All About Accra

Accra was my second work trip and a break from what I knew. Previously, I had been to Morocco. However, everyone says Morocco really isn't Africa -- and they aren't kidding! Accra feels like what you'd expect with Africa. A slight dessert feel, heat, and a clear indication you aren't in the U.S. However, many people don't realize that Ghana is on the coast, which provides some pretty amazing views.

Accra was a great retreat from Manila. In Manila, I felt like I couldn't leave the hotel due to a lack of green space, an overwhelming city, and persistent people. Accra still had the persistent people but the beaches and outdoors provided a necessary place to relax.

Our hotel was resembled a lodge. As one of the nicer hotels in Accra, many dignitaries had stayed there before us, including the Queen of England. It was a short distance from the  beach, which was nice for walks. But almost immediately men appeared trying to sell us everything from paintings, to drugs, and rides on their horse. I may have given in when it came to the horseback riding...

Over the weekend we hired a driver and took a day trip. We left around 5 or 6 in the morning hoping to make it to our destination by 9 or 10 at the latest. Instead we arrived some time after 11am even though our drive was a mere 80 miles. Our first stop was Kakum National Park. Kakum's main attraction is a canopy walk through the forest. If you get to the walk early enough, there's a possibility of seeing monkeys and birds. However, our late arrival didn't help with our chances of this. The canopy walk was a lot fun, even though what we were walking on was essentially a metal ladder with a 2x4 over it and netting all around it. Although it was very high, the tops of the trees made it feel like you were closer to the ground.

The Canopy walk in Kakum

Our second stop was lunch at a beautiful beach-front hotel restaurant. For westerners, food can be limited in Accra. Unless you are at an established restaurant or hotel, you may want to forgo eating. Ghana is great at cooking chicken: blackened chicken, chicken wings, crispy chicken skin. It was some of the best I've had in my life! Ghana also has several dishes with a sweet potato type starch. Often times it is turned into a type of couscous and paired with curry.

Our last weekend stop was Elmina Castle -- a slave castle. The slave castle was extremely eye opening for me. For instance, the small space that slaves cohabited while they waited for their fate was deplorable, especially when shared with 50-75 other people. This space was where everything occurred: living eating, and going to bathroom. Elmina Castle was inhabited by several nations: the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the British. As one nation conquered the next, a fear of water poisoning  persisted. Hence the castle had tree separate wells from each occupant. The castle was ruled by a governor, who occupied stately quarters compared to the slaves. The castle also included rooms for other military officers, a church, and some common courtyards. The most gut wrenching part of our tour was when our guide explained that the common area outside the female slave quarters was used for the presentation of slaves to the governor. The governor would stand on his balcony and pick a slave. This slave would then climb an interior ladder into the governor's chambers and then would be raped.  To make this worse, this all happened while the governor's room was located next to the church. Even more sobering was the thought that the Europeans thought they were doing the right thing by enslaving people and taking them from their homeland. One of the final things we saw was the gate of no return. This is the final passage the slaves would walk through to board the ships to west. The opening was extremely small, I would be hard pressed to say that an American 7 year old could fit through it. After seeing all this, I was extremely heartbroken, filled with a stark sense of reality, and place in the world. Even more saddening, was the village that still lives below the castle. Every day they look up seeing the fortress and remembering what happened to their people.

Houses in Ghana

It's hard to describe the living conditions in Ghana. Many people live in cinder block, wood, or sheet metal homes. To find a gated, large home is quite rare. However, even the people living in cinder block houses don't necessarily seem poor. They have decent clothing and sometimes nice cars. The stark difference is solely their houses. Yet some people are extremely poor.  At one point during our time in Ghana, our cab took a wrong turn and we ended up in the middle of a village with unpaved roads and garbage everywhere. At one point I couldn't help but to feel nauseous after seeing a trash filled stream with discolored water. The amazing part of seeing this village was that it was next to the most beautiful beach. The contrast between these two things was extremely surprising.

