Ghana is an interesting stop, to say the least. Of the countries we are visiting I think the fewest people on the ship have been to. By 2020 Ghana is striving to become the first developed country in west Africa.  Currently, I’m not very confident that is going to happen. One of their largest issues is the GDP per capita, it’s only $1,000 USD a year.

Day one my dad had a field class with his Social and Sustainable Venturing class. The course had a focus on the global chocolate industry, so they went to a Cocoa plantation. One of the other classes I go to, Oceanography, had their field class canceled when we had to bypass Mauritius. So, a few of those students, ended up joining my dad on his field class.   They looked at the fair trade cocoa production (Ghana is one of the few countries that successfully grows this picky product which needs above 70% humidity to thrive).

We docked in the city of Tema about an hour’s drive the capital city of Accra. While my dad was on his field class my mom, little brother and I took the shuttle into Accra to get some grocery shopping done. We spent about an hour in the mall then caught a taxi back to the port gate.

One day two we left for a one night trip called Adventurous Beach Camp. It was a four-hour bus ride out to Lake Volta, the largest manmade reservoir in the world, where we were going to stay.

It was a very relaxed trip. The first day all we did was drive and take a little walk around island. Otherwise, we had free time. Later that night there was traditional Ghanaian dancing and drumming. They started playing some other music that went on very late. This was one of the worst nights of my life sleeping wise, we were sleeping in grass huts with no air flow, the beds were uncomfortable and the music was super loud.

On day two our trip we took a short cruise around part of the lake. We stopped to watch some fisherman pull in their net. We then went to “Rum Island” and learned a little about Ghanaian rum. Now that was boring. Finally, we got back to the bus and began the ride back.

I had been looking forward to our trip on day four because we were going to hand sew our own soccer balls. We went to a social enterprise called “Alive and Kicking”. Their mission is to provide children with proper soccer balls but to also spread awareness about HIV aids, Malaria, and other health issues by putting them on the balls.  Soccer is a game that everyone plays in Ghana.  It is something that unifies the people.

Only a few people, including myself, were able to finish their ball.  I was able to finish half of a “mini-ball”.  I combined my half with the half that Lincoln, Dad and Mom, managed to finish.  Basically, it takes 6 hours for our family to hand stitch a mini-ball.  We would need a lot more practice if we were going to be hired to work for Alive and Kicking.  This is extremely hard work, especially when it is hotter than anywhere else on the planet.