We ported in Tema and Takoradi, Ghana for four days and spent that time attending field classes, programs and independent travel itineraries.
While I was in Tema, I traveled about an hour into the city of Accra to walk around in the shops and markets in the streets. There were a few massive markets that sold every possible thing from clothes to food and house-ware items to automobile parts. The livelihood of the markets buzzed around me and my friends as we navigated through the crowded streets and among the temporary tent shops. All of my senses were stimulated as I tried to take in everything in my surroundings while also not trying to lose sight of my group as we pushed through the hundreds of people shopping in the market. The hustle-and-bustle of the markets had my head reeling.
After I spent my time walking around in Accra and the markets, a group of my friends and I taxied to Chenku Falls an hour and a half outside of the city center. The drive to the waterfall was a great way to see the diversity among the different terrains of the country of Ghana. We went through the city life, urban neighborhoods and the vast countryside. The most interesting thing I saw was the street vendors walking through the lanes of traffic selling a variety of goods. They were selling everything from snacks to windshield wipers and everything inbetween! They also carried their transportable shops in baskets atop their heads, it was both intriguing and mind-boggling. They walked with baskets up to 50 pounds balancing on their heads with such ease and never missing a beat in their step, I still can’t wrap my brain around how their heads could balance the bulky items with such grace!
Chenku Falls was a magnificent hike and view. Standing in the river at the bottom of the waterfall and gazing up at the rushing water cascading down towards me made me feel so small. It was a surreal feeling as it reminded me how little I am on this grand Earth.
The grounds surrounding the river flowing away from the falls were littered with so much trash and my heart ached…. As I reflect on my stay in Ghana, I remember seeing trash littering the streets everywhere as Ghana does not have a well-organized or well-implemented plan of waste management. Seeing the state of Ghana ankle-deep in plastics waste really hit home for me and made the plastics banning movements around the world so much more relevant for me personally. I plan on committing myself to limiting my plastic consumption much more than I have been in order to play my role in cleaning-up and protecting our Earth from the harsh consequences of plastic disposals. I encourage all my friends and family to also make changes to your plastic usage to help our home-planet.
We spent about an hour exploring around Chenku Falls with our taxi drivers and a local boy (who lives near the falls and offered to show us around and hike with us). It was great getting to spend time with them and learning more about their culture and lives. It was time well-spent with friends old and new alike! Afterwards, our taxi drivers drove us back to Accra where our newfound friendships were greatly tested… We spent 35 minutes on the side of the road arguing with our taxi drivers on how much we were willing to pay for our taxi rides. Taxis in Ghana are not metered and passengers are to negotiate prices with the drivers according to time and distance traveled. Our boisterous and eccentric argument quickly drew the attention of nearby street vendors who wandered over and began arguing with our drivers on our behalf. We finally came to an agreement which was a little more than what we initially offered up and hastily made our escape from the haggling street vendors and taxi drivers.
We ate dinner at a local bar and grill called The Republic that had amazing fried egg rice bowls. And I tried goat meat for the first time which was so delicious! After dinner we walked down Oxford Street, the main street through Accra, and looked in a few shops until we took the shuttle bus back to the ship to travel to the next port: Takoradi.
-Jaiden Lynn 🙂
Journeys with Jaiden 