Blogs from Upper West, Ghana, Africa

As a white lady, I spend much of my time asking people for help. This first involves me approaching someone and greeting, “Good____ “(morning, afternoon, evening, though which one I choose is pretty independent of the actual time of day as they are very interchangeably used by Ghanaians). I then ask the requisite “How is the day?” and receive the requisite “FINE DAY!” response which due to its abruptness always sounds shouted. I then proceed with, “Please, can you tell me_____? (where to get a car from here to here, where is a cold soda, where can I pee). Sometimes the next part of the interaction results in the only sullen child in Ghana being beckoned and tasked to deliver a white lady to her required destination. Most times, though, I am given my first of ... read more

So once we are at Mole there is only one bus that you can take to get in or out of Mole. Since it was early in the morning and we went on the safari, we missed the bus. We already planned on this because we really wanted to see some elephants and talked to a friend that works there named Moses. Moses was able to arrange a chartered trotro to take us to Wa. There was room for 10 people in the trotro and we would have to pay full price regardless if we filled it up or not. We met up with this group of 5 girls that Ive seen around campus and they were also headed to Wa so we invited them to join us so it would be cheaper and we would ... read more

Personal Journal Entry: March 12, 2006 As we neared the waterhole I could begin to hear a subtle sound. Anticipation coursed through my body, as I desperately wanted to see the source producing the sound. Again I heard the splashing of water and this time a low rumble was added. Only the trees that lined the waters obscured my view. Finally the trees broke and I looked out with awe over the herd of enormous male elephants wallowing in the murky water. They sprayed them selves with a fine mist of water from their trunks. Despite their imposing size they seemed playful, dunking each other underwater until all you could see was the tip of a trunk. On the banks a single elephant was dusting off by throwing dirt all over himself to keep the ... read more