[By Porter Levenson]

Here I am, over a month later, writing from the living room of the apartment I have called my home for this trip. I have written many blogs about my experience, but I wanted to highlight my favorite trips thus far. Ghana is a beautiful country, and I enjoyed everywhere we went, but I have a certain enjoyment for nature.

My third favorite trip was our journey to Cape Coast. Everything we had done so far had been in Accra, so it was nice to leave the busy city and get some fresh air. I also love the coast; I’m used to being by it in Oregon, so getting to see it and be in the water was wonderful. 

This was my view from my room. I miss it daily.

There were also crocodiles at the resort. They were behind a wall, but their babies were not. An open pond kept the adolescent crocodiles inside, with a less-than-satisfactory wall only just above knee height. Luckily, I didn’t see any that were at risk of escaping, but I can’t imagine that small wall will keep them contained forever.

My second favorite trip was our tour of the Aburi Botanical Gardens, located in the mountains above the city. It was a long drive but very worth it. We stopped at a scenic viewpoint on the way.

This was the view. It was amazing to me how I still couldn’t see the end of the city.

Many people sought solitude in these gardens, such as the Queen of England and even Bob Marley. Medicinal plants surrounded us, and the sound of birds replaced the engine noises of the city. Even though it was a hot day, it was always cool in the shade, which there was plenty of. Pavilions surrounded us, and a cool breeze always blew through the open coverings. They also had palm trees, which are apparently not native here. In this case, they had gotten them from Miami. It was a place I wish we could have revisited. Like I said, I love nature, and going to the gardens made me miss the parks of my hometown. 

These were the palm trees lining the walkway. Reminiscent of California or their origin city Miami.

My number one favorite trip came at the very end of our trip this past weekend. We traveled to the Volta region just East of the city. This is a very jungly region, so all housing is pretty rural. Compared to where we stayed in Accra, the hotel in Volta was pretty isolated. Only a single road led to our hotel. It was amazing after being in the busy city for so long.

The first thing we did was travel to the most beautiful waterfall I have seen. No waterfall in Oregon comes close to the height of the one we saw. Thousands of bats lived in the cliffs above us, which added to the scale of the whole scene. It looked like a scene pulled from a movie.

Our next stop was Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. This is a 200 sq ft sanctuary for the Mona monkey. They have free reign over the entire area. Most of it is forest, but there are a few buildings for storage. While we were there, a monkey got into the banana storage and ate its full. We got to visit with the leader of one of the groups of monkeys who was twice the size of the other ones. When we held bananas out, we would get swarmed by two or three of them. They jumped onto our arms and off our bodies to get to the tasty fruit. I was amazed at how human-like their hands were. They would peel the banana to get to the fruit so quickly. The youngest ones usually ate the least, and if no one else was. If they went first and took more than their share, they would get their tail bitten as punishment. 

Our final outing was to Afrikiko, a resort on Lake Volta, very similar to the resort at Cape Coast. We had lunch served buffet style, and then it was time for our lake tour. Adomi Bridge is the highlight of the lake, being the largest suspension bridge in West Africa. The lake itself also happened to be the biggest man-made lake in West Africa.

It was a great last outing, and as our motorboat glided over the water, it finally hit me. This country has been my home for the previous six weeks, and I will probably never come back. Who knows what the future holds, but I feel my time in this country has ended. I have made fantastic relationships along the way and I will miss everyone I have met. Hopefully, I will see them again. I want to show them my country instead of the other way around.

Our final group photo together. They’ve been like a family to me these last few weeks.