Lovely People in Ghana

Our port was Takoradi and we had no expectations for Ghana. Within about one hour of walking around the town, we fell in love with the people and country. The markets were filled with amazing colors, unusual smells, warm, smiley people, and unknown foods (such as super-sized snails—with shells easily the diameter of a softball, a wide variety of animal feet, and much more, along with their common foods of cassava, yam, fish, and vibrant vegetables). While walking around the narrow corridors, the Ghanaians would ask our names and welcome us into their market (while rarely asking us to buy, unlike Morocco). A few cheered for Obama. One woman grabbed me to tell me how much she loved Americans…but, she was sad because we didn’t love Ghana. Of course, I insisted that this was not the case. When stopped at a security checkpoint, a Ghanaian policeman with an AK-47 approached the cab seriously. Once he saw us, his eyes lit up, his mouth widened to a massive grin and he said ecstatically, “White people! Where are you from?” I have rarely been the minority Caucasian; and in this instance, I have never felt so comfortable, safe, and welcomed.

The second day, a group of us took a cooking class in Cape Coast from a nonprofit, Global Mamas, where we learned how to cook and eat red-red with fufu, a veggie dish with yams, and fried plantains with beans. I valued the ability to connect the foods we saw yesterday in the market with their utility. Unfortunately, it became a bit like Thanksgiving dinner where it takes endless hours to cook the meal. We didn’t eat until seven hours later! We were insanely hungry and I knew the outcome would not be fruitful for me. I did like the fried plantains with beans. Chris enjoyed most of the dishes (including my share). But most important, it was superb to watch a Ghanaian woman in her home using the countries’ ingredients to create a meal for us to enjoy. Since we didn’t expect it to take seven hours, we had to run quickly to the nearby slave castle and dungeons for a tour before closing. Cape Coast was at one point in history the largest export point for slave trafficking to the rest of the world. Many African Americans in the US can trace their family history through the castle gate we walked through. We grabbed a taxi home from a Ghanaian who loved the music of Eminem ad Rhianna (thankfully, as many Ghanaian love Celine Dion).

The next day, we were given free tickets to go on an excursion to a water village called Nzulezo. We love the word “free” and couldn’t pass it up. The water village consists of homes on stilts and according to local lore; it was built on the water upon village ancestors deciding to follow a snail. The snail guided their community away from a tribal conflict to a more peaceful place to live, and the village remains in isolation along a wide, serene river. It was tranquil to be in the canoes on the water to and from this village; however, the village itself was extremely uncomfortable. With 12,000 visitors a year, it was clear the people in this village had mixed feelings about tourism. It felt like we were intruding and viewing another form of poverty in Ghana – this time, poverty on stilts. In general, the poverty was omnipresent in Ghana; and yet, the people were incredibly happy. It almost made it easy to deny the poverty before our eyes. A number of people on the ship remarked how the people seemed happier without material goods, but we felt such statements seemed to serve as a way for privileged people to argue even basic material necessities aren’t a prerequisite for happiness. It was still clear most Ghanaians were desperate for basic essentials, such as clean water and adequate housing.



Our last excursion and day in Ghana was a hike in the rain forest, Ansaka National Park. This proved to be an adventure with the bus getting stuck in massive amounts of mud on the road and a torrential downpour during our hike. We were all a bit muddy, sticky from deet, and wet; but thankfully, we were able to top the day off with a yummy meal on the beach on our way home and laugh about the day’s adventures.