Ghana: Tema, Accra, and Takoradi

Advertisements

The sea stretch from South Africa to Ghana was unending and absolutely awful. The route we had to take meant we were crossing where two oceans meet, making the waves just atrocious. Needless to say, I was THRILLED to get off the ship. Our time in Ghana was a rollercoaster. I loved the history and how receptive and kind the people there were. It was one of the kindest countries for sure. On the other hand, transportation was very difficult as their entire cellular network across the country was down and I also found the slave castle experiences to be gut wrenching, yet a necessary experience. Ghana is a country that I would have not traveled to by myself, but I am so grateful to Semester at Sea for bringing me there.

Note: There is no “Stay” section on this travel guide as we stayed on ship every night due to field classes and the transportation struggle.

EAT:

Chocolate Sarayi – We literally ate here twice haha. Ghana is actually the country that most cocoa beans are grown in, so the chocolate here is a big part of most industries. This restaurant is a chain throughout Ghana, so we just walked to the one closest to our bus drop off. This menu was HUGE and we tried so many different things. I really enjoyed all of it, but the dessert was definitely my favorite.
Pizza Hut – This was definitely a sillier one, but I LOVED it. We were 2.5 months in to the voyage and pizza sounded great. This Pizza Hut happened to be attached to a grocery store by our port, so on the last day, my roomies and I went to get that taste of home.

Advertisements

DO:

The tour we used for all of these is linked here!

Kakum National Park – This was so terrifying but also so beautiful. This park has built out suspension bridges everywhere and we got a full tour on them. We got to see all kinds of animals and plant life, just really seeing the natural beauty of Ghana.

Cape Coast & Elmina Castle: This was simply heartbreaking. These castles are where so many native Africans were “stored” before being sent to Europe or the Americas for slave labor. The conditions are dismal even now and there were even churches built on top of the containment areas. As a religious person, it made me really sick and upset to learn all of this and to learn how supportive the different religions were. The slave trade is an abominable time in our history as humans, but it is one worth learning about.

TIPS:

Ghana only became an independent country in the 1950s, making them one of the newest in the world. It may seem taboo but ask your tour guide about their country. Ours gave us all the details, what he liked and what he wished would change. It was so insightful and really broadened my perspective on government and politics.
Bring water with you everywhere. This country is hot as the sun everywhere, and if like me, you drink a lot of water, pack your own.
You will see lots of familiar chains throughout Ghana, but often the menu is completely different. We thought it was fun to try Pizza Hut here and it was so much better than Pizza Hut here!

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading!