I can honestly say this weekend was one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The trip to Cape Coast started out a bit rocky when our bus blew out a tire, leaving us stranded on the side of the road but we made the best of it by having a sing-a-long and playing Frisbee across the street with a local boy who just happened to be walking by. In my “real life” back in Oregon, getting stuck on the side of the road with no food and warm water for two hours would have ruined my day, but although I got a little grumpy (sorry Andrew!), I didn’t let the situation get the best of me. That’s definitely something I’m going to continue to work on.

The wait was more than worth it once we got to the resort.

This place was the epitome of paradise – warm temperatures, nice pool, beautiful beach, delicious food – and it almost didn’t feel real. You could walk up to the bar and order a fresh coconut, just picked from the tree, and the bartender would chop the top off and hand it to you to drink from.

We did so much this weekend, from having a bonfire on the beach to touring two former slave castles, to walking through the rainforest canopy on suspension bridges, but the best things were the little moments like watching leg wraastling on the beach and getting high fives and waves from the little kids.

Alexa, Azia, Casey and I decided to go for a walk down the beach to check out the fishing boats and came across a group of Ghanaian men pulling a gigantic fishing boat onto the shore. After a while, one of the guys beckoned us over for us to take pictures. Then Azia asked if we could help and they let us! I was the photographer for the group until we went to the other side of the boat where the four of us helped (or “helped”) pull the ropes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Dna-N3ryk

It was also really cool to watch people overcome their fears this weekend. For me, the canopy walk wasn’t scary at all, despite the fact that we were over 100 feet off the ground at some points. I was expecting to get anxious but I guess I don’t have a fear of heights. For some people though, it was terrifying, but no one turned back after the first bridge and everyone chose the path that took us across seven bridges.

After the canopy walk, we went to a crocodile sanctuary where we all had the opportunity to touch an adult croc, an opportunity I did not take. Most people were at least a little freaked out, but for Monse, putting her hand on the crocodile meant facing her biggest fear. She did it though, and it was incredible and inspiring to watch.