Ghana, where to even begin

Day 1:
We woke up for the sunrise as we pulled into Ghana at 6am. A sunrise was a bit of an overstatement due to the thick smog, dust, and smoke in the sky. The air smelled of fire and exhaust and it was very hot out. Customs took awhile so we didn't get off the ship until 10 am. Right after we cleared customs, we hopped into a taxi and went from Tema to Accra, an hour and a half ride. I have never seen anything like Ghana before, there are people everywhere balancing different bowls and objects on their heads. The traffic was pretty bad, so people approach your window every time you come to a stop trying to sell you anything from plantain chips to bagged water to world maps. As we got out of the taxi, the overwhelming crowds, traffic trash, and street vendors created for a hectic scene. To get a feel for the city, we began aimlessly walking the streets and exploring. The streets are lined with open sewers, which fill the air with a great smell of human waste. I caught myself multiple times holding my breath for whole street lengths trying to avoid this awesome stench.

One cool area of Accra is called the art district, which has tons of artisans creating drums, paintings, and woodwork, to sell in their shops. We stopped by the art district for lunch and to check out the shops. For lunch, we had a local dish of fu fu and fish. We wondered why the locals were laughing at us eating the meal with a spoon and quickly realized that utensils were not used in Ghana. We met some local drum makers who gave us drum lessons in their shop. The people here completely redefine rhythm and I realize that I have none of it.

Random introductions are the best way to explore a country. We happened to be walking down the sidewalk at the same pace as a local named Joseph. After talking to him for a bit, he ended up taking us to his fishing village, introducing us to the chief and his family, and showing us all around Accra. We ended up walking almost 10 miles around the village of Jamestown and Accra with Joseph, in awe the whole time. Walking through this village made me much more aware of everything I have and take for granted. These people have hardly anything and are perfectly content. All the children in his town would run up to us and touch us as we were the only white people around. The only English saying they know is, "How are you", so everywhere you go you hear, "How are you, how are you, how are you, how are you." We entertained them by taking pictures with them and playing soccer. It was an incredible eye opening experience. We finished this mentally and physically exhausting day with a Ghanian Pizza Dinner and then met up with some other students at a local club.

Day 2:
I had a required Field trip for my Marketing class on day two at a village 2 hours away from the ship (3 with the bus breaking down). All the children of the village greeted us when we arrived and we went straight to meet the chief. We were all given Ghanian names according to the day we were born. My name is Komi (Saturday Born) Elolo (He is Great). The villagers showed us some of the daily activities they do such as make pots and cook, then we were taught the local dance. I once again realized that I have no rhythm. By 5pm we were back at the ship and I was eager to get where I truly wanted to go, West to go surfing.

I met up with my friends Cody, Tori, and Thomas who all wanted to venture West with me. (Will and our other friend, Katie had made it there earlier in the day so we would meet them there) We had no plans on how to get there so we just began asking around in Tema. A local named Collins said that he was willing to drive us to Busua, a 6 hour drive west. He was neither the smartest person I have ever met, nor the best driver. In Ghana, people drive on the right side of the street; Collins, however, drives on the left. He also only had one tape in his car that had 3 country songs on it… we listened to it for 6 hours straight… Aside from a few wrong turns and nearly running out of gas, Collins got us to Busua in one piece. It was dark and late by the time we got there but we were able to find Will asleep in a hammock between two palm trees at the place we planned on staying at. I couldn't see the ocean, but I could hear the crashing of waves and I could not wait to see it the next morning. We stayed in a cool hut on the beach with 3 bunks in it.

Day 3:
We woke up for the sunrise and were happy to actually be able to see the sun in Busua, unlike Accra. The air in Busua is clean and it has a very tropical feel to it. Chocolate and banana pancakes with fresh juice was the delicious breakfast we grabbed at a local's house across the street from our hut. We then walked around Busua to explore the beachy fishing town. We were given a quick tour of the fishing village by a local before heading back to our hut to find surfboards and get in the water. The only surf shop in all of Ghana is in Busua, called Black Star Surf Shop. It was 2 doors down from our hut on the beach so we ran over there to grab boards for the day. I have become desensitized to things that would weird me out in the United States, like dodging sheep and chicken as I'm walking down the beach to go surfing. I saw the fishermen pulling in a net as I was walking to the water with my surfboard so I ran over to see what they had caught. 3 swordfish and 2, seven food sharks were in the net. Instead of turning around and bailing on surfing, I offered the fisherman 1 CEDI for a tooth and then paddled out to surf right where they had just pulled the sharks in.

