COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care work
WRITTEN BY: Michael Paton
Here we are, the final blog of Ghana group 2013. It's been an incredible journey leading up to this point, and it is time for us to bid farewell to this wonderful country and it's people. First we will cover our two weeks of travel in which we had the opportunity to explore the mysterious Northern Region of Ghana. We went to Tamale, a big city in the north, where we spent a night next to a Mosque (4am wake ups are just great!).
From there we made our way to Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary, where we spent three nights at a small lodge, cooking our own food, going on an amazing river safari where we said hello to 7 different Hippos, and camped out in a treehouse hippo hide where we were able to hear the hippos as the fed at night! We also did an insightful cultural tour through the local village compound, where they practice traditional African spirituality, complete with a Witch Doctor! We also had an incredible coincidence as we came across a group with two Australians, who were staying in the same spot as us! It was lovely to hear an Aussie accent once again!
We moved on from Wechiau to the notorious Ghanaian Safari hotspot, Mole National Park, where we spent two days doing safaris and chilling by the pool. A wonderful haven for a bit of relaxation and recuperation! On the safaris, both in 4WD and on foot, we managed to sight many classic African creatures: antelope, warthog, baboon, and the mighty African Elephant to name just a few!
After Mole we decided to split up to follow different agendas, as some of us wanted to explore more of the North and other new places, and others wanted to make their way eventually back to the orphanage in Swedru to say one last goodbye. So here are the two accounts!
Grace, Chloe, Ella and Michael
We moved on from Mole to make our way down to Hohoe. To break up the journey we stopped over for a night in Bimbilla, a small Muslim village that is relatively untouched by white people. We had a fun experience finding accommodation on the fly, and made our way the next morning to Hohoe, the main city connecting the East.
In Hohoe, we stayed at a wonderful hostel (also on the fly) and were able to explore for two days, firstly doing a bit of shopping (fabric fabric fabric!) and on the second day going to the tallest waterfalls in West Africa, Wli Falls. We had an incredible experience, and then made our way to Akuse, a small village where, after staying one night, we boarded a ferry on the Volta River, which took us from the centre of the country, down to the coast, in a day.
Our accommodation was a small island resort which sits in between the Volta river and the corresponding South Atlantic Ocean. It was a relaxing three days as we were the only ones there and we were able to celebrate Michael's birthday with a tour to the local island rum distillery, shouting him a bottle of sugar cane rum! We have since made our way back into Accra and are very sad to say goodbye to this wonderful country.
Rachel, Keyla, Brenna and Bianca
We spent the rest of our travel time going first to Kumasi, where we had some amazing authentic Indian! Then we moved on to Cape Coast, to return to the infamous Oasis Beach resort, where we relaxed and partied for a few days! Then Rachel and Keyla decided to split of while Bianca and Brenna continued relaxing at Oasis. Rachel and Keyla went Bosua, where they enjoyed wonderful beaches and great shopping! To finish, we all headed into Swedru to spend one last day with the kids. It was amazing to see the kids one last time, and we are sad to say good bye again, but are glad we were able to see them once more.
So as we bid farewell to this amazing country, we must say MEDA ASE PA PA PA (thank you so much) to our parents who supported us coming here, and of course Antips for being there for us along the whole journey. This experience will be a permanent memory for us for the rest of our lives.
Yours truly,
Ella, Keyla, Brenna, Chloe, Bianca, Grace and Michael
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