Three West

It was also nice to explore the beautiful natural landscape of Ghana. We went on a fantastic canopy walk above the jungle and I could have lived up there. I love things like that. I love nature and I love being a part of it. I wouldn’t recommend this canopy climb for those who are seriously out of shape or have physical problems. You have to make your way up a very steep incline. The climb seems to last forever. I just about died. *Smile* I loved seeing all of the little colorful lizards. I wish I’d had more time to explore the wild life there.

The food in Ghana was beyond exquisite. I could have just eaten myself into a coma. The flavors were so rich, unique and plentiful. We drank bottled water the whole time and I didn’t get sick until the night before our flight back home. I ate some very gamey tasting chicken. I don’t really have too much else to report on food. There were so many things to see and experience.

On a more personal note, when I’m traveling there is a wonderment and experience side and then there is a social and observation side. Aside from the obvious that was put before us, I was able to learn a great deal from my trip to Ghana. I was able to see with my own eyes the true horror of the slave trade. To talk about it isn’t nearly enough. It’s one thing to talk about slavery and slave castles and quite another to be standing in a cell for the condemned in a real slave castle and seeing grooves in the stone floors and walls from prisoners fingernails made in despair. There are no words for that. I have included a video of the Cape Coast slave castle at the end of this article.

Seeing the slave castles was so emotionally taxing that many were crying before the tour was even over. Ghanaians, being the intuitive people that they are, prepared a very wonderful video for us to watch after the tour. It was a simple video that compared the skills, abilities and mannerisms of black Americans to those of continental Africans. It was truly the most responsible thing to do. The film’s message was simple; hundreds of years of slavery would not erase thousands of years of history and culture.

From a social perspective, Ghana offered a glimpse of history few western historians want to write about. Many women in Ghana ran the shops and in a nutshell, trade and commerce. When we went to markets in Ghana they were mostly run by women; some with little ones tied to their backs. These women were more skilled at getting the higher price than the men were. I can also say, there is nothing more fun to me than going shopping in Ghana. This is coming form a woman who absolutely, 100% hates shopping. But shopping in Ghana … now that is like a day at an amusement park. I believe it’s because not only is haggling fun but Ghanaians make it fun. It’s like a game. You can go into a stall and haggle, make jokes, laugh and haggle some more. They know they are asking a ridiculously high price, you know you are asking a ridiculously low one and it’s all fun and games until you both come to your senses and agree on a decent price. I love it!

In addition to this fantastic haggling, I LOVE trading instead of using money. At the time, the US dollar went a long way in Ghana. I believe I exchanged $250US and in return had over 1 Million in Ghanaian dollars (not called dollars). It took me the entire trip to get rid of that money. I was basically just giving it away towards the end there. The reason it is hard to spend is because I was trading most of the time. I’d brought baby goods, knowing that the shops were run by women, usually with babies. So I traded those. I also traded my entire wardrobe (not undies) for the clothes that were being sold there. I came home with a whole new wardrobe. By the way, I buy new clothes whenever I go on a trip so they were getting new stuff. *Smile* I also made sure I didn’t bring frivolous things to trade as well.

Being in Ghana showed me something else as well. Having been raised in the US, one quickly realizes the stark contrast between consuming and creating. American culture is primarily about consuming. What I mean is, a self aware person can’t help but get an overwhelming feeling of having not used their time on earth wisely when you are in a country full of people who do nothing but create. That is Ghana. A country full of creators. Every where you go someone is making something. They are making art out of wood, jewerly out of broken glass, the most beautiful clothes on earth from the oldest sewing machines on earth, patterns on cloth made from natural dyes, weaving Kente cloth, carving weird coffins, just anything… there is nothing but creation there. It is just amazing. It’s like when I went to the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany for the first time and felt punked out because everyone there spoke at least 3 languages except us Americans. *Smile*