Sorry, long time no blog

As of Friday, I'm officially done with my semester (or at least the class part). Last week was a little stressful with papers and exams and that's why I haven't written anything in awhile. After this message, it may be a little while again. Tomorrow, I leave for Kumasi and I'll be there until Wednesday. On Thursday I will leave for the Volta Region with Joel, Melinda, and Melissa and we'll be there for about a week. I probably wont update until at least then. Once I get back from the Volta Region, I'll have about three days here in Accra, a night or two at Brenu Beach for our final retreat, and then a couple days here again until I fly back to Michigan.

Volta Region Trip

The Volta Region was so beautiful. Much of the region is very rural with small villages (at least in the area we traveled around in) and there is nature everywhere...mountains to climb, waterfalls to see, rainforests to hike through, etc. There is a pretty big focus on ecotourism here so it was the type of place that I really liked to spend some time. I liked it so much in fact, that I'm pretty sure that I'll spend at least part of my free travel time in a couple weeks back in this area. If my scenario works out perfectly, I'll also spend a little time in Benin.

Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary

Wli Falls

Adaklu Mountain
Freedom Hotel (in Ho)

Togo

A couple weekends ago, five of us decided to get out of the country for the weekend, so we headed to Togo. This involved spending Wednesday afternoon getting passport pictures taken and applying for a Togolese visa (and getting lunch at Frankies). On Friday morning, Joel, Anna, Sarah, Stephanie, and I grabbed a trotro heading for the border town of Aflao and hopped on. Once at the border (about 2 1/2 hours later) we got out and crossed on foot. After entering Togo, I was very glad we had Stephanie along because there wasn't an ounce of English spoken. We grabbed a taxi and headed to Hotel Le Galion in Lome where we got dinner, planned out the rest of the weekend, and stayed the night. On Saturday morning we woke up and walked along the beach which was only a block or two from our hotel. We came back and got breakfast and then decided to get a tour of the city on motorbikes. We rode past some pretty cool buildings downtown, through the market, and along the beach. It was an amazing ride and probably one of the best parts of Togo. We got back to our hotel and decided to head a little further East to stay the next night. We loved the motorbike ride so much that we decided to ride them to our next destination, Chez Alice, just east of Lome. After getting our bungalow, we walked down the road in search of some lunch, and with the help of a couple nice ladies, we were successful at finding some good spaghetti. Later, we walked along the beach and found a place to hang out. We met another nice Togolese lady who wanted to practice her English, and we stayed on the beach to watch the sun set. For dinner, we headed to a really nice hotel and got some delicious salads. We relaxed on the beach under the starlight before heading back to our bungalow to sleep. Our bungalow had two beds covered with mosquito netting. The three girls shared the bigger of the two beds and us guys had to share a twin bed that had a mattress made of foam...not comfortable at all. I felt like I was in a hospital bed that was folding up on me because my butt was sagging a foot or two lower than my head and legs. In the morning, we walked down the road to get a little breakfast, relaxed a little bit at Chez Alice, and then headed back to the University. It was a successful trip and a relaxing weekend. It was a little difficult, though, not really being able to communicate with anybody, although that was a feeling I'm glad I was able to experience.

We took a walk along the beach in the morning before breakfast

Breakfast at the hotel...the ham and cheese omelette was sooo good, but sooo greasy

Me on the motorbike...ready to tour Lome

A really cool building in Lome

Chez Alice

Our bungalow

One of the pet monkeys at Chez Alice (and Stephanie found out that he does attack if you get to close)

Some of the decorative furniture at Chez Alice

A group pic at the beach

Heading back to Ghana

Northern Region - Part 4

Mole National Park

Larabanga Mosque
Some of us made a short trip to Larabanga mosque while we were staying at Mole NP. It was definitely a worthwhile experience. The mosque was built in the late 1400s, which makes it the oldest mosque in Ghana, and the architecture is very unique, to say the least. It is made of mud and sticks, but looks quite nice. It has withstood the test of time and is still being used by the people of the town today as a mosque. The town of Larabanga is 100% Muslim.