Accra, August 1

Day Thirty-five

Ginny: In the amount of time it takes us to drive from Baltimore to Chapin we managed to find our way out of Accra to a small beach called Axim (pronounced Azsim). You’re probably scratching your head right now thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know Ghana was that big!?” Well, it’s not. Axim is a little less than 200 miles outside of Accra, but we spent a somewhat difficult day (on Wednesday) getting here. When our heads finally touched the pillows of the Axim Beach Resort beds, it was 10:45pm and we were very weary.

Jesse: The trip began roughly at 1:15pm as Ginny and I ventured into downtown Accra. We took a trotro, meaning an un-air-conditioned, 1976 VW bus that reeks of diesel fuel filled with about 13 people. Because trotros constantly make stops to replace passengers who come and go, the trek into downtown took about and hour and fifteen minutes. Once in downtown Accra, Ginny and I walked on foot through the market and caught a cab the short remaining distance to the STC bus station. From there, we caught a 4:30pm bus (much, much nicer than the trotros) out of Accra to a town called Takoradi. This leg of the trip took roughly 5 hours, 1 hour of which we spent in rush hour traffic leaving Accra. Once in Takoradi, Azim was only a short hour-and-a-half cab ride away—unfortunately, our driver got “misplaced” and had to stop and ask the locals for directions. As arduous as the trip was, we’ve been here almost four days now, and we’ve entirely forgotten the lengthy journey from Wednesday (you would, too, if you saw this place).

Ginny: To briefly summarize, this is what we’ve been doing for four days:

1) Eating breakfast--eggs, fruit, tea, bread, and grits (more aptly, local maize porridge that tastes like grits)

2) Sitting on our asses while reading books

3) Eating lunch—salads, fish

4) Napping (especially Jesse, see picture for proof)

5) Sitting on our asses while reading magazines (me)

6) Drinking freshly made pineapple juice with real pineapple bits

7) Sitting on the front porch of our bungalow blogging (when/if it rains)

8) Walking on rocks and taking photos (mostly Jesse)

9) Eating dinner

10) Enjoying hot showers

11) Watching re-runs of Premier League soccer games (ahem…Jesse)

12) Repeat

We’re headed out tomorrow morning (Sunday) for the next leg of our journey. From here, we go back to Takoradi by private car and then we trotro to Cape Coast. We’ll take in the Cape Coast Castle once we get there and then we’ll head to Kakum National Forest for the canopy walk on Monday morning. From there, onward to the second-largest city in Ghana—Kumasi. The rest of our vacation is a little vague at this point, but suffice it to say, we’re having a great time! Keep you all posted