This is going to be a long flight but at least I've got some legroom!
We arrived in Ghana after a 5 1/2 flight from Vegas to JFK and a 10 1/2 hour flight to Accra, Ghana. I'm dead. All of the suitcases that need to get to the mission office made it! We barely have any luggage but we brought a bunch of stuff to the mission home for Elders and Sisters. We even had one Mom ask us to bring a loaf of Grandma Sycamore's white bread. That cracked me up. We dropped off the luggage at the mission home first thing.
I was so tired when we got there but we had a 4-hour drive in the truck because it was morning when we got there. I about died. I was fighting for my life in the back seat of that truck. We got to an airbnb in the evening and I had a nap and was the best thing ever! We ate dinner and got a full night's sleep and then I was ready for adventure!
We hiked in this Akwaaba rainforest that had a bunch of suspension bridges.
Mikayla would love this sick lizard!
We left there and drove to Cape Coast. I love the culture. People just getting to work. Nothing to see here.
This is Cape Coast Castle. This is the location where would house all the African slaves they rounded up until it was time to ship them all over the world. They were in dungeons, it was pretty grim. Important, but grim.
There were groups of high school girls and they wanted to take pictures with grandma. Then they asked if they could touch her hair and she said yes. It was hilarious! They were so adorable.
Merril and I hiked up Fort Victoria. There were still a cannon.
I love how people carry things around on their heads!
Look! They sell water in bags. It's super cheap. You just nibble a corner and suck the water out. Even the locals don't drink the water. Everyone drinks filtered water.
We went on a boat ride up the Volta River to the Akosombo Dam.
We found where Longitude is 0!
I love how on Google Maps it says my GPS coordinates are -0.000000 lol.
Then grandma and grandpa were trying a new road back to their apartment and it ended up being a bust. This random guy on a motorcycle was so nice and drove us around on a detour and we gave him some cash. He was so nice! We made it back to their apartment in Penyi.
The next day we spent the day doing stuff around Penyi. Merril wanted to check out these motorcycle trucks.
We made cookies with the Vida. She's the stake relief society president, if I remember right. Merril really wanted to eat some very authentic food and Vida said she could hook us up with a good place.
It was very primitive but Vida said it was the best place to get fufu, which is very traditional food for West Africa.
It's a ball of cassava mash or yucca. It's a ball of dough and is called a "swallow food." They mash up cassava, which is a root vegetable that grows well there, and put the dough ball in a soup with meat. We got some sort or fish head and mystery meat? We ate with our fingers. I ate until I was full but there was still a lot leftover. It was the most authentic food I've ever eaten. All was well, we didn't get sick. I think grandma about had a stroke when she saw it. She doesn't eat local food.
After lunch, we got a drink at God's Way Super Mall.
We met up with the Elders later that day and said we wanted to buy them dinner! They said absolutely!
Grandma said all the elders go to Mr. Big Chicken so that's where we went!
Then Grandma took us to the beach!
The next day we went to the Penyi branch for church. It's a nice building but there wasn't any water because it hasn't rained for a very long time there.
Then Grandpa showed us this house owned by a wealthy member. He hosts get togethers for the branch.
Grandpa fell asleep in the chair at the apartment Sunday afternoon, as he does at home!
My impressions of Ghana was that's it's very poor but the people there were nice. I don't feel like they notice that they're poor and there was a lot of garbage around but that's hardly their fault. The government doesn't really pick up trash well. There's one dumpster in the middle of town that doesn't get emptied nearly enough. So most people just throw their trash on the ground. I thought the children were so cute and tried to wave and smile at them but they just looked at me like I was bonkers. I don't think very many white people travel to that part of Africa. Penyi isn't a tourist destination. I was amazed by the moms who would carry their children around on their backs.
This is a big semi truck loaded with cows. Then they loaded more stuff and people on the top. The people are supposed to poke the cows so they don't lie down, otherwise they'll die. I was glad to go to Ghana. I don't know if I'll go back.
Now we fly to Egypt! Oh yeah baby! I've been looking forward to ticking Egypt off my bucket list for a long time!
