Maa Che Ghana

Maa che (good morning) Ghana. Today was the best single day experience on SAS.... yet. I started off the day quite early, getting up at 6am to watch us dock at Takoradi. First thing that hit me was that at 6am, it was already daylight outside, with the sun shining brightly. This was most interesting because when we were getting in Cadiz, the sun did not even start rising until 8:00am, and it was already up at 6am here. At the front of the ship, there were a lot fewer people than there were when we were docking in Spain. This was a nice thing though, because I was able to enjoy the moment since there were no noisy people destroying the ambiance. Once getting out on to the deck, the first thing I noticed in the water was a very small wooden plank with a tiny tree tied to it. Intriguing. Then in the horizon, I noticed a small silhouette in the distance. Someone yelled, "shark!" But I didn't buy it. As we got closer, we saw that it was just a very small fishing boat throwing out these tree-on-a-plank things into the water (most likely fishing net tied to these planks), and the people on the boat waved to us, and we waved back. First interaction with Ghanaian people. Then near the horizon, we saw a decent-sized splash, and a mist of water shoot out: whales (we also saw a few dolphins a little bit before this, but they didn't jump out of the water; just saw their fins).  As we got closer to the port, we saw more fishing boats and tree-planks, and we got this sudden whiff of a rusty, ash smell that followed us all the way into the port. We docked alongside a ship from Germany, and another from Singapore. The city definitely looked much smaller than the past two cities we docked at (Cadiz and Casablanca), but I was quite excited to meet the people of Ghana, who are said to be very friendly and helpful. After a quick breakfast, I met up with Nick, Ben, and Jacob to finalize our plans for the day. Since Ben was still waiting for his Ghana visa to be processed, we decided to just head into the city for lunch, get back to pick up our passports, and then take a bus to some random city. Little did we know where our path would actually take us today. Immediately after getting off of the ship, we found out why Ghanaians had a reputation for being friendly. So many of the locals, were calling to us and welcoming us to Ghana, and a very large number of them were cheering to me. I was wearing the Manchester United Jersey that Yash got me when he went on SAS, and apparently Ghanaians are huge ManU fans. People were yelling at me happily, giving me thumbs ups, pumping their hands in the air in support, and a large number of them just walked up to me and introduced themselves. I personally am not a ManU fan (I just have the jersey), but I played along because it felt good to "fit in." The first person who introduced himself, was a man by the name of Samwell who was a local salesman. We talked for some time about soccer (aka football in the world, aside from the US), and he agreed to make us custom named bracelets. We continued our walk in the port, which took us 10 minutes (not as bad as Casablanca, which was a 20 minute walk) with more Ghanaians calling out to us. Never in my life, have I felt so much friendliness from such complete strangers, not even on the first few days of the voyage when everyone was trying to meet everyone. The locals would just walk up to us, and ask us who we are, where we are from, if we need help getting somewhere or needed suggestions of places to go, etc. Right when we got out of the port, a man asked us if we knew where we were going, and then gave us directions to the town center and the bus stations. While walking up the path towards the city (which was through a foresty area), a taxi dropped off two young-adult Ghanaians in front of us. These guys then started talking with us, and like the others asked us if we needed help, and then actually decided to show us the city on their own time. Something like that has never happened in my whole life. I mean just think about it, a person offering some random tourists he will most likely never see again in his whole life a tour of the city just so that you can feel comfortable and see the real side of his country. These guys were apparently best friends, and both of them also happened to be name Robert. So Robert and Robert (I will refer to them as R singularly or RnR for both) lead us towards the city and market, talking to us about general info about Ghana, the life, their own lives, what they want to do with their lives, and it was all so much fun. And it was only 11am. In Takoradi we tried various banks to exchange money, but they all had long lines. So RnR took us to the city's center (the market) where they took us to a sketchy looking road, that had a federal exchange bureau. The atmosphere there was amazing. People were everywhere walking, talking to each other, and saying hi to us. There were not many cars (which is a great thing) outside the port. This place is definitely the first culture "shock" for me, and I'm sure many others as well. The buildings were old, there were very few restaurants (mostly side stall vendors), the people were ridiculously friendly, and there was a very active environment (I know that I've been saying that for a number of places, but its true). We wanted to get some food, and so RnR took us down some rural roads and areas, from asphalt to dust, and brought us to "The Secret Hideaway" (a well-chosen name). The place looked kind of questionable at first, but we trusted RnR and it paid off. The food was very good, I got steamed rice that came with a tomato and onion "stew" which was very tasty. I also had some 7-Up, which tasted different here than back in the USA. The soda was less bubbly (in a good way) and something about it made it seem tastier. And on the bottle was a saying that really hit me: "Life is Short, So Live it Up." And I plan to live it up on this voyage. I pulled out my paper that SAS gave us that has some of the phrases and commonly used words in the local language, and R helped teach me how to pronounce some of these words. My