This past Friday, every AFS student in Ghana was reunited for two days of orientations assessing our time in Ghana. Afterwards, we spent a day at Biakpa’s Mt. Paradise. Following are my favorite photos from the trip:
Liza’s happiness curve stole the show at the orientation.Obviously someone lit the bat-signal on our way to Ho.After four hours of driving, we arrived at Mt. Paradise.This being my first time hiking, I was immediately overcome with excitement.But the hills were steep – I had to buckle down and get serious.The African sun beat down upon our shoulders as we hiked up and down steep mountains. I had to take my shirt off due to the overwhelming heat.I instantly morphed into the Incredible Hulk.Hiking down hills quickly became second ‘nature’ to me – no pun intended.Near the bottom of Mt. Paradise, the descent was so steep that we had to hold onto a rope as we propelled ourselves downwards.As soon as we reached the bottom, Kulugu Falls awaited us.Several ropes hung nearby the falls.Needless to say, I was no Tarzan.I quickly redeemed my rope-swinging failure by jumping into the waterfall pool.
Following our swim, we pulled ourselves up the mountain once more and began our hike back.
On the way back up, our guide pointed out a paw paw (papaya) tree…Along with a coffee plant…And a wild pineapple… which tasted delicious!Balthazar and Bany were lucky enough to find fresh cashew fruit to eat.At long last, the hike ended and I returned to humanity.Even though we were starving after the hike, the 17 of us still couldn’t finish this ‘Ghanaian sized’ tray of rice.Our bus driver bought a grass cutter on the side of the road for his dinner.After stuffing our faces with rice, we stopped by a local art gallery. The painting at the top is of the various Adinkra symbols.Nearly every painting had a theme – from the fragmentation of a life via AIDS to tribal puberty rites.Later that night, we watched a drumming and dancing performance. One highlight was watching a lady dance with a torch balanced on her head.
Following the show, we took photos with the dancers.
After the performance, we headed back to the hostel and went to sleep. The following morning, we woke up early and left for Accra.
On the way we passed a national park and saw several monkeys on the side of the road!Special thanks to Ida Gribsvad (Denmark) and Drew Walker (USA) for several of their photos.
