Beachy Keen!

At 5:30 a.m., Sam checked her phone to see what time it was, and all four of us said, "Thank God someone else is awake!" None of us had slept much during the night. The room was completely dark (as the windows were boarded shut), and the beds slanted, which produced an unbelievable feeling of vertigo.

We ate breakfast by the beach, and decided to look for another hotel where we could get a decent night's sleep, not to mention a shower. We walked along the about 25 yards and found a nice two story blue house called the Korkor Inn. It was more expensive than the first place, but the view down to the beach was worth it.

We spent the rest of the day sunbathing in the sun, splashing in the water, and exploring the beach. In the afternoon, we even saw a fishing crew bring in their boat.

For dinner, we went back to Big Millie's to watch a traditional African dance performance by Kokrobite school children. After waking up early and being in the sun all day, we were all tired and passed out early.

The White House and Big Millie's

During class, we were able to tour the seat of the Ghanaian government. The "White House" is a former slave castle that has been the seat of the government since independence. The president does not reside there, and because of the former history of the place, plans are in place for the construction of a new executive building.

During our tour, we were able to meet with the press secretary and ask questions relevant to our projects. We also toured the gardens. They were stunning, but unfortunately, no pictures were allowed.

Afterward, five of us (Aisha, Sam, Suzanne, Will, and I) packed our bags for Kokrobite, a beach village about an hour outside of Accra. We crammed into one cab and began driving. Although our driver, Joshua, only asked for 20 cedis, we payed him 30 after putting up with us for so long. He also bribed his way through the police barricade (we had too many people) and drove us down a road that was filled with washboards, bumps, and ridges.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, Big Millie's Backyard, for the night. The 5 of us were sharing one room without running water or air-conditioning, but it was a blast! We had drinks on the beach as the fishing boats returned for the night, then took turns reading Pride and Prejudice before finally falling asleep.

Where's the Ghana Wildlife Society?

We don't have class on Wednesdays, so we split us to do research and reporting for our projects.

I had found a website for the Ghana Wildlife Society, but there was no email address or phone number. There was an address though, so I figured there would be no harm done if I simply showed up. My friend Sam had nothing to do that day, so she decided to come with me.

Many streets in Accra don't have addresses, so directions are given based on nearby landmarks. So based on the directions from the website, we told the taxi driver to take us to Efua Sutherland Children's Park after bargaining for a better price.

The cab dropped us off at the park, but there was no obvious Ghana Wildlife center. So we started walking. We found a church and asked for directions, but the security guard had no idea where we were trying to go. So we kept walking until we found a collection of government ministries. We walked into the Ministry of Culture, and there were able to tell us that the Wildlife Society was past the library.

At the library, they told us it was around the corner. Around the corner, they told us it was just up the street. Just up the street, they told us it was through the next gate. After asking each person that we met for more specific directions, we finally found it. After waiting for a few minutes, I was able to schedule an interview for next week!

We rushed back to meet our vans, which were taking us to a craft market. We wandered among the stalls, admiring carvings; jewelry; drums; and fabric. I was able to purchase a lot of my souvenirs and bought fabric for future dresses.

Interview at Ghana Forest Watch

For my final journalism project, I am reporting on the links between cocoa farming and deforestation. Ghana's main export is cocoa, but tourism is being affected by the loss of virgin rainforest that cocoa farming causes.

Today, I had an interview with Rebecca Teiko Dottey, who is the coordinator of Ghana Forest Watch. Forest Watch is an organization that advocates for sustainable forest use and farmers' rights. Rebecca explained that because most cocoa farmers are sharecroppers, it is more economically beneficial to harvest the timber. Government policy does not promote sustainable use or longterm development.

After the interview, Rebecca offered to take me to the Western Region. She was leading a group that would visit five cocoa farms that had created a community forest use program. Although my professor gave me permission, I needed to be in photojournalism class for a trip to Abury gardens. I will just have to visit a cocoa farm on my own.

Back to Accra

My roommate Emily and I had breakfast at the hotel. Then she went to the beach, and I went into Cape Coast. Some of our group went to the Cape Coast Market, while the rest of us went to Cape Coast Castle.

