Made it here!

Our flights, to london and then into Accra were relatively uneventful. No lost luggage, not really any delays. Walking off the plane in Accra was like hitting a wall of heat though. Heat and mass confusion. Akwasi's sister Adwoa (pronounced like Adjoa) and father Nicholas met us, thank goodness. People ran up to help us, similar to ants converging on crumbs.

It was pretty dark when we landed, so we couldn't see much of Accra on the drive to Akwasi's house, but there were tons of people out, waiting for public transport. Akwasi's mother, Victoria, had just about the biggest smile I've ever seen, greeting us at the door with his other two sisters. Everyone was very excited, friendly and welcoming.

Why Ghana?

Many friends have asked me why I am specifically visiting Ghana, to which there is an easy answer: I'm going to visit a friend.

Akwasi, a very good Ghanaian friend from school, was telling me and my roommate Chandra that he would make a trip home for Christmas. Now, having the travel bug, and seeing as how I try to visit anywhere where I know someone who either knows the language or has lived locally, we asked if we could join him.

Fast forward 8 months, Akwasi, his girlfriend Andrea, Chandra and I will be on a plane to Accra tonight.

For the next three weeks we will be primarily staying with Akwasi's parents and three sisters, at their home in Accra. We don't have too many concrete plans yet, as it will be Christmas and New Years, but we're up for pretty much anything.

Ghana Trip Map

Using google maps is so easy, you can put in descriptions to each stop, including images, make it public or private, and customize the view.

Ghana Visit (which I will hopefully be able to update while we are there)



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Republic of Ghana Background

image source
A few facts, according to the CIA's world factbook:

• Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence
• Ghana is slightly smaller in area than Oregon
• The climate is tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north
• Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial lake
• The population is roughly 23 million
• Religions: Christian 68.8% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1%, Protestant 18.6%, Catholic 15.1%, other 11%), Muslim 15.9%, traditional 8.5%, other 0.7%, none 6.1%
• The government type is a constitutional democracy
  

Italy January 2007

It has been quite some time since I traveled. On my last trip I visited some friends in London, briefly for New Years, and headed on to tour southern Italy, mainly Sicily, which is where my great grandparents came to the US from, in the twenties. Three friends and I rented a car and drove around the island, and had a blast.


I'm leaving for Africa today, but I am sitting in the dealership waiting for my car to be fixed, so I'm going to test out making a map of my trip, and make one of my last one.


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