday though, so I've got some time to fart around Accra and get used to big city life again. The trip down the coast was completely amazing. There's way too much to tell but I'll do my best. No pics yet since I don't have the cable (that's back in Ouaga) but I've got some good ones. Chantal and I couldn't have made better travel partners and that's definitely a reason the trip went off so well. We let the wind take us and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! Before I get into the details (they will come in another e-mail with pics), I will provide the following instructions in terms of the skills I have acquired here in Ghana: How ... read more

It doesn't beat Ada Foah, but Botti Falls might just be the second most beautiful place I've ever visited. Right outside the town of Koforidua, about one hour north of Accra, is a secluded waterfall in the middle of the rainforest that a group of us -- Jessica, Chris, Chris, Timo, Zack, Davis (the guard at CDD), and I -- went to on Sunday. It might not be as famous as Niagara or as tall as Victoria but Botti Falls definitely has its own special charm, especially if you are there alone (or in a small group, like we were). For some reason I hadn't anticipated actually going into the water at Botti Falls so I didn't bring anything to swim in...but the pool of water at the bottom of the falls looked too good to ... read more

I'm not quite sure what I expected to see at a Liberian refugee camp...but whatever it was, I didn't see it. About 45 minutes outside of Accra there is a camp for displaced Liberians that, over the past few years, has slowly evolved into a small village....and if I had the choice between living in the refugee camp or the slums of Accra, I would pick the refugee camp any day. Over the course of a 13-year civil war in Liberia (a country founded by freed American slaves) about 340,000 Liberians have fled their country and settled in nearby West African nations such as Ghana and Nigeria. While the refugee situation is undoubtedly heartbreaking, what many people don't realize is that most of the refugees choose to live there even during times of peace and prosperity. ... read more

Hi, family and friends! Congrats on making it through another week:) My sister and her pal Silvestre are flying in tonight from Israel...they will be staying in Ghana for a week and I'm sooooo excited to see them!:) (and I am thankful she will be out of Israel, which seems to be getting more dangerous and war-torn these days) I went to a Karaoke bar called Champs the other night and have never seen so many obrunis since the U.S.!! I know some of my pictures make it seem that there are gazillions of white folks here, but in reality, the only white folks I know tend to be friends I've met at the clinic. So, it was quite a shocker to go to this American hang-out place and be surrounded by tourists....kinda surreal actually. Dad, ... read more

Hey everyone, I arrived in Heathrow really early in the morning 10th July and met the other volunteers from the UK. There were 5 of us - Helen, Julie, Mark, Vishal, and me. So eventually we got on the flight that would take us to Ghana via Frankfurt (Germany). At first i was a bit confussed how none of the other people on the plane look particulary Ghanian - or would travel there, before realising that we were going to Germany first! doh. To be fair though - i was was really tired and it was 4/5am the morning after the world cup final, and id done all the packing just before leaving for the airport. After about 80 mins we arrived in Frankfurt and were taken straight to the boarding lounge. After having our tickets ... read more