The castle is another slave castle, but it was built and controlled by the British. While the construction and materials of the two castles was similar, Cape Coast Castle seemed more cruel. There was even less light and ventilation in the slave dungeons and cells. During the tour, we walked through the door of no return like slaves did to board ships carrying them to Europe or America. Today, the harbor contain hundreds of fishing boats.

We checked out of our hotel and drove back to Accra. But the 3-hour drive lasted almost 7 hours. A political rally for the New Patriotic Party (currently in power) filled the streets and blocked traffic. My friend Sam grabbed her notebook, I grabbed my camera, and we got off the bus to do some reporting.

By the time we got home it was much later than anticipated, and we were all hungry. The supermarket was closed so four of us went to Papaye, a fast-food (relative) restaurant in Osu. Afterward, we went to Creamy Inn for an ice cream dessert.

Cape Coast

At 6:15 a.m., we all piled onto a bus to go to Cape Coast, a coastal fishing city west of Accra. We arrived in Cape Coast 3 hours later, and checked into the Coconut Grove Beach Resort in Elmina, ten minutes from Cape Coast. Because our day was full, we didn't have time to go to our rooms. We just left everything but our cameras in the lobby, and got back on the bus.

Our first stop was Elmina Castle, a slave castle built by the Portuguese. In history class, we learned about slave trading after slaves were already on a boat. It was intense and emotional to see the conditions in which people were forced to live. The women's dungeon still smells after 300 years of vomit, blood, urine, and feces.

We ate lunch at Hans Cottage Botel (a boat-hotel), which is made of huts build over a pond filled with Nile Crocodiles. It's hard to forget I'm in Africa while eating red red (beans and fried plantains in a spicy tomato sauce) and watching crocodiles laze in the sun.

After lunch, we drove to Kakum National Forest. which is a deciduous rainforest. We hiked across Kakum's canopy walk, which is made of cargo net and wooden planks. The bridge was about a foot wide at the base and rose to over 120 feet at its highest point. Although it swayed and shook as people climbed over it (some clinging to the rope as much as possible), It was amazing to look down on the underbrush from the tops of the trees.

We had a traditional Ghanaian dinner at our hotel with locally caught fish. After dinner, the hotel built a bonfire on the beach and served us palm wine in halved coconut shells. We danced to music around the fire and explored the beach in the moonlight. None of us had on our swimsuits, but we ran into the ocean anyway. Sitting by the fire before going to bed, salt began to crystalize on my clothes as they started to dry.

A Quest for Cheesecake!

A couple of us spent Thursday evening at a local jazz bar, called Jazz Tones. When the waitress gave us the money, we immediately decided to order cheesecake. Unfortunately, there was no cheesecake. Disappointed, we ordered bowls of ice cream--no ice cream. Giving up, I ordered a Pina Colada, but they couldn't make it: it had ice cream in it.

After all of us settled on something to eat and drink, we enjoyed the music. The singer and owner is an American ex-pat, who just recently bought Jazz Tones. Toward the end of the night, she came over to talk to us. Because she is transforming the place and changing what is offered, she tells the wait staff not to give out menus.

The next morning, we decided to find cheesecake. Sunshine Cafe, where we usually go to dinner, always has cheesecake in their display case. We went for lunch, and ended up ordering sandwiches instead because... there was no cheesecake. There were cupcakes, carrot bread, and lemon coconut cake, but the delicious cranberry cheesecake that is always sitting there was not sitting there.

At this point, not finding cheesecake was no longer an option. We took a cab to Koala and headed straight for the bakery. There it was, with a toasted cream coating and graham cracker crust. With our cheesecake and a small tub of ice cream, we checked out.

Back in the dorms, we decided to watch A Knight's Tale to commemorate the end of our quest. We sat down with our ice cream and cheesecake and took a bite... it was not true cheesecake. Instead, it was similar to a sponge cake, not bad, but not cheesecake. Oh well. We finished our movie and went to bed, since Saturday was going to come early.