Week 3 of Ghana has been completed. Surprisingly, it has been going by really fast considering my homesickness at times and I mainly think that is due to the impact that the people have played throughout my time here. I absolutely love the people that have been apart of this journey with me, especially this Media in Ghana cohort. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and what makes it even more special is the weekend trips that we all get to spend together. This past weekend we took an adventure to the Volta Region, specifically Hohoe and Akosombo. We woke up bright and early and were on the bus by 6 am. My favorite moments have been claiming seats on the bus as we all want the best ones. Once we hear the sound of the bus horn honk or the gate of the Aya Centre move, all of the girls in my room run down and grab the best seats. The long car rides have been an adventure on its own as it feels like it takes twice as long with the potholes and rough road conditions. The trip to Hohoe was probably one of the worst roads I have ever experienced or seen before, as all of us were consistently rocking back and forth like we were on high seas. I truly do not mind them, but for some people in my group that have been ill recently, they were not a fan. After five hours, we finally made it to our hotel on that Friday afternoon and settled in. We rested for an hour or so and headed to the Wli waterfall in Hohoe as it is the biggest waterfall in West Africa. It was an adventurous walk as we crossed multiple small bridges to get there. We finally saw it’s beauty as all of us were amazed by how extravagant it was. The majority of the people could not wait to get in and enjoy its heavy mist. Once we got back to the hotel, many of us were not expecting a night of disconnection from our phones the way that we were. No service, no wifi, no contact with family, and a really rough case of near bathroom flooding thanks to the intuitive shower that sprayed the wall more than it did the body. We also can not forget about the lightning and rain! But in the end, that’s what makes these trips fun and exciting. We improvise and do things together. Which brings me back to my point of the people in this group as we spent our Friday night like how it was supposed to be spent- listening to Beyonce. The Queen Bee released “The Lion King: The Gift” album and features some very well known and amazing African artists. A lot of us could not wait to hear it and what better way to do that is to have a listening party to The Lion King album in Africa? You honestly can not get a better experience than that, as it was such a liberating experience as we gathered in one of the rooms and pondered on it. We were letting it all sink in- the fact that we were in Africa, listening to a Lion King album that was produced by Beyonce. Even with the power going on and off throughout the entire time, it was great vibes and great people.
The following day we had another early morning and packed up all of our things to head out towards Akosombo. More time in the car and more stops on the way. Our first stop was to see some monkeys. We drove out an hour or so to the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary as we had a very interesting time being surrounded by the endangered Mona Monkeys. I was able to feed one as they slowly approached me and snagged the banana out of our hands. All of us were attacked by aggressive ants crawling up and down our legs and feet, so we were anxious to get out as soon as possible despite the cool experience. We were off to our next hotel for the night as we stayed at the Afrikiko Resort which was absolutely stunning. We were able to roam the hotel’s parameters and be right on the water of the Volta Lake. The Volta Lake is manmade as its vast lengths were able to go on an hour boat ride which was extremely beautiful to see and hear about its rich history. We saw some villages by the Lake as there were many on canoes fishing and setting up nets as well as the historical Dam landmark. After our boat ride, we had a free late afternoon as all of us wanted to take advantage of the facilities that the hotel provided on its beautiful grounds. It was full of greenery and being by the pristine water of the Volta Lake just made it better because of its views. Later on that night we had dinner and I had the best Kelewele’s in Ghana so far. We wanted to all hangout for our last night and had another listening party as all of us were able to vibe and grow stronger together as a group.
My internship at Insel has also been a great experience. I have been absorbing everything and absolutely adore my colleagues. I have been able to go into the advertising field in Ghana with a different perspective on what I am traditionally used to back in Eugene and at UO. There are a lot of similarities and differences when it comes to terms and techniques that I have found like the different positions. But I noticed the major difference seems like the obvious but it’s all correlated towards how important culture is within this field. I have realized and learned so much about Ghanaian culture working at Insel, and it’s been great to have people that care about my experience. I also have been able to explore a lot of new Ghanaian foods and been very familiar with my area of work now. Being able to take the tro tro at the end of the day has been my highlight despite the hour-plus some traffic. Not going to lie that taking the Trotro the first time I was very nervous, but I have been grateful for the random civilians looking out for us when we clearly can’t hear the mate call out Madina.
