The adventures begin...

Thursday 2nd July
So after the obligatory two hours sat on the plane at Heathrow before take off, on Thursday 2nd July at approximately 10.30 I finally arrived at Accra airport, Ghana. As I queue up at passport control, I notice a sign boldly proclaiming 'Welcome to Ghana.' Underneath are the words, 'Welcome to Ghana. We are glad you are here. Unless you are a sexual predator or a paedophile, then go home.' A random choice of greeting I feel, but fair enough! I then meet Eric, the man in charge of Global Volunteer Projects in Ghana, and head off to a hostel for the night before heading to Cape Coast in the morning.

Friday 3rd July
I have been told to meet in reception at 7.10, so I set my alarm for 6.30, showered, dressed, gathered my belongings and dragged my suitcase downstairs. As I got down to the rather dark reception I realised that I had not changed my phone to Ghana time (which is an hour earlier) and it was in fact only 6am. Oops. After an hour twiddling my thumbs Eric came and we set off for the STC (coach) station to get the 8am coach to Cape Coast, where I would be based. When the coach came to the station at 9am, I realised that Ghana time was vastly different to the rest of the world's generally accepted understanding of time.

In Cape Coast I was given a brief tour of the town (I'll describe more fully when I explore it fully!) and then got back to the house where I would be staying with the other volunteers. It transpired that a few of the volunteers were going to Kumasi for the weekend, and did I want to come? A couple of hours later I found myself on a tro-tro to Accra as there were no direct tro-tros to Kumasi. For those of you that don't know, a tro-tro is essentially a less safe version of a minibus. You feel every jolt and shudder in the road, are crammed in like sardines and are often in fear of your life, so realising that after the two hour journey to Accra there was another four hours to go I was started to wish I had opted for a quiet night in instead. At Accra we invested in a much more expensive tro- tro, but one which was newer, comfier and even had air condition! As we sailed on past the other more rickety tro-tros we all felt quite smug and satisfied that this would be a much more pleasant journey. Then we got a flat tyre. We eventually arrived in Kumasi at 4am, but thanks to useless taxi drivers who had no idea where our hostel was, we didn't make it to our hostel until 5.30am. We later discovered that the hostel was a five minute walk from where we had got in the taxi.

Saturday 4th July
After an exhausting nine hours on coaches and tro-tros the previous day, I was looking forward to a nice shower when I woke up. Then I discovered there was no running water. I went to put my phone on to charge whilst I tried to discover what the problem was, only to find there was no electricity. When I attempted to ask why Guestline Lodge was nothing more than a series of beds with a roof I received just one word in response- 'recession.' Of course.

Thirsty, dirty and hungry we headed to Vic Baboo's, a nearby cafe which had been recommended in our guidebook. After being accosted by several rastafarians confidently telling us that we wanted a lopsided painting or maybe a dodgy pot we hoped the food was good. We were not disappointed. After a decent meal and dousing ourselves in water we headed to Kumasi market, the main purpose of our visit. The market stretches further than the eye can see, and is a mass of noise and colour. Everywhere you went people would shout at you to buy their goods, tap you on the shoulder to try and persuade you to come to their stall or just follow you in the hope of getting money. Whilst most of the stalls are really only of interest to the locals, (unless you particularly want a pair of old flip flops or a shower cap) there is plenty for everyone. Eventually we found the cloth section, which was what we were all here for. Here you can buy material and then take it to a woman who makes it into anything you like! The choice was huge, and the fabrics were all beautiful, but eventually I managed to narrow it down to three different fabrics. I will let you know how the clothes turn out...

In the evening we went back to Vic Baboo's for dinner and cocktails, then headed to Vienna City for a bit of gambling. Kaitlyn and I bet big on the roulette- 10 CD, or about five pounds. After a lucky streak, we decided to quit while we were ahead and mangaged to quadruple our money. Harriet and Joe were less fortunate, and after a tense two hours had both developed a gambling addiction and lost all of their 10 CD. At about 2am, upon returning to the hostel discovered that the previously not working shower had started working again, but the tap was on and now our room was 1cm deep in water. Never mind, at least we had water...

Sunday 5th July
After waking up to a room still slightly flooded, we headed to the STC station to get a direct coach back to Cape Coast. Unfortunately not only was there not a coach until 2pm, everywhere was shut. We went back to the hostel and after an hour's wait were treated to a selection of breakfast dishes. Unfortunately they were all slightly congealed and no meal correlated to our actual order, but beggars can't be choosers.

Our coach actually left before 2.30 which I found quite impressive, but thoughts of a smooth journey home were premature. After two hours we stopped at a bridge, where we were told we would have to wait for 15 minutes until another coach could meet us at the other side. After being harassed for 45 minutes by a woman clutching a dead fish we eventually made it back to Cape Coast unscathed, and got an early night ready for placements the next day.

Monday 6th July
I was told I would be picked up at 8am. At 8.30 someone told me that the person picking me up was busy. Eventually I make it to the TV station, only to be told that my placement will be 3pm-7.30pm. Will update you on my placement in a few days time. Hopefully!

Bye for now,
Daniella x