FROM THE TRAVEL BLOG OF GERI NEELY

Geri walks the canopy at Kakum National Park

• After an overnight flight on 5/17/11, we landed in Ghana at 2 pm…the sun was shining and the wind was blowing…We are in the motherland…Praise be to God! Going through customs and hanging to the cart with our luggage was a balancing act. Did people want to help or were they looking for “Green Americans” who did not know what to do…After braving it out of the airport, Vanessa and I were the trailblazers, I looked in the crowd for that one familiar face that I had not beheld for 8 months…

• Our first embrace with Africa..people trying to woo us, sell their wares, exchanging a part of themselves for the American dollar…thrusted at us were bracelets, sunshades, bananas, watches, and more…..  transported on tops of heads and in outstretched hands..First lessons .. do not say yes to the items, avoid direct eye contact because we may commit to an object, and we stand out….

• Jacob, our chef…always treated uus with elegance  as he explained the selections for the day…never knew rice grains could be counted one grain at a time….melted cheese crackers…. how delicious…It took us  forever to get to Mama Pat’s – Passions Cafe in Osu. The food was delicious and the hospitality was equaled.

• The Makola Market (5/20/11) – was reminiscent of other markets in the US but this was king of all of them. The fish (all sizes) greeted me with their distinct odors in a more than 100 degree area…I knew I was going to pass out… all the bargaining were done by the pros. The bathroom breaks were another long story… but we worked them out..

• 5/21/11 – headed to the Volta Region – supposedly 2 hrs outside of Accra but  more like 3.5 hours…I was privy to different sights (eg., shacks, huts, seemingly unfinished dwellings, cinder blocks, phone places, cars, motorcycles, children…

• At one restaurant, we were encouraged to eat with our hands ……..5/21/11- stood in front of the most amazing waterfall…

• 5/23/11 – our visit to the school – 115 students dressed in purple and white uiforms..entusiastic, asking as well as posing for pictures, Gift packets (composition books, journal books, pencils, pens and erases)…

• A tender moment ….sounds in the morning .. I was on the patio and I heard a voice crying out,…agonizing, fussing, yelling… Jesus,, praying.. airplane, birds, ..a family across the red clay dirt…a girl, a boy, a todddler..the teen squatting in the yard, tilted her head and waved…I waed back…what does she think of me?

• The end is coming..so much has transpired..eyes and ears have beheld so much..the haves and have nots. Who is richer…

-Geri Neely, Richmond (VA)