Blogs from Western, Ghana, Africa - page 4

We still chuckle at the dictaphone tapes I sent home from Ankasa, as I tried to record the sounds of the rainforest, sharing my experiences. I distinctly remember rewinding the tapes to see if the noises could be heard and then pressing record once more to try again. Oh course I failed to realise that's it' is difficult to hear a recording of something which is still going on live in front of you. Ankasa Rainforest, Ghana. Over five hundred square kilometers of wet evergreen. Wow, what a sense of disappointment I felt when I was told I would be spending a month there. I soon came to realise how wrong I had been. It never ceased to surprise me how quickly the climate changed as we turned off the main road and drove towards the ... read more

We arrived about 8:00 this morning at another port on our visit to Africa, the twin city of Sekondi-Takoradi, capital of the Western Region of Ghana. It is Ghana’s fourth largest city and an industrial and commercial center. The chief industries are timber, cigarettes, shipbuilding and railroad repair. Takoradi is the largest city closest to the Equator and the Prime Meridian, making the city the most central location on the world map! The closest land to the Equator, Prime Meridian and Sea Level is Cape Three Points, about 60 miles west of Takoradi. Takoradi is the home to Ghana’s first and important deepwater seaport built in 1928. Both Takoradi and Sekondi stemmed from 17th Century Dutch, Swedish and English forts. The two cities combined in 1946. During World War II, the Takoradi Air Base was an ... read more

This weekend was an absolute blast. A group of about 10 spent the long 4 day holiday weekend at the Green Turtle Lodge in Dixcove, a small town outside of Takoradi. We had planned on going into Takoradi and spending one afternoon there, but we pretty much ended up just hanging out on a beautiful beach not wanting to leave. It was amazing to me how cheap it was to stay there (approx $3 a night in a tent) and have only maybe 30 people at most on a 2 mile long stretch of beach. Palm trees, sand crabs, outside showers, amazing rough waves, great food, and really interesting people, were just a few things that helped make this weekend fabulous. We got to know a few ex-peace corps guys who had just finished 27 months ... read more

Whilst in Ghana, there are lots of things to see and do, but one of the most breath taking views for me is not the scenery of golden beaches, or the beautiful overviews of Mole National Park, but the way of life within one of the simplistic areas of Ghana. In my view the Nzulezo Stilt Village is truly remarkable, the way of living here is unbelievable, and the hardest thing to do was to leave to our luxury Beyin Beach Resort. As another weekend went by we decided to travel towards the West coast just 12km from the Ivory Coast border. As we arrived in Beyin to a beautiful beach resort, surrounded by towering palm trees golden beaches and the ocean breeze, we were in luxury not to mention the treat of a Hot ... read more

This weekend I finally made it to the infamous Green Turtle Lodge. I had heard so many great things about it that I couldn’t wait to go and it was the first weekend they could fit us in. Bethany, Melissa, and Max headed up there the day before but I had class so I went on Saturday with John. This weekend just further proved the theory of “the best laid plans of mice and men…” We left the hostel at 6 am bright and early. I was dirty and needed to shower, but the hostel was out of water. No water=no shower=no brushed teeth… yum. We went to the trotro station and then we had to find the bus station to take us to Takoradi. We started asking around for the bus station and a guy ... read more