All I can say about Ghana is that it was absolutely wild. This was my first experience in Africa, and it was definitely one for the books!

The first day I organized a group to go surfing at a local beach. The ship was docked in Tema which is just a shipping port, and we soon discovered that we were no where close to Accra the city center or the beach. When we first got off the ship we were like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get cedi (Ghanaian money). Then we spent time trying to haggle with taxi drivers to take us to the beach.

The entire group was experiencing culture shock, and it was definitely a stressful experience. After getting lost twice, we finally made our way to the beach. We surfed all afternoon, and I even stood up on the board a few times! We had the entire beach to ourselves. After surfing we were starving, so we headed into Accra for lunch. We met a group of locals and they took us to a local restaurant. They taught us how to eat traditional Ghanaian food, we ate fufu and banku. The entire group eats from the same bowl and you can only eat with your right hand.

After lunch we went to the local markets for shopping. The exchange rate for Ghanaian money is extremely advantageous to American travelers with an exchange rate of 5 cedi for 1 USD. It felt like I was playing with Monopoly money in these markets because I could buy everything for super cheap with the awesome conversion rate!

We headed back to the ship for dinner. My roommate, Lily, has a family friend who is from Ghana. The family friend planned an entire day trip for a group of 20 of us. He and his friends picked us up from the ship after dinner and showed us around the city. Later that night we got a police escort to a club. It was such an awesome experience to meet tons of locals. The locals there were so welcoming and friendly! Lily's friend had rented out an entire apartment complex for us so at the end of the night we drove an hour to get there.

In the morning I woke up to a strange Ghanaian man standing over me, He told me that the coffee was ready. I quickly got ready and headed out to the courtyard. We started our journey by eating breakfast in a treehouse restaurant. Breakfast is pretty simple here, it's usually just chicken and rice. We drove way out into the country to see the three pronged palm tree. It was next to a tiny village. There is a legend that states if you climb this palm tree, you will have triplets! I did climb the tree, but let’s hope that I don't have triplets! Our next stop was at Boti falls. This waterfall was absolutely gorgeous. It was flooding so we couldn't get as close as you normally can. While we were at the waterfall, we witnessed a goat sacrifice. The locals led a goat and two chicken down to the basin of the falls. They were sacrificing these animals in order to please the Water God is that flooding of that waterfall would be stopped. It was so amazing to witness something like that, and it was definitely an experience I don't think I'll ever have again. After that we enjoyed some fanice which is the best ice cream I have ever had in my life. We ended up driving around the country of Ghana for 7 hours in a beat up Camry! It was so wonderful to be able to hang out with locals and see a country from the perspective of locals. My new Ghanaian friends called me "Fire Lady" because they had never seen a sunburn before and they thought my skin was on fire! I got back on the ship, and we sailed off to Takoradi.

Today I traveled on a field program to the Kakum Canopy walk. We hiked in a forest and walked up in the canopy. At the highest point we were 140 ft up the air on manmade bridges! It was amazing to see the diverse wildlife of Africa in person. However, The Kakum Forest is a protected National Park, all of the animals in the park are nocturnal so I didn't get to see any wild animals while I was there! After our hike we headed to a local place for lunch. I have to say that Ghanaian pineapple is the best fruit I have ever had in my life. We also enjoyed Jollof rice and fried plantains. I had no idea that Ghanaian food was so good! Then a local drumming group came and performed for us. They even let me get up on stage and taught me how to play the drum. I learned a few traditional Ghanaian beats.

The last day in Ghana I visited the Atonkwa village. While at this village I participated in a traditional naming ceremony. My traditional Akan name is "Araba Mensiwa”. During the ceremony the sweetest little girl climbed up into my lap, and she did not leave my side the entire day. All of the kids in the village were so much fun, and I loved playing with them. After a long ceremony in the sweltering heat, we went to lunch. We were pleasantly shocked when we walked into the restaurant because it was a huge hut that overlooked a spotless beach. We enjoyed more amazing food! (I will miss Ghana pineapple so much.) After lunch we hung out on the beach for a while. I found a beached sea urchin and saved its life by placing it back in the tide pools. At the end of the day we went back home to the ship and bid a farewell to Ghana.