Weekend at Cape Coast - Picture Overload

Full work weeks really help me to appreciate a good weekend. I can confidently say that I enjoyed this past weekend more than any other here so far, which is saying quite a bit considering how much fun last weekend was. Everyone was back in Accra on Friday night from their respective areas, and we used the opportunity to go try out another club in the city. I really found myself regretting this the next day after less than 3 hours of sleep, but I had a chance to catch up on some sleep on the bus.

We left from Afia Beach Hotel around 7 on Saturday morning with a few special guests. Bentley University President Gloria Larson and her husband Alan were in attendance along with a full-fledge camera crew who were documenting their trip. We also were sharing a massive bus with a few students and teachers from Wheelock College. It was a great experience to spend some quality time with President Larson on the bus.

The contrast between these two photos, taken just minutes apart from the bus, really quite accurately defines one of Ghana’s (and so many other developing country’s) problems.

Very vivid effect put on this in Lightroom

Our first stop in Cape Coast was at Ghana’s most famous slave prison. Perhaps not so appropriately titled a Slave Castle, it represents the enormous slave trade in which Ghana played a significant role. The dichotomy of this area is really hard to explain. On one hand, you are surrounded by some of the most horrifying and tragic history ever, but on the other, the landscape is breathtaking. The prison sits right on the ocean and the fishing boats lining the beach and even floating on the water make it easy to forget exactly where you are. My pictures focus on the brighter side of things in no small part because the prison areas are almost pitch black. Not a friendly environment for cameras.

These three guys, staying in Ho, are working on starting their own export business.

Posted this because I know Mahlet will be thrilled with me.

Chanelle (sorry it's probably spelled wrong) and Ashley

From left to right: Diane, unknown, President Larson, Wheelock College Professor

Shot from the high up slave prison

A couple of kids who came over to investigate our tour group.

Interesting story here: I thought I had a great experience going on, this man had asked me to come over to help him fix a hole in his fishing net. He taught me how and I did it for him. When I was done, he asked me for money. And, Diane took a picture of me. He asked for money for that too. Diane didn't ask his permission, so indeed payment was made.

Fishing boats out on the water.

Four photo panorama taken of Cape Coast.

After our tour at the slave prison we headed to nearby Elmira for our hotel, One Africa. As beautiful as Afia Beach Hotel was, this place was even better. 

Me and President Larson at a restaurant by One Africa Hotel

Of course what would this trip be without a reminder of the problems that limit the otherwise beautiful African coast.

Katherine and of the local kids, pretty mad it'snot in perfect focus.

This kid was incredible, he climbed all the way up these trees with ease.

Cute kid with one of the Wheelock College students.

Anyone know what this is? Thought it looked nice.

Fetching coconuts for us to drink from in the morning.

Watching his buddy climb up the tree, love this shirt.

After spending the night in Elmira, we left One Africa behind for our last stop, Kakum National Park. This protected forest is home to, among other things, forest elephants, jaguars, monkeys, snakes, and more. Unfortunately, finding those animals requires a much more dedicated, multiple-week tour. We had come to enjoy the famous canopy walk. Some time ago 6 Canadians and 3 Ghanaians took it upon themselves to build a series of 7 rope bridges that carry those brave enough to walk them across the treetops of the forest. My fear of heights really didn’t help me here, but I’m proud to say that I and all others in our group were bold enough to cross the bridges. After maybe the third bridge or so I really settled in and even was willing to take my hands off the side ropes in order to take some pictures.

This is the first bridge at the very beginning, doesn't look so high, right?

Maybe a bit scarier now...

Walking from bridge to bridge, terrified at this point I'm sure.

Mike clearly had no fears up here.

Don't look down.

Kakum also is crawling with geckos and while others who are staying in more rural areas said that geckos had become quite boring to them, I never get to see them in Accra. I was thrilled to find this clearly distant cousin of mine sunning himself on a rock, redheads clearly aren’t dying out after all.

We returned to Afia Beach Hotel later in the afternoon and, with some time to kill and the opportunity to have another free meal on Bentley’s tab, we all decided to hang around before heading back to our host families. There was a strong haze coming from the ocean that created some interesting lighting for these pictures. My roommate Max joined the locals for some beach soccer, and some of the other guys went against absolutely everything we were told ahead of time and went for a swim in the ocean.

