The Final Ghana Post

Allright, this should be my final post on our Ghana trip! Thank you for staying with me through it all (they are super long posts!), but besides sharing these pics with all of you, I'm also using this blog as a journal for me to look back on, so I include details I want to remember :c)

I'm actually starting this last post with the very first picture of the trip. We had just landed in Accra, and we had to get off the plane with portable stairs and walk into the airport. I pulled out my camera for a picture of the Akwabaa sign (welcome) and realized I got this- a foggy looking picture- due to the humidity! I thought it might be rough the whole trip, but we never cooled down enough for it to happen again :c)

This explains all the humidity! This beach is in Accra, but wasn't very busy except a few tourists..

I like the horse :c)

A good sign

This was a chruch revival that went on several nights while we were there.

Here's Ray reading the Word in the backyard with the chickens and a breeze. Because of all the difficulty in getting around town, we stayed home about every other day, which made for some good reading time.

I thought this was funny, because even though there was a more modern broom with a handle at the house, everyone still preferred this little palm tree one!

How homey does a clothes line feel?

I actually got to do my laundry in buckets and hang on the clothes line, but with my luck, it started to rain as I was washing (then I apparently didn't ring them out well enough, because it rained on them while they were on the line as well..)

I learned 2 things about chickens-they have a funny stance in the rain, and they don't just crow at dawn. They start at midnight and don't stop until they go to bed at 6pm.

But the reason I had to do laundry in the first place is because I basically ate dirt when I fell on one of my runs.... yeah, I'm that good.

And this picture is sad. Why? Because Ray and I played Spider solitaire every night (after we got electricity, that is).. and we started competing on who could win in the least amount of moves.. yep, the coolness just oozes out of me.

While Sammy is hard at work weed-eating with a machete and bamboo stick..

Ray is making faces..

and I join in..

and Ray's mom just laughs at the fact that I take pictures of everything.

But see, everyone loves my camera! well, maybe..

This is the pastor and his wife. They were so kind to both of us. They even got us some traditional African outfits!

Besides buying us gifts, the pastor also took us around town, including to Aburi Gardens.

It was beautiful there and he let me loose with my camera!

and told us the history on many of the plants, including this cocoa plant!

On our last Wednesday there, we got to meet the kid that we have been sponsoring for the last 3 years through Compassion. It was such a blessing to meet Eric and his family in person.

We were first greeted with this beautiful young girl and some flowers :c)

Then they gave us gifts (the fabric around Ray's neck)

Then we headed to Eric's school. This was the scene when I showed up.

And this was what it looked like about 2 seconds after the kids saw me and the camera! I wasn't prepared for the onslaught and didn't' have my wide lens on!

They are so precious, I couldn't stop taking pics..

But this Obroni (white person) certainly made for a distraction to their studies.
Aren't they fun? They were literally cracking me up!

and they are oh-so beautiful.

Then it was time to get back to class (you can see the stick in the teachers hand to enforce that)

Once Eric arrived (he was off-site at a city wide race), we got to go to his home and meet his family and neighbors. (see the silly bands Summer?)

It's crazy! As much as the other kids smiled and carried on, Eric was super camera shy.

His mom gave us bracelets as a gift, and after everything was said and done, we decided I was more well-liked than Ray.

So, after saying goodbye and flying 10 hours over the ocean, we arrived back at the states in the frigid Washington DC. Because we had a 12 hour layover, we decided to get out of the airport and explore the town. The weather was quite a shock after sweating for 2 weeks in Africa, so we cut our tour short when we couldn't feel our toes anymore..

The walk along the Potomic was chilly, but we got to see the Watergate.

As we approached the National Mall, the sky was absolutely amazing!

As much as I enjoy palm trees, this scene makes my heart melt.

The Lincoln Memorial







This was the sunset on our plane ride back to Oklahoma, the perfect ending to a great trip!

Cape Coast, Ghana

While in Ghana, we mainly stayed in Accra, the capitol. where Ray's mom lives. But on the weekend Ray's uncle took us to Cape Coast for a visit.

Our first stop was Kakum National Park and it's canopy bridges

These rope bridges were strung high above the forest.

They were narrow and shaky, but for some crazy reason I felt safe.

My brave man :c)

and his crazy haired wife

But the view was amazing.. the scene quiet and serene.

Then we had a surprise stop (well, every stop was a surprise for me since I couldn't understand what they were saying in the car) at Ray's grandma's village. We were also surprised to find out that he has a great grandma (she's 95 years old)!
Ray and the beautiful ladies..

This was my prep shot, but it shows the height difference between Ray and his family!

Then I took the opportunity to photograph some sweet kids :c)

The one in back was mischievous, I could tell :c)

Aww, I love this one!

There was a funeral ealier that day, so there was a dance party in the middle of the village.. it was so cool!

The next morning we headed off to see the slave castles. We had to take a taxi because we had some car trouble, and on the way there was a mandatory stop point. Before we got there, I saw the taxi cab driver slip some money into a pouch, then put it in the visor. When we got to the stop, he handed the pouch to the police man, and they proceeded to let us through. Yep- I watched as he just paid off the police!

Our first stop, Elmina Castle

It started as a safe house for travelers who came to Africa to trade, but then developed into a slave castle.

It was a legit castle with draw bridge

and moat!

A tour guide showed us around.

This is called 'The door of no return", where slaves that had been held here for several months or so where then put on little boats that took them to big ships and shipped them around the world. I don't know if you can tell, but this door is tiny! They said it didn't matter how big the person was though, they would just shove them through



The women's quarters (of course there use to be doors where the openings are.

This was a quart yard where they would bring hundreds of the women, then the governor would stand at the top and pick the woman he would take to his bedroom that night.. disgusting. We actually met a man who's great grandma was one of these women.

If the women misbehaved, they were forced to stand on these cannon balls.

And above this all was a chruch, which I just can't understand

But this picture just reminds me that Jesus is the light of the world, and no matter what cruelty humanity does, He came and died so that our sins may be forgiven, He came as the Prince of Peace.

After the tour we went to the top for some pictures. It was amazingly beautiful.

This is a busy fishing town

Just look how beautiful!

wow

I though this game of soccer on the beach looked like a blast!



We drove though the city to head to the next castle. The man in the street is an old, buff, fisherman. The white house on the right is where Ray's grandma used to live.

Next up was Cape Coast castle.

Can you tell we are tourists?

Ray, me and his uncle

This was inside the males dungeoun. The only light source for the slaves would have been the 3 small windows at the top. Their only bathroom, the urinal you see running down the middle. But of course that leaves no room for number 2, they just had to go on the floor. Which means they were living, sleeping, and eating (a small amount for sure) in their own feces. I never thought about this part, and the whole things just makes my stomach churn.

What happened in this room is unimaginable. The slaves who acted up were put in this room, 60 people at a time, and they were left there until all were dead. There was no light, no food, no removal of the dead bodies, and no hope of escape.

I am glad to say that this is behind us. Even though there is still evil, we have moved beyond this horrific treatment of human beings.

The last 3 lines say it all

and outside the castle, life abounds..