My Life in Guinea / Burkina Faso: Land of the Black Stars

The biggest question plaguing Ghana right now is not who can match Ghana in the World Cup, but rather who will they play in the Finals. While they are completely delusional in the idea that Ghana stands a chance against a powerhouse like Germany, the country's energy right now is palpable.

And I thought people were excited in Burkina.

Ghana is an Africa powerhouse but still behind other formidable foes like Nigeria and Cameroon. The kids play ball all day in whatever limited open space they can find. The power of football here in Africa is just amazing and being a part of the enthusiam is even better. During our trip we were sure to remind everyone that Australia is not a pushover in world football. Of course the Ghanains were proud to immediatly counter with "Do you remember 2006 when Ghana beat the USA 2-0?" Errrr.........

Well it's fun, and the time to be in Africa is now. It does not matter where you are, the World Cup in South Africa is every African's World Cup, and nowhere else in the world can match the energy that this event has brought to this continent. I am of course thrilled for the games to start in 6 days and besides the USA, I'm cheering for an African team to win the cup. With the exception of Algeria, because we, USA, need to beat them to go to the next round.

But enough about the greatest event known to man, it's time to talk about a Ghana vacation. And well, why not start with a little photo highlighting the super challenging trip.

My oh my, how life can be difficult sometimes. Beer, hammock, beach, ocean, but damn, no food in this particular photo. What gives?

Our trip started with the bus ride from hell (as much as I love being here, I cannot stand the transport). It took us 24 hours to get to Takoradi, the third largest city in Ghana, including an overnight stay at the Kumasi bus station. Sleeping on benches, wow what a blast!

But finally, we arrived, and it was straight to Busua, a small beach resort town in Western Ghana. OHHHHHHH MY was my first reaction. This beach was incredible complete with even the stereotypical island resting adrift in the ocean. Best bodysurfing I've ever had the pleasure to experience, plus incredible food, excellent live music, and plenty of nature and castles to explore. One day we walked 3k to the neighboring fishing village, where the ruins of an old German castle still oversee the ocean cove.

Freshly cooked Lobster

Ruins of a German Castle, it's my Indiana Jones shot.

After 3 nights in Busua, we were off to the Green Turtle Lodge, a staple travel destination for all West African PCVs. While I personally was not as crazy about the place as others, it certainly was well worth the visit. It is absolutely gorgeous, a small hotel 12k from any major town and 2k from a tiny fishing village. Palm trees line the beach as far as the eye can see and a Mangrove forest protects the inland jungle from the encroaching salt water.

Stunning place. My only problem was lack of food selection (you were stuck with what they had, not expensive but not cheap either). And Green Turtle was where the fun began--Dylan ran out of cash!

Now some backstory to this is important. Before I left for Guinea I closed my ATM card to all except three cities in the world, Conakry, Dakar, and Johannesburg. Now with me out of Guinea and the World Cup 3000 dollars away, my ATM Card is essentially useless. So I could not even contact the bank to open the card because, HAHA, I have no money on my Skype account. (I'm still hoping for a trip to Senegal, fingers crossed)

So that's the backstory. While I would never admit it at the time to my travelling mates, I was seriously worried about returning to Burkina and how I would eat for 5 days.

But of course that's why we have friends right? My companions, Josh and Rob, were perfectly comfortable in loaning me money for the rest of the trip. So yay, Ghana was no disaster after all.

When all was said and done we left the beach for Ghana's second largest city, Kumasi. Kumasi is notably famous for having the largest open air market in Africa (largest in the world coincedentally is in Bangkok, Thailand, and yes I have been there too). You can find whatever you want in the Kumasi market, and we had quite a day getting lost and immersed in the Kumasi beast.

Kumasi market, with a mega church in the background

The other thing in Kumasi: food. We had the pleasure of eating pizza comparable to pizza in the USA. Of course nothing will beat US delivery, but after not eating good pizza for 11 months, I was very happy.

So that's that. 12 day vacation in the books and now three weeks until my buddy Chris will be joining me in Burkina Faso.