Gods Way Coffin Shop

The people in Ghana were generally very friendly. They are also quite religious. During our time there, a well known pastor came to Accra. Roads were shutdown, people camped out, and half the city attended an all-night service. Additionally, everything was named after God. There were biblical verses on cars, and religiously inspired names for stores. Most memorable of all these places was "God's Way Coffin Shop", which was located on the side of the road under a tent. If things weren't name after God, they were name after his #2 -- Obama.

Obama College

It's hard for me to tell everyone to go visit Ghana. The tourist attractions are not in abundance and are fairly spread out across the country. However, it was a pleasant place to go and a welcome change from Manila. The other issue with visiting Ghana is the flights, which all have at least one layover in   Paris. However, if you have the chance to go to Ghana don't disregard it!

Fishing boats on the beach

The beach by our weekend lunch spot

48 Hours in Japan

The snow storm of all snow storms hit the East coast as my plane was taking off from Manila. This started a travel nightmare, leaving my flight  cancelled/delayed/and re-routed what felt like a thousand times. Through the many re-routes and delays I almost ended up with a free trip (layover) to Hawaii, but Japan was the final winner and not bad either!

There are three airports in Tokyo, with the international airport technically located in Narita. Narita is over an hour outside of Tokyo. Because of the distance and my unstable flight schedule, I never made it into Tokyo, which was a huge regret. However, I did get to explore a temple in Narita and eat some great food.

The temple in Narita felt surreal. It was colorful, peaceful, and in touch with nature. I walked around for hours looking at the different buildings, ponds, waterfalls, and statues. Right outside the temple was a street market that sold anything from chocolate covered bananas to lucky Daruma dolls.

Japan was a quick stop but somewhere I'd love to go back and visit.

Manila

My first trip was to Manila in January. Despite it being the middle of winter in the US, Manila is a scorching 90+ degrees (not including insane humidity). Looking back on Manila, I felt smothered, not only by the heat but the environment. There’s a fair amount of smog/fog/pollution in Manila. You walk out of the street and you’re thrown into the hustle and bustle of traffic and city life. Manila’s traffic is among the worst in the world. It can take hours to go 3-4 kilometers. The one bright spot in the traffic realm are the “Jeepneys”. Originally converted from the war, Jeepneys are silver bodied, colorful busses. As far as I can tell, they are privately owned, with the routes painted on side of the vehicle. Each Jeepney has a name above the front windows and they usually have some sort of fluorescent light inside for at night. They are by far the cheapest form of public transportation, but a staple to local life.

But back to city life..The people are everywhere. Poverty rates are high in Manila. You can see people living on the street or in their tuk-tuks. Many have turned to selling illegal goods, prostitution, foodstuffs, or whatever they can. The physical environment of the city is strange as well. You can stay in a five start hotel and walk out the door to a gentleman’s club, street vendors, restaurants, a Chinese temple,  massage parlors, and currency exchange shops. One of my colleagues whom I met in Manila remarked at how many Americans arrive expecting a tropical paradise and end up disappointed.

Manila has an old, walled section of the town called Intramuros. Here you can find 14th century churches, government buildings, a fort, and many other sights. Some of the area is ruined from WWII’s impact on the Philippines and some areas were re-purposed to take back the city from the Japanese. Manila also has a decent art museum – The Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Here you can see local artists and Filipino inspired art including some inspired by the Jeepneys. Manila also has malls. The Philippines LOVES malls. Mall of Asia is the largest mall in Asia. It has separate zones for electronics, health and beauty, etc. There are stores you’d never guess existed, form the Samsung store to Asian brands that are less familiar. There are also sports fields and gigantic movie theaters all attached to mall compound.  The restaurants in Manila and the malls are surprising. The people there love their fast food. Some chains that are extinct in the US are still flourishing… For instance, Kenny Rodgers Roasters. Sometimes, the love for fast food made finding a good meal a challenge.

One of the most surprising things about Manila is the toll that World War II took on the Philippines. In Manila, there is a Department of Veterans Affairs, which serves those who fought in the war. Additionally there is the Manila American Cemetery. The cemetery rivals Arlington National Cemetery on a smaller scale. The feel is almost the same, white crosses consuming the grass and monuments spread across the grounds. The biggest difference is the constant heat and the palm trees. It was truly beautiful and great to see.

