Day 2 in the Cape Coast

It is incredible to think that this has only been our sixth day in Ghana. Our group has grown so much in the last week. Although some of us have traveled before, few of us have seen any part of the world that is this under-developed. From the general lack of sanitation to the extreme poverty, to say that we are experiencing ‘culture shock’ would be an understatement. Considering the fact that our comfort zone ranges from long Island to Poughkeepsie, our quick assimilation to Ghanaian standards is very impressive.

We began the day with a trip to a school that happened to be right next to the hotel in which we stayed (Prospect Lodge, Cape Coast). Since it had been raining early that morning the teachers casually decided not to show up. The children had not been informed of this and they were wondering around the school unsupervised. Thus, we substituted ourselves as teachers and provided an on the spot lesson to children of different ages. The students turned out to be very interested in subjects like science, psychology, and math. They were also quite curious about the United States. From President Obama, to basketball, to various festivals, the kids were eager to learn more about this country and understand what their parents had told them about it.

The rest of the day was used to take a trip to Kakum National Park and a Crocodile Farm. The Canopy walkway at Kakum National Park is the longest calculated walkway in Africa. Upon completion, we became a part of the select group of people who could say that they have walked the longest elevated walkway of both Africa and the U.S. (walkway of the Hudson).

At night we walked around the town of Cape Coast. As usual, the people were friendly and polite. Everyone wanted to talk to the Americans. To me (Ryan), this reinforced the utopic image Ghanaians appear to have of the U.S. It’s unfortunate that Ghanaians such as our tour guide, Nikoi, are having trouble getting into the U.S. Our culture could learn a lot from each other.