Probably went overboard with the effects, but it's still kind of cool.

Click on this to see it on Flickr, then click it again for the fullscreen. It's a panorama.

Ghanaians walking the beach, right before a rainstorm.

Max kicking it with the locals.

Eric, right before the ladies started to take notice of him. (Photo credit: Dawn)

Amanda (Photo credit: Dawn)

Dan getting chased by one of the locals (Photo Credit: Dawn)

A great escape from the weekly grind and one which really has me looking forward to the long holiday weekend coming up.

Days 4 & 5 in Ghana

Actually wrote this on days 4 and 5, just getting around to posting now...will put up pictures with it as soon as I can. Pictures up now.

First days with my host family –

Upon returning to Accra, it was time to meet our host families. Max Fluerme and I are staying with a woman named Joyce and her son, Kweku, in downtown Accra. I’m hoping that the commute to work won’t be too bad as traffic in the downtown area has shown to be miserable thus far. Joyce’s story is pretty fascinating and quite tragic and she is putting her son through private school singlehandledly.

Joyce's son, Kweku. Haven't been lucky enough to get a photo of Joyce yet.

She seems to really be pushing Kweku to do well in school so that he can attend a university in the United States. He’s a bright kid and has helped Max and I with some questions we have about living here.

And if ever there was evidence of how small the world really is…..Joyce and Kweku lived in Lawrenceville, Georgia for many years. Kweku was born there and Joyce was there for 14 years. She still visits Lawrenceville quite often. Now, why is that significant? My family will know, but others won’t.

I was born in Lawrenceville and spent the first 8 years of my life there. Joyce literally knows where the street I lived on is. Her hosting me was completely random with the simple exception that she asked for male students – the rest is inexplicable coincidence I guess.

Anyway, her time spent in America has rubbed off on her and her son. I was told I can expect a combination of American and Ghanaian dishes. This might help when I’m really feeling homesick.

The home is really nice although the area we are in is somewhat poverty-stricken (edit: Now that I’ve been here for 2 more weeks, I don’t see the area as I did before. In fact, it’s not so bad after all.) The house is gated and the concrete walls surrounding the property are topped with barbed wire and shards of broken glass that were placed before the walls were completely hardened. Oh, and there’s a Rottweiler that lives exclusively outdoors for security purposes. The windows and doors are also backed with metal bars and the front door has 3 locks all moving in different directions.  At least I feel safe, though. Anyone of the middle class or higher lives in these “security zones”, it simply wouldn’t be safe not to.

Our home!

Barbed wire lining the top of our home's gate.

Joyce has strong political views and oftentimes I find myself on the receiving end of long lectures about the serious corruption in the political system and the greed of government officials (edit: I have learned to love and cherish these conversations. Joyce, Max, and I spent much of the time we’re around the house just sitting and talking, sharing stories, etc. It’s a nice escape from my otherwise hectic work week and the hustle and bustle of downtown Accra). This comes as a bit of a shock as we were told by Ghana’s ambassador to the UN that Ghana’s government is being watched carefully by the media and is entirely transparent with the flow of its revenue.

You might be getting the impression that I’m a bit scared, and I am, but I still find myself being reminded that in large part these are very friendly people. Today at the barbershop (Max and Kweku needed haircuts), I met a Ghanaian who was watching Tom and Jerry episodes on his iPad. He offered to let me use it to browse the internet. I said no, at which point he set the episode to “Full Screen” mode and turned the iPad so we could watch together. I laughed as I watched this man crack up from Tom and Jerry’s antics; he even said it’s his favorite show!

Took this on a rare walk I had the chance to take before it got to work. The highlights in the background are actually from a trash fire someone had started in the neighborhood.

Apologies for not putting more new posts up. My work week is becoming increasingly demanding and I now can expect to log 50+ hours. I can’t even begin to describe the amount I’m learning, though, so I’m grateful for the opportunity. Unfortunately, some of the stresses I left the U.S. to escape have followed me here, and I’d be hard pressed to say that I’m really relaxing. I hope to be more active with my posts in the coming days.

