Travels

After flying to and stopping in Amsterdam, as I write this I have just arrived in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The 13 other JFs and I are staying in the Kokomlemle guest house, which is a pretty decent transition. The staff are friendly and helpful, perhaps because the LTOV (long-term overseas volunteer) who picked us up had good connections after having spent a month there, or it might also be part of Ghanaian culture. My room is simple and the [very basic] shower/toilet work fine. I take out my deltametherin-treated mosquito net for the first time. The toxicity of it is unfortunate, but getting malaria would be even more so. It’s around 30°C and incredibly humid, I’m sipping water from a plastic sachet, occasionally a breeze comes through, and supposedly it’s pretty cool compared to up north where I’ll be heading to next.

Like the chimps that Jane Goodall was researching who were going crazy, swinging from branches, screeching, turning over rocks, and basically overjoyed with the amazement of a great waterfall, relative in ways – not that I’m flipping rocks or anything – I’m so excited to have discovered this new and unimaginably different part of the world.

We take the bus from Accra to Kumasi to Tamale. We had all made bets according to previous stories suggesting it takes an average of 17hrs or more depending on what might happen along the way, but it only takes us 12hrs. We make several stops along the way where we pay 10Gp (¢10 CND eqiv) to use the toilet and purchase bread, ginger cookies, and mangoes. At some moments, it is terrifying as the bus driver passes other trucks and oncoming traffic swerves to the shoulder. The raining season is just beginning. The scenery is beautiful, luscious, green, and sandy red; and I begin to contemplate the ways of life of some Ghanaians as we pass by huts and through bustling villages and markets.

Arriving at the STC bus station in Tamale, we are greeted by many Ghanaians eager to help us with our bags, make friends, get us to a taxi, etc. The 5 LTOVs greet us and we make our way to the Catholic Guesthouse where we’re staying for In-Country Training for the weekend before heading to our assigned villages to live and start our jobs.