favorite phrase was definitely "Onyami Adom" which translates to "by God's Grace" (or more like "I'm doing fine, by God's grace). From the Hideaway, we made our way for monkey hill, which is the home of an endangered species of monkey. On the way, we passed by RnR's elementary school during what I'm guessing to be lunch break, since all the children were playing outside. I asked if we were allowed to go in, and got a positive reply. One of the best experiences of my whole life. The moment we stepped foot into that school, a huge mob of children noticed us (with our cameras and non-local clothes) and rushed us. What ensued was one of the most amazing chaotic moments ever. it started off with just a big mob of children surrounding the four of us taking pictures with us and wanting pictures taken of them, and then pouncing on us to see the pictures on our cameras. They were then able to separated the four of us into separate groups, in which they overwhelmed us with their friendliness, innocence, and excitement. After some picture taking, they actually took our cameras and began taking their own pictures of us and the other children. I was perfectly fine with this, but trying to get my camera was one of the most difficult experiences ever, because they would not let go since each and every one of them wanted to take a picture and I had to literally beg them to let go of the camera. But the children were just so happy, and excited to know more about us. They asked us many questions, from "where are you from" and "what's your name" to "say something in our vernacular." A few of them actually asked us for our phone numbers, but since my phone is not working internationally, I just gave one of them my email address. When it came time to leave, I got onto my knees and opened my hands in a motion to get a hug. About 30 kids rushed me at all directions with such force that they almost tackled me. Most enthusiastic hugs ever. Even after I got up, a few kids continued holding on to me, even as I walked out the gates. The children followed us out of the gates and asked when we would be back. I told them that we might be able to come back on our last day (Saturday 9/25/10), but otherwise we couldn't guarantee anything. As we started walking away, they kept giving us high fives, and hugs, and some of them even said that they wanted to come with us. As much as I would have loved that, we had to tell them, "Be cool and stay in school." As we walked off, they kept calling us from behind and waving us good bye. What an amazing experience, one that I will surely never forget. We made our way for monkey hill, but decided to cut through the short part of the forest since we heard that the monkeys were not coming close today and acting shy. So aside  from hearing some monkey calls, no monkey encounter today. On the other side of the forest, we came upon New Takoradi, or as the locals nicknamed it "New York City." Since we were a bit burned out, we decided not to walk to that part of the city and started heading back to the harbor on some railway tracks that would lead us right to the entrance. After walking on the tracks for a little time, we were called by some policemen on the side. They were friends of RnR and told us that it would not be safe for us to continue of the route we were taking. They flagged down a taxi and set us on our way to the harbor. People here really take care of you, and its quite extraordinary. All six of us were able to fit in that small taxi. So seven (including the driver) fully grown men were able to fit in a car the size of a Nissan Cube. Jacob, however, probably was not very comfortable since he was sitting in a very awkward way in the front with R. When we got back to the port entrance, we took our leave of RnR, after thanking them extensively for all of their help. We really did have an unforgettable experience and it was most likely because of their help. When we got back on the ship, we took a plunge in the pool which was quite rejuvenating since it was hot and humid outside. We spent some more time with children as we played in the pool with the voyage's photographer's two kids. Around 5:30, we got some dinner on the ship before heading out to experience the city by night, this time accompanied by Natalie and Jyne as well. We got two taxis to the Takoradi's market (Ben and Nick went in the other one), and due to a misunderstanding the two taxis were separated. We got off at the market, and just wandered around since we had nothing better to do. Some children noticed us and they followed us for a short time, during which they held our hands and kissed them multiple times. Children in this country really have captured my attention and heart, their innocence and energy is really quite contagious and eye-opening. While walking the path back to the harbor, we ran in to Ben and Nick, who still were with their cab driver. We then hoped on and headed for a restaurant to get a few beverages and possibly some food. We then chilled there for around an hour before calling it a night. Although it was only about 9pm, it was very dark (it was dark around 6:30), the streets seemed kind of barren and creepy to a certain extent, and many places were closed. Although it was still a little early, I did not mind because I an a remarkable and memorable day. "Winging it" is really the way to go in countries like this. I've only been in Ghana for one day, and I'm already having a much more memorable experience than in Spain or Morocco. That's not to say that I didn't have fun in those two ports. Spain and Morocco were also amazing, but Ghana is just something different. At least today, it was not as much about sight-seeing as it was about truly experiencing the country. And experience it we did. To a whole new level. And there are many more days to come. After today especially, I realized that I want to do more service trips in the other ports, and so I will start looking immediately for openings in the South African service trips. I can't wait for more amazing experiences To come. But for now, "Dey-ye," or "Good Night (sleep well)."
-Nimish
September 22, 2010