Habitat for Humanity in Ghana, Day 2

The second day in Ghana Julie and I joined Semester at Sea faculty and students for a Habitat for Humanity service project. We piled into a bus and drove from Takoradi to Assan Fuso to help with a build involving five houses in various stages of completion.

There is something so intriguing about gazing out the bus window and seeing a new country, a new culture. Along the way I took lots of photos. The road traveled along the coast and we saw this group pulling in a fishing net.

Fisherman pulling out nets along Ghana's coast

Many of the houses in Ghana are painted by the local cell phone companies. The companies pay the owners a fee in exchange for using their house as a billboard. The companies include Vodofone, MTN, Tigo, and Airtel.

Village with electricity. Notice the red and white cell phone ad on the front house.

As you drive by various villages the houses look rather shabby with tin roofs some being held down by tires or haphazardly constructed plywood walls. However, Ghana is growing fast and the guides explained that one big improvement is that many houses now had electricity, evident by the many tv antennas sticking up out of the villages. In front of the villages the buildings along the road were shops selling food, hardware items, or fabric or beauty salons and repair shops. Behind that were the smaller houses and as you went further back into the villages the houses often got bigger and nicer. Really, not all that different from a U.S. neighborhood where the nicer homes are off the busy street and the shops line the main drag.

After a two-hour bus ride we arrived at the Habitat build site. It took a little while for them to get us divided and working, but eventually I was part of a crew of about 10 women who were responsible for moving bricks all day. There were large concrete/mud bricks that had been drying in the sun and needed to be moved to make space for the next house. We stacked a few hundred bricks for hours. It was hard, hot work, but we took occasional breaks to play with the kids, take photos, and drink lots of water.

Two students transporting bricks

Two students carrying water to be mixed to make mud for walls

Julie took a strong liking to one particular girl who was probably about 5 years old. She didn’t speak English and was a little shy, but she liked Julie. Julie kept asking me if we could take her home. I think her mom would have been very sad.

Julie's favorite kiddo

Julie with girl

By the end of the day our group had moved all the bricks and other groups had helped mud walls, dig trenches, mix mud, etc. It was a rewarding day of hard, sweaty work.

Our group in front of our pile of bricks

Takoradi, Ghana

As is often the case, in Ghana we docked in an industrial port. Once we left the ship we had to walk about 20 minutes to the port gate. We passed large warehouses that housed the cocoa processing plant. The most notable part was the smell. Cocoa stinks! It has a sickly sweet smell that reminded me of dumpsters.

Daniel and Julie walking out of the port

On our first day in port we walked to the gate with a group of other staff. During the walk our group seemed to grow to about 15 people including faculty, staff, and lifelong learners (older, non-student passengers). Once we passed through the security at the port’s gate we were surrounded by taxi drivers all haggling to get our business. It was a bit overwhelming, but we divided up into small groups, negotiated prices, and headed to the central market.

Julie and I ended up in a taxi with a professor and two lifelong learners. During the taxi ride, the comments from the other three were so embarrassing we both wanted to melt into our seats. They were speculating about the people in Ghana as if our driver wasn’t there. Hello! Ghanaians speak English! None of us in the cab had been to Ghana so it’s not as if they knew what they were talking about. Julie and I just looked at each other and decided we needed to head off with some other folks once we got to the market.

Semester at Sea is vigilant about encouraging people to travel in groups. However, sometimes it gets out of hand. By the time we gotten to the market our group had grown to about 15 people. This is not a good way to travel. It’s cumbersome to keep track of so many people and makes you more of a target too. Julie and I decided to split off with two other people, who were less inclined to speak down about the locals. The four of us wondered around the market for a while, which was fascinating.

Market in Takoradi

The market is where the farmers and others bring their goods to sell. Some have stalls they set them up on, but most just lay our a blanket or small crates and display there wares in there. On one side of the street was all the food – carrots, tomatoes, salted fish, peas, etc. The produce was gorgeous. I’ve never seen such red, bright tomatoes and enormous carrots. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really safe for us to eat, so we could just look.

On the other side of the street was everything else – flip flops, belts, plastic storage containers, clothes, kitchen utensils, towels, cell phones, etc. The market was crowded and busy with so many locals buying what they needed. Many people walked around with their goods on a large bowl on their head. First, they would roll up a small towel and shape it into a circle and place that on their head. Then, they would get help from someone else to lift the large bowl or crate onto their head. They’d walk around balancing that on their head and selling their goods. A common product sold this way were buckets of coal chunks, which I assume were used for their cooking stoves, because they certainly didn’t need any heat in their homes.

After wandering around the market a bit we went back to the ship for lunch. We asked our taxi driver which beach he would go to. He told us about Africa Beach. After lunch nine of us took a taxi to Africa Beach. It was beautiful and the water was so warm, like bath water.

