Ghana

Ghana | March 30 – April 3, 2018

We woke up to the slow stop of the ship. We saw our aquatic blue hotel from the terminal. We get out to look at the amazing place known as Ghana from our balcony. We disembark the ship and go towards the taxi stand. There are several drivers arguing over who takes us to our hotel. As we drive, we see local homes and people all over. Once we get into our hotel, we go to the pool and swim until we couldn’t move. We lied back in the beautiful sunlight. After the pool, we headed to our room and relaxed for a bit. 3 hours pass and it’s 6:00pm.The nighttime music got annoying so we went to eat and enjoy garlic bread by the sun set and Atlantic ocean. Once we finish we go to the room and watch TV for a while. After a short day, I was surprisingly tired. I went to sleep and dreamt about my soon to be Easter in Ghana.

On our second day, we woke up to find it be an hour before our breakfast schedule. NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! After breakfast, we went to the market in Takoradi where we watched people carry goods on their heads for an hour while waiting for a sim card. The market was a little bit overwhelming with the crowds. The market was very crowded and smelly. For someone’s first time, I suggest just looking around. We saw all kinds of fish, people, vegetables, and household items. The market was full of little shacks and smoked fish with vegetables. We went on a wild goose chase to get my hair braided like Lil Yachty. 2 hours of pain pass and I have my braids. My hairdresser was amazing! She spoke a little english and she did my hair in a little one room hut. Every 5 minutes, people would come and check me out which I found very uncomfortable. After we went around for an hour trying to find something to do we give up and go to our hotel. I watch mystery videos on youtube while my parents eat with other fellow SASers. After a long day, I go to bed with thoughts of tomorrow. Little did I know, I would have an awaiting surprise hidden in plain sight…

On the third day of Ghana, we didn’t do much except hang around and relax. I figured out I missed Easter and was really sad 🙁 My parents put chocolate every where as if they were celebrating Easter. I then went down for breakfast and went up to the hotel room in 15 min. After my Easter eggs were consumed, I went to my room for 30 min of electronics. Soon we went down to the three pools. A couple of my beads fell out when I was trying to put on goggles. After swimming, we packed up and went to the port terminal. We got some gifts and hopped on the ship listening as the announcements made it clear someone got major dock-time.

      As Maxx sleeps the ship moves to Tema Ghana…

We then went from Takoradi to Tema. On the fourth day of Ghana, and first day of Tema, we woke up to get ready for a bike ride.  We met up with everybody down at the gangway. Somebody showed up 15 minutes late and without any money. They decided at the last minute they were going to skip the tour my dad planned. I’t wasn’t until my dad explained she still had to pay that she decided to go. I was very upset with her. I’ll be talking about her a lot, let’s call her Debra. After we got in the van, we met our guide and started to drive into Tema.  After an hour of driving into the mountains, we finally made it to the bike shop and got suited up. We started biking and we went over 2 hills. Within the first few minutes, my pants got half ripped but I kept going. I wasn’t feeling good as we waited for Debra who was walking her bike. Once we were all united, we had a hill that was straight down and then a rocky road. Next we had a big spiraling down hill road. Once we got down, we had to go through a little town. Once we stopped, I couldn’t take it and got physically sick. Mom and I waited 12 mins for the guy to finally pick us up. Once he dropped us off, he said to wait 15 mins and the guy will pick you up. We waited 4 hours as the guy was constantly back and forth with other customers. We saw some SASers who were promised to see a beautiful waterfall that was actually dried up. After he took them for lunch, the guy was back and forth. After 4 hours, the guide almost left us but we convinced him to take us. On the way, the guide lied to recover a lie that was the biggest and worst one. Once we got there the bikers came in dead tired. We got taken to a gas station and we got some food. Finally, we rode home to play Uno until dark.

5th and last day Alive and Kicking trip

On the fifth day in Ghana, we woke up in Tema to go to our bus. On the way to the workshop, we learned about Ghana and how they have such cool minerals and beaches. We drove to a soccer workshop where for a couple hours we learned how to stitch a soccer ball. We saw the stitching pattern and learned how to make the balls. We learned about how the foundation makes soccer balls for the needy and hires poor people. We also learned they make more than just soccer balls. They also make volleyballs and footballs. Once we did a couple hours of learning to stitch a ball, we played a real soccer game with the staff and professionals. It was kids vs adults/pros. We tied at 2 to 2. Then we had penalty kicks for fun before we left. Next we took some of our balls and left. We got back on the ship and hung out for a couple hours at the fFritz bar and talked about the best part of Ghana, I said today was the best and we all agreed.