Our street at dusk. You can see the fire on the right.

Class Assignment - Reflection

This is the first of a number of entries that I am required to write to earn a grade for one of the courses for which I'm receiving credit here. I post it elsewhere for the class but figured I'd repost it here for all to see.

1. Describe one experience/incident that has delighted you and reflect on its impact on you and on your attitude going forward.

Perhaps my best experience to date came last Friday night. After work, Max, Joe, and I met up with Mahlet and Niraj, along with Joe’s younger brother, for a night out in Accra. Because of the demands of a full-time job and the importance of first establishing a relationship with my host family, I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to really explore the city. After exploring and eating in Osu and hanging out for a bit at Celsbridge bar, we collectively gathered the courage to give real nightlife a try. When we arrived at Club 11, I was nervous and found myself making up excuses for why it made more sense to just go home. From safety to exhaustion to the cover charge, I kept running through reasons why NOT to try this. Lo and behold, we all ended up going in around 11:45 or so.

It took some nerve (and maybe the help of a drink or two) to get over my fear of embarrassment, but before long I found myself in a dance off with a Ghanaian that must’ve lasted nearly an hour. I am probably the world’s worst dancer, but not once did I feel like I was being laughed at. Throughout the rest of the night I had quite a few more dance offs and found myself surrounded by a small crowd of people on occasion. If you want to hear someone else’s perspective, someone who can more accurately tell you just how bad I am at dancing, ask anyone I went out with that night. By the time we left it was past 3AM and there were still more cars coming in than there were leaving. I don’t know where these people get their energy, but I was wiped by then and was more than ready to go to bed.

What I learned from this experience is that if I am to maximize my enjoyment and my experience here, I need to be willing to take the associated risk. I could quite easily dine American style, travel by taxi, and use the internet and phone all the time to get in touch with home. But by diving into Ghanaian cuisine (even if it might make me sick), taking the ever eventful tro-tro, and spending my nights talking with Joyce and her son or exploring the city, I’m going to walk away a much happier and much more knowledgeable individual.

THEN:

b. Describe one experience/incident that has puzzled or disturbed you and reflect on "why? why? and why else?" you may have reacted as you did. Yes: they "3 whys" strategy works on analyzing yourself, too. Reflect on how you could have reacted differently or handled the situation differently. Thinking of alternatives is sometimes hard: each of us do our absolute best at any given time. If you could have thought of a better alternative at the time, you would have reacted differently. So one of the values of reflection is that we can develop alternatives when we're not under the stress of the situation. That way in the future, in a similar situaton, we will have more alternatives available to choose from.

One experience that has bothered me so far is the presence of begging children. No one incident has particularly set me off, but the frequency with which I’m approached and often subsequently followed or grabbed by children asking for money or food is disturbing, and I’ve found that I don’t react well to these situations. I’m generally a mild-mannered person and I almost never show my anger, so my visible reaction when I’m grabbed and followed by one of these children is not extreme. But inside, I can feel myself really getting upset and even angry. I walk quickly and try to ignore the situation and, if grabbed, shake my arm till I’m let go of. Again, my physical reaction is somewhat modest but my emotional reaction feels extreme.

Why?
I come from a place where homelessness is not prevalent. I’m not used to seeing it and the disturbing thoughts that it brings about make me uncomfortable and upset. I’ve certainly seen plenty of homeless people before, but I have never been grabbed or followed by a homeless person in the U.S. I expect someone homeless to be lying down with a can or hat next to them, hoping that people’s good nature will leave the sufferer a bit better off. This difference frustrates me.

Why?
I am a white man in a black culture. This makes me a target, as my whiteness translates into wealth. This bothers me, and I become all the more defensive as a result. It upsets me that these children see me and, in some strange way, know that they can take advantage of me. In the moment, my guard comes up and I don’t handle the situation well. I should be more conscious of the fact that these children are seeing me like a salesman sees his wealthiest client, there is no malice involved.

