A couple of weeks ago now we had an opportunity as a family to go to Ghana. We took a few days off of work and took the kids on a little adventure. Our friend Miriam, our English pharmacist, and Philip, who is from Ghana and works in engineering on the ship, went with us. It was really helpful to have Philip with us because he knew the border procedures well and had made the trip before. We were also very grateful to our other Ghanaian friends here, Richmond and Esther, who helped us arrange transportation and lodging. We had a wonderful time. We stayed most nights at the
YWAM base in
Tema just east of Accra. Many of the African crew members aboard the ship are from
Tema so it was very nice to see the place they call home. Our impression was that Ghana is still very much West Africa, but much more like home than any other West African country we have visited so far. There is quite a bit of development there and even a western style shopping mall in Accra! There were a few moments while driving around in Accra when we could imagine ourselves being in the U.S. somewhere, until we were jolted back to Africa at the red lights where dozens of vendors weave between the cars hoping to sell whatever they are carrying in the large containers on their heads.
On Thursday, April 30th we traveled from Cotonou to Tema. We didn't expect to have any trouble leaving Benin, but that was where we got stuck. The border police wanted us to pay for Benin visas, which, given the work we do, we are not required to have. So rather than paying $100 extra we made a few phone calls and waited an hour and a half til everything got sorted. After that, we crossed into Togo and then later into Ghana without any trouble. Altogether the trip to Tema took about 9 hours. That evening we met our gracious hostess, Betty. We were very grateful for all her hospitality while we were there. Philip went on to his home to visit until our return to Cotonou, but Miriam stayed and traveled with us. Friday we went to Boti Falls to the north of Accra along with Dixon, our driver. We listened to lots of African praise music, South African reggae, and some interesting Nigerian hip-hop during our journey. It turned out to take much longer to get there than we expected, but it was beautiful and the kids had fun splashing around in the water.
On Saturday we got up early and left at 5:00 for Winneba for the annual Aboakyir Festival. We had timed our trip so we could try and catch this event. During the night two companies of men had gone out to try to catch live antelope. So Saturday morning not long after we arrived they paraded in from the hunt with great fanfare carrying their catch. 
The local chief came out too with his entourage all dressed in their traditional clothing. 
It was fascinating to see all of this, but the crowds made it a bit difficult to see the animal and quite hazardous to get any photos. We had lunch that day at a little restaurant run by one of Betty's relatives. Below is a photo of the kids and Emmanuel, a wonderful man who does church planting and who was kind enough to drive us to the festival, at the restaurant.
On our way back to Tema that evening we tried some tiger nuts we bought from a street vendor.
On Sunday we rested a little and left with Dixon for Elmina. We toured Elmina Castle, an old Portuguese fort used during the slave trade. 
It was a very interesting tour, but also very sobering. We stayed at a very nice lodge on the beach that night and tried some local food called kenkey, a smoked corn meal cake wrapped in plantain leaves. We also had a nice chicken kabob and spaghetti for the kids.
On Monday we went to Kakum National Park and went on the rope bridge canopy walk up in the rain forest canopy. It was quite high up and quite beautiful. It reminded David, Joey and me of the Ewok village from Return of the Jedi.
We tried fresh cocoa there too. The beans are white on the outside and taste very sweet. You only suck the flavor off the outside without biting the bean. Neither the sweet taste of the outside of the bean nor the interior of the bean if you bite into it taste anything at all like chocolate.
On our way back from Kakum Park we stopped off for lunch at a place called Hans Cottage Botel. The restaurant sits on stilts on a lake that is infested with crocodiles. There are also thousands of yellow and black weaver birds in the trees within arms reach. That was a really neat place to hang out. The caretaker let us watch her feed the crocodiles and let everyone touch the tail and hind legs of one of them. None of us had ever done anything like that before. I'm sure it would have been no big deal for people like Jeff Corwin, Bear Grylls, or Steve Irwin, but it was a big deal for us.
When we got back to Tema Monday evening we got to see Esther, one of the ship's photographers who just returned to live in Tema, her hometown. We visited briefly with her mother as well and Cathy who was also visiting from the ship.
Tuesday we linked back up with Dixon and Philip for the return to Cotonou. We said goodbye to Dixon at the border and crossed into Togo. Unfortunately, our ride was not there. We had a few refreshments at the Shell station and waited for a couple of hours for the van to come. It didn't so we got a couple of taxis in order to make it into Benin before dark. The taxi ride was a little unsettling. The drivers obviously knew the road very well, but even so 100 miles per hour through Togo is frightening! It was the first taxi speedometer that I had seen that actually worked and I'm pretty sure it was not measured in km per hour. Perhaps it would have been better for me if it hadn't worked. Nevertheless, the Lord was merciful and we all arrived back at the ship safely. It was a very nice, refreshing trip.
John
