From Accra to Kumasi

Getting to Kumasi  4/27/12 The last 48 hours has been quite an adventure. We left SLC at 11:13 AM on April 25 and have just arrived at our final destination in Kumasi, April 27 at 2 PM MST, 8 PM Ghana time. Our flight from Seattle to Amsterdam was interesting because we all thought our plane would be flying across the United States and then to Amsterdam from the East coast. However, our flight actually flew North-East, flying somewhere near the North pole. The sunset on that particular flight was breath taking. Unfortunately, as usual, the photos that we took didn't do near the justice of the actual sight. Amsterdam, as I had expected, was awesome. We only had an 8 hour layover there, so we got about 3 hours of actual sight seeing time. The weather was overcast while the temperature was about 50 degrees. Aside from the weather, Amsterdam was beautiful. The buildings are AMAZING and look very European. I found it interesting that in the red light district, they actually had windows with women standing in them with red lights shining on them for people to choose who they "want". I was under the impression that there was just red porch lights... I slept all but 1 hour of 7 on our flight from Amsterdam to Accra, Ghana. Ghana is EXTREMELY humid. So as we were landing, our AC coming into the plane was actually appearing as mist, which was a little scary before we realized what the heck it was! It was very strange once we got out of the airport and started walking towards our bus. Flocks of people were trying to help carry our luggage, insisting we give them a tip. And they somehow knew our names. They wouldn't take no for an answer, so the majority of us just let them take our carts anyway. At the end, they demanded their tips. One girl gave her luggage helper a handful of starbursts. The first night we slept at a little hotel in Accra where we served a "continental buffet", consisting of rice, chicken, and pineapple. We were all grateful for the hospitality, and the pineapple was SO GOOD! It was slightly different because it was almost white in color, but nevertheless, delicious. I may have set a new record for the fastest fall asleep time. The next day, today, was extremely enlightening. It was the first time I got to see Africa in person with the sun shining. Before arriving in Africa, I was under the impression that it would be mostly desert-like conditions. However, Ghana, from what I have seen, is mostly forest. This country is so beautiful! We left our hotel at 9 AM local time, after eating breakfast, pineapple and omelette with onion, and checking out the lizards. We all piled into our bus, expecting a 6 hour drive from Accra to Kumasi. However, it took 10 hours! About 2 hours into our trip, we hit a detour, which took us from the highway and onto a mostly GRASS trail. WITH A TOUR BUS! Traffic in Ghana is a nightmare. Horns are used as a friendly "I'm coming up in your left" or "I'm going to pass you, even though there is a car coming right at me and I'm probably going to crash" type of gesture. Motorcycles have the right of way to drive in-between cars in their lanes. Pedestrians absolutely do not have the right-of-way. For the majority of the 10 hour drive, small stands, similar to lemonade stands, were set up with various merchandise for sale, side by side. individuals were walking and running with baskets and boxes on their heads with fresh fruits and vegetables, water, ice cream, etc. Huge semis carrying gasoline have signs on the back that say "highly flammable, no smoking", while others say "highly INflammable, no smoking". The grass, as I quickly found out, was the least of my worries. Shortly into the detour, we were going into these huge dips in the trail filled with mud and water! Several times I was worried about the bus tipping and was considering preparing to jump sideways. Once we turned onto another highway at the end of the 2 mile grass/mud trail, I thought our detour was over. Nope! We still had miles to go on a very hilly, on again, mostly off again paved road. It was very wide, which enabled cars to weave in and out on either side of our tour bus going both directions. FINALLY, after several hours of this, we passed the detour, and ate food, which, again, consisted of rice and chicken. Shortly after we started driving again, we hit another detour. This detour brought us through a busy city, which took HOURS to get through. The roadside markets are wild. Children are running with the pace of your vehicle trying to sell their goods. People are crossing through moving traffic. The sound of horns is constant. Even though I've had a crazy day, I am happy. I am able to be here, somewhere that is so different from what I've ever known. Africa is wild, crazy, adventurous, fun. Just what I'm looking for this summer.