We arrived in Takoradi, Ghana on the 22nd (wedsnday) and we were cleared to get off at 10 AM. After waiting for a few people we began our walk to the gate to meet with Fred, our tour guide. I was so excited to meet Fred! I had been talking to him for months before the trip through facebook and when I finally met him I had the biggest smile on my face and had to give him a BIG hug!!
Once we all met we piled into, well attempted to pile into, a van that was not meant to fit the amount we had. But we did it!! I have no idea how! Luckily though it was just a short ride to the ATM and our new bus was waiting there for us. Oh just a heads up on anyone planning to go to Ghana the master card is not accepted in most places – so it can be a pain to try to find a bank that will work.
We were on the road again for about 2/3 hours then we stopped in a village for bathrooms and snacks. I got some oranges and crackers. The oranges are so good and juicy but it’s funny because they are not orange – they are either green or yellow. On our pit stop I got my first taste of the squat toilets -now im a pro at them. :P the first few times are always interesting! A local in the village let me use their bathroom which was a cement structure with a hole against the back wall. Basically you just squat, aim & go. I wont give you all the fun details but if you want to know more just ask me haha.
At the house we went into there was an older woman holding a baby who was so so adorable. All of the children are so precious! You’ll be hearing about them a lot! Most of the children will yell “abruni” which means white person. One little girl screamed when she saw us and was calling it out and jumping up and down smiling and pointing at us. There was another time where a group of kids were hanging out a window across the street calling it out to us and waving. It always makes me laugh and smile when I hear them call it out, it’s so cute.
We got on the road again and after about an hour a dog ran out in front of our van and the driver had to slam on the brakes. Something happened to the van because after driving for about a minute we broke down. The break down was really a blessing in disguise because were we broke down was a church that was filled with children! We noticed that about after 15 minutes of being on the side of the road the children started to gather and stare at us. A group of us decided to go say hello to the people that lived there.
At first it was a little tense but after a few minutes of talking and smiling at the children and waving they began to open up to us. We played with them for about an hour or so while the van was getting fixed. We took so many pictures of/with them and after every picture you take of them they all have to see it. When they look at the pictures they laugh, shout and really light up with joy! The adults loved the pictures too, they kept on coming over to us with the babies to get pictures with them. There were really cute baby twins there too! OH! And a little boy had a boston red sox shirt on! :) We also got to see the adults prepare fu-fu and they showed us where they bath in the river by the church.
One of the people with us brought down dum-dums and gave them to the children. I noticed that one of the boys tongue bright blue from the pop and I kept on sticking my tongue out at him until her did it back and got a picture of him doing it. They all laughed hysterically at it and then they all began sticking their tongues out at me and doing silly poses for the pictures. Another person brought down a soccer ball for the children to play with and they loved it so much that he decided to leave it with them. Oh yeah and the dog that caused us to break down lived at the church, his name was Peace! Haha :P Soon we were on the road again and really didn’t want to leave the children. This gave us all a taste of what the village would be like and we were all so excited to be getting closer to Senase!
Due to the break down our itinerary shifted a little. Originally we were supposed to be having a big welcoming ceremony to meet the villagers and the Chief, Queen Mother & Elders of Senase with music and dancing but because we broke down and after waiting for so long the welcoming was put off. We arrived in Senase a few hours after sundown. Maybe around 9ish, I’m not too sure and headed to Freds mothers home in the village. We were welcomed by his family and some others and had a delicious dinner of rice and stew! It was soooo good and I’m going to miss eating with my hands we ate every meal with our hands. It is so much more practical and it gives me a good excuse for being a messy eater. ;)
The night was pretty low key which was nice. We hung out around his mothers home and we all got to know each other and his family some more and talked for a while. We figured out the sleeping arrangement and we paired off in groups of 2 and each pair stayed with a family in the village. Me and Sarah stayed in Freds room that he gave up for us which was very nice – thank you Fred! :)
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