L to R: Bianca, Mark, Faith, Julie, Annie, Wei-man, and Dustin

Julie at Africa Beach

Walking to dinner shortly before sunset

L to R: Me, Wei-man, Julie, Annie, and Faith

We played around on the beach for a couple of hours swimming, sitting in the sand, and talking to some locals. It was an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon. Then, we decided to go to dinner. We asked a local where he’d recommend and he suggested the African Beach Hotel. Our taxi driver had dropped us off there and it looked nice so we headed over. As we walked into the backyard restaurant everything looked quite normal. There were a couple dozen tables with umbrellas scattered around the grass, a soccer game was playing on a tv, and the place was about half full which seemed like a good sign. The swimming pool and the trampoline situated amongst the tables didn’t even seem that odd at first. The wait staff pulled two tables together for our group of nine and we settled in.

Then, things got weird. Since we had been swimming I went to the bathroom to change my clothes and our friend Bianca came in a few minutes after me. While I was in my stall I could hear Bianca talking to someone, but I couldn’t hear what the other person was saying. Bianca was answering questions about our trip, but something in her tone seemed a bit off, as if she were uncomfortable. By the time I finished Bianca had left and the other woman was in her own stall.

I returned to the table to hear Bianca tell the group that this lady came into the bathroom and was blocking the door and started asking her lots of questions. She had on large fake eyelashes and a tight, short skirt. My first thought was that she was just a little off and not really an issue. We dismissed it as an anomaly and returned to the menus. Our waitress came over and we ordered drinks. I asked her if we could jump on the trampoline and she said yes. That made my day! Dustin, Bianca and I kicked off our shoes and scrambled on.

Me, Bianca, and Dustin on the trampoline

After our bouncing we all returned to the table and the woman Bianca met in the bathroom approached our group and started talking to Bianca. She was very flirtatious and walked around our whole table introducing herself to each of us. Felicia was clearly high and we were getting uncomfortable. We asked her to leave and finally she did. We all kind of looked at each other like “what was that all about?!” Some of us wanted to leave and some of us figured things were fine now that she had left. We tried to relax and enjoy ourselves. But then, another woman came over and the process was repeated again. To make a long story short, we paid for our drinks, canceled our food order and left. We had somehow ended up in a brothel.

I am not sure if we were in the African Beach Hotel or not. But, we all felt a little squeamish and were glad to get back to the ship. Julie ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner explaining that she just needed some comfort food.

Leaving Manaus via the Amazon River

We spend the last day in Brazil wondering around the streets of Manaus and doing a little last minute shopping, mostly stocking up on snacks for our 9-day trip to Ghana. The supermarket we went to was enormous. It had two stories and was like a grocery store, Target, and Walgreens mixed into one. They even sold bikes.

We spent the next two days sailing back down the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean. I loved the villages, little colorful boxes on a hill. They reminded me of Julie’s artwork.

A village on the Amazon River

On to Ghana!

The Amazon Jungle, Day 3

Our third day in the Amazon Jungle started with a delicious breakfast of fresh pineapple, oranges, sweet bread, and bananas. It was more food then the 3 of us could possibly eat. Francisco threw the extra into the woods to be eaten by the monkeys. There's not exactly a Leave No Trace ethic here, but I'm sure the monkeys loved it.

Our breakfast buffet

After breakfast we packed up our hammocks and started our hike back to the lodge. Francisco led the way and in a few feet he stopped abruptly and jumped back. He was surprised by an injured bird sitting in the middle of the trail. It was so well camouflaged and hissed at him. The birds mouth looked like the inside of a snake’s mouth. An animal probably attacked it in the middle of the night. He poked at the bird so that it hissed and we saw it’s mouth. We left it there for nature to do her thing.

The injured bird

As we continued on we passed a tree with a large nest in the side. Our guide cut an “X” across the nest with his machete and then put his hand on the nest. In seconds his hand was covered in small ants. He slapped at them to kill them then rubbed them around. Natural mosquito repellant, he said. It did smell good, but I wasn’t game to try it.

A nest of ants that when crushed create a natural mosquito repellent

There actually weren’t really any mosquitoes around. Of course, we had heard horror stories about the mosquitoes in the Amazon Jungle, but we were on the Rio Urubu and due to the high acidity of the water the mosquito eggs can’t survive in it. Therefore, there weren’t many mosquitoes. It was great! We had insect repellent with us, but we barely used it. I did find two ticks on me though so long pants were important.

We continued on and Francisco stopped again and walked off the trail to a large vine. He cut a section of the vine and showed us how to drink water out of it. I was skeptical, but the water was delicious. It tasted so pure. It also sounded like a quiet rain stick when the water ran down. The vine acts as a filter and cleans the water. He said it’s a common source of water when you need it for survival.

