Blogs from Western, Ghana, Africa

Durant ces dernières semaines la charge de travail a été bien plus faible que d'habitude, la faute au paludisme qui a mis a plat un de nos hôtes. Comme nous nous sentions bien seul sur ce chantier vide nous en avons profité pour nous balader dans les alentours. Nous avons tenté une petite excursion vers la ville de Princess Town pour visiter son fort allemand (puis néerlandais et enfin anglais). les infos détaillées sur Wikipedia sont meilleures que le résumé que nous pourrions vous faire mais globalement il s'agissait d'or et d'esclaves... Mais la vraie histoire c'est surtout le transport, 1h30 de 'trotro' blindé (le jeu de mots n'est pas fait exprès) après avoir attendu 1h à la station de départ. Puis arrivé sur place une demi-heure pour faire le tour (avec un guide présse qui ... read more

After some migraines and 'funny tummies' this week we've realised that when we're feeling unwell we miss some of the home comforts ! Our living arrangements are pretty nice, right on the beach but it's basic and we've come to find that things like not having clean running water or consistent electricity can seem like a bigger deal when feeling a bit rough. Things like having to go outside to the toilet with a headlight (it gets dark around 6 here), carry a bucket of water to flush and another small bucket to wash your hands...or going outside to shower, again with a lamp and buckets of cold water. Especially in the middle of a tropical rainstorm ! Having some alone time is next to impossible here, there are neighbours and kids from the village on ... read more

Our first home together is a cabin on the beach with no running water and it's very nearly perfect ! We moved in on Sunday and were supposed to got to Princess town for the day with our hosts Julia & Peter but Olivia was sick (something like sinusitis with a fever somehow) so we stayed put and Abdel spent the morning surfing. Lobster red Abdel entered our new home to take off his t-shirt to put on some cream and forgot about the low hanging ceiling fan... The rest of the story is blood and panic as we (mostly Olivia) ran around trying to find out where to go. Luckily our new landlord was nearby to help us out. After a walk through the village to find the pharmacist, we ended up in a small ... read more

This will be my first blog entry in Ghana. My first week and a half here has been interesting, challenging and eye-opening. Its difficult to know where to start, but I will write a few of the observations I have made. Roads aren't as bumpy as people say (although of course there are bad areas) and we the passengers will rarely wear a seat belt- only the driver. They do however have a number of road bumps to slow down vehicles. Tro tros are mini buses which carry a fairly large number of people, but they are often jam packed to the rim. They are the cheapest form of travel and have a family atmosphere where children will sit on laps and people will chat to each other they barely know with ease. There are a ... read more

I didn't know what to expect from my journey to Ghana. Really, I had no idea of what I was getting myself into. Maybe it was the constant studying and fear of failure from my nursing studies that kept my mind preoccupied with seemingly more vital day-to-day tasks; or maybe it was the daily reminder of my bodily deformities and chronic pain that left me wondering if I would be well suited for such a physical adventure; or maybe it was the ugly blackness of depression looming over me that made me believe that I was not good enough; whatever it was, I was fully unprepared to leave the comforts of home and head to Africa - and so, expected little. In truth, Africa was never on my list of places to visit in my lifetime. ... read more