The surf was great and I kept having to remind myself that I was surfing in West Africa. The surf was also pretty heavy and I got thrown over a wave and cut my leg up pretty badly but nothing would stop me from continuing to surf. We stayed in the water for the rest of the afternoon and evening only to come in for a quick lunch on the beach. A few locals paddled out at sunset and randomly started to sing the song "The lion sleeps tonight" from The Lion King. They insisted that we sing along too, so we did. So there we were, in West Africa, surfing at sunset, singing "the lion sleeps tonight" at the top of our lungs with locals, dying of laughter.
It was Katie's birthday at midnight so we decided to go out to a nicer dinner to celebrate. A few locals also built her a huge bonfire for her birthday in front of the surf shop so we danced around the bonfire until midnight. Many of the kids and locals from the fishing village joined the festivities, too, and laughed at our poor dancing skills. It was an incredible day in Busua and I wasn't sure if I would ever make it back to the ship because I liked the place so much.

Day 4:
I had intended to take a 3am bus back to Tema this morning to make it back in time for my class fieldtrip but Busua was way too cool so I decided to stay for another day. Traveling is way more fun when you don't make plans and are willing to break plans I have realized. We were able to get some fishermen to take us out in one of their boats at 7am to an Island just off the coast. I have no idea how we made it to the island, because the swells were building and the boat could barely float in calm seas to begin with. It took about an hour to get back to shore, and we were happy to be back on land and out of the "boat". The surf had doubled in size over night so we decided to grab surfboards again and get a few more waves before we packed up and headed back to Tema. As we were walking out to the water we ran into a fisherman who offered to catch us some lobster and have his sister cook them up for us for lunch after we got done surfing so, of course, we said yes. The surf was much bigger today and it got the adrenaline pumping a bit. When we got in from surfing, the fisherman had just got in from catching 16 lobster for the 6 of us. I don't think I will ever eat fresher lobster again. They went from the ocean to our stomachs in less than an hour. We packed up and said goodbye to the monkeys near our hut before grabbing a taxi and heading to Takoradi, the nearest town where we could catch a bus back to Accra. The bus ride back to Accra was 5 hours and cost 11 CEDI (about $7). They played ear screeching soap operas the whole way back to Accra. In Accra, we grabbed a taxi back to the ship just after sunset to. I was absolutely exhausted when we made it back to the ship so I went straight to bed to rest up for our last day in Ghana.

Day 5:
Will and I had to do a fieldtrip for a class to a Bamboo Bicycle company in Accra at 8am. These were high-end bicycles with handmade bamboo frames. You should definitely look them up on Google, they are called Bamboosero Bicycles. With only a few hours after the fieldtrip before we had to be back on the boat, Will and I went to a market to grab some last minute plantain chips and other ship necessities.

Here are some pictures from Ghana:

Exploring Accra

Quality Restrooms

Fu Fu for lunch

Whoops

Drumming lessons

Jamestown

Fishing Boats in Jamestown

Joseph's home (5 people live here)

Jamestown Locals

Drying out the day's catch

Hanging with kids in Accra

The lighthouse in Accra (Cody, Me, Joseph, Katie)

Preparing Fish

The ride to Busua with Collins

Our Beach Hut in Busua

Busua Beach

Fishing Village Kitchen

Surfing in Busua

Lunch at Black Star Surf Shop

Playing soccer with locals

Katie's Birthday Dinner

Busua Beach Bonfire

Boating to the Island in Busua

Before/After

A rude awakening

Our Monkey Friend

Ghana Tomorrow!

Today is our last day on the ship before we dock in Ghana, and I've got some exciting travel plans in the making. I have a few class requirements in Ghana for my finance, marketing, and international business class but am hoping to travel westward from Accra to a beach town called Busua, which boasts the best surf in the country. It's pouring rain on the ship right now but the forecast says its supposed to be hot and sunny while we are in Ghana. Check the blog in a week or so for pictures and and stories!

Brazil

Day 1:

We finally made it to Manaus after 2 days winding up the Amazon River. Stepping off the boat, you get hit immediately with the heat and humidity. The port of Manaus is very lively with crowds of people walking the sidewalks dodging each other. The sidewalks are lined with street vendors selling anything from hardware and tools to jewelry and souvenirs. There are small mom and pop stores, an opera theater, fish/meat markets, pet stores, and a few larger grocery stores. Only having a few hours before my flight to Rio, I just got to explore Manaus for a bit.

The flight to Rio de Janeiro was about 5 hours with a stop at Brasilia. Flying into Rio at night was pretty wild. After dodging lightning strikes in the sky, we descended into Rio, getting a clear view of the city and Christ the Redeemer on the hill. We got to our hostel in Ipanema at around 10:30. Our bedroom was shared with 6 people and I got the top bed on a triple bunk. The hostel, "Ipanema Beach House," is in a perfect location 2 blocks from the beach and walking distance to Copacabana. Even at 11pm on a Tuesday, there were a good amount of people out and about. We walked around Copacabana until 2, checking out the beach (which stays lit at night with stadium lights) and some small restaurants on the boardwalk.

