Wren again: After a very long, tiring bus ride, we are back in Kumasi. We left Cape Coast on Saturday at 1:30 and at about 5 the bus began smoking so we had to stop and wait on the side of the road. While we waited we made friends with some little kids who watched us intently from across the road. After a while we noticed that two of the boys were copying our movements, crossing their arms when we did and putting their hands on their hips when we did. Then one of the littlest boys put both his hands on his hips and started wiggling back and forth. And so we did it back. The whole thing escalated and we ended up teaching about 7 of them the macarena from across the road without ... read more

Wren writing: Today we got in touch with the natural side of Ghana. We took off for Kakum National Park with a bus full of Cape Coast University students and Sam’s professor friend, Peter. They are doing very interesting research about stingless bees which can produce honey that has been used for years by the local medicine men to cure diseases, heal wounds, etc. Peter and his PhD student, Rafela, showed us around all the different nests and told us the many, many uses for their honey, wax, and sticky stuff they make called propolis. It was actually very interesting. And I’m not just saying that to please my father the bee biologist. We talked with the people who had come with us while we waited for the rain to stop. We then left the Stingless ... read more

Wren here: Today, after accomplishing the feat of eating five whole mangoes for breakfast, we left Kumasi for Cape Coast. Before our bumpy five hour bus ride to Cape Coast, though, we had the pleasure of a 40 minute car ride to the bus station with Ralph, Rachel, Wren, and Anna all crammed into the back seat, intensley humid, 90 degree weather, Ralph and Wren in long pants, and... windows that couldn't open!! The smell in the car was quite potent and, combined with the heat, it made for a tough ride. Anna was quite close to fainting I think. By the time we got to the station, our clothes were literally drenched in sweat. But, on the other hand, it made what we would usually consider the hot and humid outdoors feel almost like winter! ... read more

Hello Family and Friends!! We (Wren writing) come to you, happy and sweaty, from Kumasi, Ghana. We arrived in Kumasi this afternoon on a bus from Accra, the capital city, and were picked up by Ralph, the Liberian man (and friend of Renee) who will show us around Kumasi and Cape Coast (more on that later). On Thursday, we arrived in Accra around 6 and met George, a friend of Renee who had come to pick us up for the second time (he thought we were supposed to arrive Wednesday). We then had a filling dinner of fried rice and potato chips (what you Americans might call french fries) at George's friend's restaurant and listened to some American rap music. Then, completely exhausted from our nearly 20 hour trip, we rode to our hotel (the Tri-Circle ... read more