Why else?
The most compelling reason to me: I believe confidently that if I found myself in this situation of despair, I would still refuse to resort to begging with such persistence. It is one thing to ask for help but another all together to become a nuisance in doing so. This is how I feel initially. But again, after dwelling on this a bit further I realize that I’m in no position to claim I’d be any less persistent than the beggars are. How would I know? I should be more conscious of the desperation these children may be feeling.

Day 3 in Ghana

***I actually wrote this on my third day in Ghana but am just getting around to posting it now.

Today was incredible for a number of reasons. It was our last full day as a group and we certainly maximized the time together. Starting early, we rode a short distance to the nearby Monkey Sanctuary. I’d been eagerly anticipating this trip after hearing about it back in April. The village in which this sanctuary is located relies on this ecotourism and has developed rapidly as a result of proceeds from the entry fees charged to visitors. 200 acres of land are protected and the monkeys within are thriving.

Our guide helped us navigate through the forest to find the monkeys – and the rest is best told through photos.

Look at the concentration of these monkeys: they wanted our bananas pretty badly.

These monkeys are considered the “gods of their land” historically, and are divided into 5 territorial groups, each with 1 leader. It is extremely important that the leader, the biggest in the group, be fed before the others. Once the guide fed the leader, the rest of the monkeys stormed us, often times pouncing to grab our bananas before climbing back into the trees to eat them.

I, however, was lucky enough to have a monkey jump on my shoulder and walk up my arm to eat right off of my wrist. What an amazing feeling. I was told that monkeys are not willing to jump on everyone – if they sense fear, they won’t jump – I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

Thanks to Professor Kellogg for this picture. This one will definitely bring back memories for a long time.

Professor Kellogg was also one of the lucky ones. I’m really glad I was able to get this picture – she wanted to send this picture to her granddaughter who has a love for monkeys.

Michael Fox (NOT Michael J Fox) also got lucky. He’s spending the summer at Deloitte.

From left to right: Katherine, a little boy who followed us down the trail, Max, and Michelle.

Continuing our day, everyone in the group opted to go for a 4-5 mile hike through the nearby mountainside.We were cautioned by one of our professors that the hike was not for the faint of heart, and that many students who hiked it on the spring class trip called it “the most dangerous thing they’d ever done.” 

This was the first time I felt as though I was in the Africa I’d seen in movies and on TV. We were led by a machete-wielding Ghanaian through lush jungle, passing some pretty nasty biting ants and other unusual insects along the way. There were thousands of these ants on the path and a few people In our group nearly gave up early after being bitten over and over again.

Wild pineapple along our hiking trail.

To conclude the hike we were tasked with descending a 20 foot vertical drop via a rope and a few slippery rock outcrops. We were hiking less than an hour after a rainstorm and this made everything difficult. My shoes are likely ruined as I (and the rest of the group) had to wade through a few feet of water just to keep moving on the trail. I’ve never been one to consider myself a risk-taker, but today I, alongside our entire group, was. We all made the descent down to the bottom of a waterfall where the previous trip’s group had swam (we had no such luck as the result of the rainstorm), and then all climbed back up that same cliff.

Joe had knee high waterproof boots so he volunteered to help some of the group cross the river. By the time he reached the other side though, his boots had filled up with water.

This was at the beginning of the part of the trail that was guided by rope. Things got steeper from here.

If you look at the girl in the white at the front of the line you can see the beginning of the vertical drop. We all made the trip, so maybe I’m just exaggerating its intensity.

The reward for our tiring hike - a roaring waterfall.

We met this man at Mountain Paradise. He was getting some R&R before returning to Accra to continue his work for Engineers Without Borders. 

View from the hike on our return.

And this evening, we were treated to drumming and dancing with local villagers. We (yes, me included) danced alongside them around a bonfire for a few hours. I didn’t take any pictures as I wanted to enjoy the experience, but I think others took about 100 of me, so those can be expected sometime in the future. I can’t tell you how welcoming these people really are, I made a complete fool of myself and not once did I feel that the Ghanaians were laughing at me. In fact, they were thrilled that we were willing to participate in their dancing - a very special ending to an unforgettable day.

Just your average millipede (centipede?) outside my bedroom at Mountain Paradise.