Julie drinking water from a vine

We continued walking further and then got to swing from a vine. This made me very happy. Of course, it is the classic jungle thing to do and I love swinging on things.

Julie swinging on the vine

We continued on and suddenly Francisco just veered off the path to a pile of red wood. We watched as he picked up a piece and started hacking away with his machete. We had no idea what he was doing. Soon we saw a spoon-like shape emerging from the wood. We thought he was making a spoon for the chef back at the lodge. Then he came back, handed the spoon to Julie and said he’d carve it a little nicer for her back at the lodge. We were shocked at his generosity. Later, he did shape it into a gorgeous, large stirring spoon for Julie. She was very excited and appreciative.

Francisco doing the rough cut for Julie's spoon

As we got close to the lodge Francisco showed us how the roofs of the buildings are made from the palm fronds. The leaves are bent and then the fronds are layered together overlapping each other. Simple and genius.

Bending the green fronds to form the roof

The underside of the thatched roof

We arrived back to the lodge safely, sweaty, and very happy. We showered, ate lunch, repacked our bags and headed back to Manaus via boat and bus.

We had a wonderful trip and Francisco was an excellent guide – professional, knowledgeable, intelligent, and funny. We are very thankful to have worked with him and the other staff of Amazon Antonio Jungle Tours. I would highly recommend them to anyone traveling to that area.

South African Homestay

My Resident Assistant, Candace Stone, wrote a great article for the Semester at Sea Blog discussing her experience during a South African homestay. Click here to go to the SAS blog. She's a great writer. I'm so proud of her!

The Amazon Jungle, Day 2

Francisco woke us early for a sunrise paddle to look for dolphins. It was a gorgeous morning even though we never did see dolphins. The water was a little choppy which made it harder to spot their fins cresting the water. Their fins don’t come out as much as saltwater dolphins like the Atlantic Bottlenose. These are freshwater species called Pink Dolphins or Grey Dolphins. You can probably guess their color.

After a delicious breakfast of fresh pineapple and sweet bread we went out for another paddle with the UK couple. They have a great sense of humor and loved to tease Francisco about all sorts of things and he dished it right back. It was fun.

After lunch we had a nice siesta then packed our bags and Julie, Francisco and I headed out for an overnight hike in the jungle. Another guide drove us down the river to our starting point. We hopped out of the boat with our backpacks and he sped away. The only way back to the lodge was to walk. There didn’t appear to be a trail, but Francisco was confident in where we were going. Eventually you could see a faint trail, but I was glad to be with him. We would have been in a heap of trouble without a guide. It’s not like going hiking in a U.S. National Park or somewhere with nice marked signs or trail cairns along the way. This seemed to be more remote than most places in the lower 48. We carried our hammocks, food, and a soot covered cooking pot. Francisco carried a machete and we soon saw how adept he was with using it as he cleared large leaves out of our way and chopped at vines. Later I was carrying it and realized it’s not as easy as it looks.

As we hiked he taught us about many of the plants we passed. We saw the trees that make Vick’s Vapor Rub and Tiger Balm, quinine for tonic water, the natural malaria prophylactic, the medicine for rheumatism, and many more. It’s amazing what’s growing in there. I imagine there are many benefits from the plants that no one knows about yet.

As we passed a small hole in the ground Francisco stopped us and picked a palm tree frond. With his machete he shaved it off except for a few little fronds on the end. He stuck the frond in the hole and wiggled. In a moment a huge tarantula crawled out!

Francisco holding the tarantula

He expertly picked it up from the back so he didn’t get bitten, like picking up a lobster. He said a drop of the poison would kill you and held up the spider so we could see the poison dripping out. Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, I didn’t realize they were actually poisonous. I just thought they were big, hairy, and ugly. I guess since people have them as pets I had gotten the wrong impression. Now I know better!

We arrived to our campsite in the late afternoon. We gathered firewood, set up our hammocks, and Francisco cooked us an enormous meal of rice, potatoes, sausage, and veggies. I think he forgot it was just us three. He cooked enough for at least six people!

Our dinner cooking over the fire

We used large leaves for plates and Francisco cut spoons out of wood with his machete. He’s amazingly adept at using that thing.

Dinner with our machete-cut spoons and leaf plates

I was a little nervous about sleeping well in a hammock, but it was surprisingly comfortable. I just missed having a pillow.

Julie in her hammock

Francisco forgot the ropes to tie up his hammock so he used his machete to strip some bark from a tree and used that as rope. It was quite impressive. I think he was a little nervous about it's strength, but it didn't break in the middle of the night. He was very happy about that!

There were candles set up around our camp. They added a nice touch.