I crammed as much as I could into my weekend in Manila. During the first day, I woke up in the middle of the night to catch a bus provided by a tour company. The bus takes you to Mt. Pinatubo, the famed volcano that exploded in 1991. I had signed up for a hike there. We rode the bus for around four hours before arriving at the volcano. There we were put in groups and shuffled into off-road vehicles. The vehicles drove across what almost looked like a dessert. However, it was really the dried ash, rock, and lahar. It was extremely bumpy and vast. You could truly see the strength of the volcano as we drove for what felt like miles across the terrain. Finally, we started our hike, which would culminate at a crater lake, which was originally the core of the volcano. It had since been filled by rain. The hike was supposed to be 5K but my Fitbit registered far more than that to the point that I think we were lied to by the company… Either way the view was amazing. The color of the lake was gorgeous and the scenery was something I had never quite seen before. We had to hike the entire way back to the jeeps, but it was a worthwhile experience. The one surprise from the hike is that the volcano is located on indigenous people’s territory. The indigenous people from Manila closely resemble those of Australia (in my opinion). However, they are extremely poor and somewhat ignored by society (as explained by some Filipinos in my hiking group). We shared snacks and gave the people some money but it was heartbreaking at time to see the children’s dirty clothes or how skinny they and their pets were.

On my second day of the weekend, I flew to Borocay, and island paradise in the Philippines. Once you arrive at the airport, you catch a ride to the pier, where you must ride a boat across to the island. The traditional boats are really interesting, as they are long and narrow with stilts that help to balance them. Borocay also is beautiful with the bluest waters and the mountains and rocks coming out of the ocean. However, despite its beauty it can be likened to Asia’s version of the Bahamas. It attracted several tourists from all over. People seemed amazed that I was there alone, making me feel like I had come to a couple’s retreat solo. However, I treated myself to a mango shake, a massage, and some much needed beach time. Borocay is the tropical paradise that Americans are looking for in Manila.  The other nice thing about traveling to Borocay is that the planes fly low enough that you can see mountains, volcanoes, and the ocean right out your window. The downside about traveling to Borocay was that the airline closed my gate an hour before the flight and my taxi driver took me to the wrong terminal. This  created the perfect storm for missing my initial flight.

Overall, my time in Manila receives a mixed-review. Although I’m a city-dweller, I preferred the beach and the rural areas for their beauty. The city itself felt suffocating to me. However, he cheap prices in Manila are to die for when eating or looking for hotels. 

 For those looking for travel tips, I flew to Manila via ANA and I highly recommend it. So far, they have the best customer service I’ve experienced on an international flight.

Indigenous People of Mt. Pinatubo

Crosses at the American Cemetery

Why Blog?

I’m a lucky human. After working at my company for around a year and a half, I was provided the opportunity to travel the world for work. What does this mean? At a minimum, I will be in a different country every month. In its fullest potential, I will be in multiple in countries in a single month. I had hoped for this opportunity for a while, and after some soul searching and weighing both sides, I figured, “Why not, I’m young. There isn’t much holding me back”. And so it began. There’s the obvious concern of missing times with friends and family: weddings, holidays, parties, you name it. But how often are people given such an opportunity?

After accepting the role and speaking to some of my coworkers, many lamented that their biggest regret was not keeping a diary or blogging during their time. For some of them a year had passed and they never recorded things that they saw, tasted, felt, and heard. So now, here I am, trying to learn from their mistakes.  This blog is meant to be an insight into my life and a view of wherever I am in the world. It will never be a sponsored go-to guide, and that isn't its purpose.  However, It may also touch on hotel, flight, and other recommendations for the frequent travelers out there.

Initially I had hoped to pair this with my blog from Semester at Sea in 2011. Unfortunately, it seems that blogger deleted the blog after I hadn’t logged in for a while. If anyone knows how to get that back TELL ME! I’m so sad that it’s gone! Otherwise, I hope you will enjoy this and provide feedback on what more you hope to learn from reading.


*The statements, views, and opinions of this blog are my own and are unaffiliated with any company, organization, etc.*