Day 2:

The snoring of an overweight, swedish guy on the bottom bunk of our hostel room was our alarm clock at 8. Waking up and seeing Rio in the day is totally different than seeing it at night. The hills and mountains, the beaches, and the way that the city is set within the landscape is absolutely incredible. It had apparently been raining for the past week, but the sun and perfect weather came out for the 2 days we were there and we didn't get a drop of rain. Traveling by bike is by far the best way to explore Ipanema and Copacabana, especially with the bad traffic in Rio. Will and I grabbed beach cruisers from the hostels and made our way along the boardwalk stopping for fresh Acai Bowls, Coconut drinks, cheese bread from street vendors, and some local shops and stores. After a few hours of exploration, we taxi'd our way up to the Christ the Redeemer statue. The view from the top of Christ the Redeemer is probably the coolest view I have ever seen in my life. (Pictures don't do it justice) Will and I could only handle so much ducking under the arms of tourists posing like the statue, so we headed back to Ipanema for a local steak lunch. With so much anticipation of being able to surf in Rio, it was a bit of disappointment that the waves happened to be flat for the two days we were there. We substituted it for a quick swim in the ocean and some bodysurfing in the shorebreak. We zig zagged our way through the streets on our way back to the hostel to shower up before dinner in Copacabana. Dinner was a delicious assortment of Brazilian foods at a pay per pound buffet. After dinner, we were finally able to meet up with some other Semester at Sea students at a pub to watch the soccer game on TV. The fans here in Brazil are die hard and go crazy for any decent play. Following the game, we all went out to the famous area called the Lapa, which is filled with clubs and restaurants. Live music and dancing kept us up til the late hours of the night before we headed back to the hostel.

Day 3:

In one last desperate attempt to find surf, we taxi'd to a place called Baja about 30 minutes away from Ipanema. Unfortunately, there was still no surf, so we made our way to Copacabana to say goodbye to the awesome city and get one last Acai Smoothie. I definitely want to come back to Rio in the near future. With the World Cup and Olympics taking place here in the next few years, I think I can probably find an excuse to come back. Aside from almost missing our connecting flight in Brasilia due to a gate change and an extremely frustrating language barrier, the flights back to Manaus were not too bad. You can practically run through security in Brazil, as we learned when frantically trying to find our connecting gate (I didn't even take my phone or wallet out of my pocket and basically threw my backpack through the x-ray machine). Manaus greeted us with delicious  $1 steak skewers from a street vendor (accompanied by a pepto bismol, of course) and a hot shower back on the boat. It was pretty late when we got back and we heard that a handful of students had gotten mugged in Manaus while we were in Rio, so we decided to only explore a few blocks away from the ship at night. 

Day 4:

I had planned on waking up early to take a quick boat tour of the Amazon, but Will kindly decided to to turn off my alarm while I was asleep. Instead, I woke up at 9 and explored the city by foot with a group of friends. Every block in Manaus is pretty much the same; crowded sidewalks and street vendors selling tons of random stuff. I had fun bargaining the prices of a few small souvenirs with the street vendors. I am also convinced that there is not a single french press in all of Brazil. I battled the language barrier at just about every market I could find only to be lead to the coffee mugs. The last day at a port, everyone has to be very careful not to be late boarding the ship or you get the painful consequence called dock time. For every 15 minutes that you are late back to the boat, you have to stay on the ship for an additional 2 hours at the next port. I made sure to get to the boat extra early for our 3 o'clock boarding time. The boat left the port a bit after nightfall and we slowly watched the lights of Manaus get smaller and smaller as we floated away down the Amazon River. 

So now we are at sea for 9 days before we hit Ghana. I hear these are going to be some rough seas, but I'm kind of excited for it! 

Here are some pictures from Brazil, enjoy:

The Amazon River, en route to Manaus 

The Port of Manaus with the MV Explorer in the background

Flying into Brasilia

First night in Rio de Janeiro

Our Hostel

Front Porch of the hostel

The backyard and pool

Check out my awesome top bunk

The streets of Rio de Janeiro

The beaches of Rio

Ipanema beach

Acai Smoothies

Fish Market

Christ the Redeemer 

Up Close

Incredible views from Christ the Redeemer:

Biking around Copacabana and Ipanema

Swimming in Ipanema

Some refreshing coconut milk

Last day in Rio

Adios Rio, I'll be back soon

Landing in Brasilia at Sunset

Exploring the streets of Manaus

Some interesting cobra juice in Manaus

Floating back down the Amazon