http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Ghana , Central en-us Tue, 08 Dec 09 10:39:10 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 09 10:39:10 +0000 Riding Day 5 132km total 525kmSince we decided to cycle to Cape Coast in two days we had to decide where to stop for the night. This was the one stop on our tour where I wasn't confident that we would find accommodations or even good food. There were four major towns along the 230km route but we didn't have much more than that. For a change we got off to a quick start. I guess part of the pr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-451809.html I feel like visiting an orphanage in Africa or any other developing country for that matter is one of those things you might find listed on the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com which makes fun of the seemingly normal but somehow ridiculous interests of middleclass caucasians. I admit that I once felt noble telling people at home that I had just returned from Ethiopia volunteering at a homeles http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/blog-444960.html Last weekend we ventured off again this time to the central region which is more west than i have ever been. we headed to cape coast where they have a very old castle that was used for slave trading hundreds of years ago. We stayed in a fancy hotel that came to about 7.5 CAD per night per person. No hot water of course but there was a fan and no bugs sop it was graet Our goals were to see the two http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-444389.html On day two of our CIEE excursion we visited the Kakum National Park. Kakum is a small rainforest containing many different kinds of trees monkeys birds insects and my favorite the forest elephants unfortunately we didnrsquot get a chance to see any monkeys or elephants but the giant millipedes made up for it. At Kakum they have a high ropes course through the trees which consists of http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-440414.html I just got back from a weekend trip my program CIEE took us on. We left early on Saturday morning heading to Cape Coast. Since I had been there the weekend before we had a little better idea of how to pack and what to expect. But unlike our solo trip we got to stay in a highclass hotel. Once we arranged our roommates and dropped off our stuff at the hotel we got back on the bus and headed eith http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Elmina/blog-440411.html This weekend a small group of six of us CIEE students decided to take a short trip to Cape Coast. There was a festival in Cape Coast on Saturday that we wanted to partake in. With our last minute plans the evening before we booked rooms at a hotel approx 45 minutes outside Cape Coast via Trotro. We left Friday morning around 11 am and squished all six of us into a taxi and took it to Keneshe a m http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-436435.html We woke up early on Saturday morning in Cape Coast and headed to the canopy walkway in Kakum National Park. Chuckled at the people who were getting scared until we reached the platform and realised that the bridges were just planks of wood held up with a bit of string netting. I would like to describe the rainforest in detail but once the boys started messing around behind me and the plank starte http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-422588.html Wren writingRachel had a nice surprise this morning when she found a large bite out of one of her sneakers. Ralph comforted her by saying ldquoOh yeah thatrsquos rats. For sure.rdquo She was not so happy. And then as I was walking to breakfast I stepped over a short wall and because of rain my foot slipped which caused my other foot to smash into the rock wall ouch. ldquoA scar to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Elmina/blog-417228.html Wren writing This morning we experienced what will probably be the most exhilarating breakfast of our lives. It had rained all night the night before and was still pouring when we reached the restaurant. The restaurant is located in the little lake that contains the crocodiles and the bridges that connect it to the shore were already flooded with about 3 inches of water. And as we stood in lin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-417222.html 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 cou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-416255.html On Saturday 20th I made a last minute decision to go to Cape Coast with 2 other girls and so had a mad rush to the STC bus station almost comparable to National Express to get a bus ticket before they all ran out then rushed back home to pack a bag and meet the other 2 girls to rush back to the station to catch the bus which surprise surprise didn't leave on time anyway The taxi ride t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-411892.html Term 3 began two weeks ago and I started properly in my new school in Simiw. I had arrived before the end of the last term but time was taken up with revision and exams. With JHS3 no longer in school they sit their final exams after the second term Irsquove been left with Form 1 and 2 for their final term. Irsquoll be able to see out the best part of the term as wersquore flying home two http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Ahotokurom/blog-404329.html THE ABOAKYER FESTIVALFESTIVAL BACKGROUND All chiefdoms propitiate their stools with sacrifices of some sort in Ghana. This in no different with the people of winneba.In the case of the Otuano royal house custodians of the paramount stool of the Effutu state this is done once a year. It is believed that during times of difficulty the sons and daughters of Gyarteh Gyan penyin and their successor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Winneba/blog-400300.html When we were setting off for Ghana some 14 months ago many people commented on the experiences we were going to have These generally were about new people food scenery culture etchellipand of course we had all those and more in our first 6 months Most of you will know of my husbandrsquos admission to hospital and then his enforced return home to ldquobenefitrdquo better from the UK N http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-392163.html Now that wersquove gotten that bit more used to the amount of walking we have to do and acclimatised to the weather wersquove found ourselves straying away from the usual collapse on the couch from exhaustion routine which usually followed work. We never realised how much there was to be seen until we started venturing out a bit more. For the first month or so we didnrsquot even know the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Ahotokurom/blog-389580.html There are many things I feel you havenrsquot really experienced until yoursquove experienced them in Ghana.Top of that list would have to be mass. Ghana is still a very religious country and to be fair they do it far better than we do. Our welcoming mass in the small church in Ahoto was our first expierence of what we would call a relatively short service. Presided over by Fr. Philip our Fan http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Ahotokurom/blog-383101.html So we visited the castle on the saturday and on sunday travelled to Anamabo beach 15 minutes drive from our town. It was paradise a secluded and private white sand beach lined with palm trees and straw umbrellas. It felt more like a caribbean island than a beach in Ghana. It was the kind of place I'd imagine spending my honey moon with beach huts seconds away from where we sunbathed. The sea w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-380198.html Last Days in Accra My last day of work was on the friday and I was determined to make it the best i could possibly make it. It turned out the matron who i was shown to on the first day and who i regularly talked with was not in but i wasnt going to leave without achieving what i wanted most to go into surgery.I worked in the morning the normal routine of weighing babies and their mothers and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-378560.html Cape Coast Traveled west of Accra down to Cape Coast with two other medical students Jenny and JJ. Cape Coast has an interesting history beginning. Beginnin in the 15th century Europeans Portugese followed by Dutch and British were trading Gold with the people occupying present day Ghana. Eventually this became an official British Colony known as Gold Coast. Despite this name gold was http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-376968.html Kofi reporting.........I met a Japanese man Yamada and his tour guide Kofi Bismarck at the Mighty Victory Hotel in Cape Coast who traveled with me yesterday.I talked to the owners who are from Oklahoma they shared lots of stories about living in Ghana.Yesterday Yamada Bismarck and I visited the Kakum National Park and explored the rain forest. They have a canopy walkway and was able to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Central/Cape-Coast/blog-376408.html