Day 1
After a long day of travelling and with only one (!) missing bag, we arrived in Accra and transferred to our hotel for the night. We woke early to the cry of roosters and embarked upon a 4 hour journey to Elmina, with a breakfast break, in our party bus. The party bus – a converted lorry with no windows – perfect for letting that breeze blow in! Once we arrived at Stumble Inn we had time to grab some lunch and then we went to Essaman school for a welcome ceremony which involved lots of African dancing and drumming. We then had a chance to meet our buddies and gave them our gifts. The buddies were all extremely friendly and delighted to meet us. After the ceremony we came back to Stumble for dinner and an early night as everyone was shattered.
Day 2
After pancakes for breakfast the group travelled to Essaman United again in order to see the library we would be creating. We spent the rest of the morning with our buddies learning Ghanaian songs and rhythms, in return we taught them the macarena and the hokey cokey (most popular!). Once the boys had returned from a paint shopping trip, we went to the heart of Elmina to participate in the Bakatue festival. We watched a street procession of the chiefs, including the main chief of Elmina, going past, carried on thrones. In order to get back to the bus we walked through the back allies which showed us how some people live here. The group then enjoyed dinner before an early night although some members experienced a shower in the dark which some preferred more than others!
Day 3
On Sunday morning the group and their buddies went to a church service where we were able to experience hymn singing and a sermon all about marriage. The rest of the morning we relaxed in Stumble Inn, playing in the sea and sunbathing. In the afternoon our buddies came over again and we played a variety of games including football and volleyball. The Ghanaians got very excited by the sea and enjoyed jumping into the waves. In the evening, everyone stayed up a little later chatting and playing cards. Mr P saved the day when room 1 was invaded by 2 giant moths.v
