Saturday July 24th

On the second day, we woke up at our hotel and enjoyed a breakfast of pineapple, rolls, cereal, and beans. These are among the traditional items here. Then, we took our bus to meet with a professor of religion and African Studies at the University of Ghana—Legon. He answered our many questions and educated us about the history and current state of affairs in Ghana. He also addressed our thoughts about the future; it was enlightening, informative, and inspirational.

The next stop on our first day was the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Museum. We got a tour of the park, where we were able to see Kwame Nkrumah's final resting spot. Nkrumah helped lead Ghana and many other countries in West Africa to Independence from their colonial powers. Nkrumah became the first president of the country in 1960, three years after Ghana became the first country in Africa to gain independence. His government was overthrown in a military coup in 1966, during which he fled to Conakry, Guinea and was asked to serve as honorary co-president because of his accomplishments in leading Africa.

We then took the bus to the market and were able to interact with the market vendors for a very short period of time, which we found to be an exciting cultural experience in itself. Meghan proved to be a skillful in bargaining, whereas Josh, although a bit wary of it in the beginning, surprised himself in his abilities in the end.

We then ate lunch and began a long trek to the Shai Hills Game preserve. Accra’s traffic and notoriously bad road conditions proved true, as the venture was all for naught. When we arrived, the baboons and antelopes had headed for the hills (literally), and we were left without any animal photos. We did, however, capture photos of some of the local children and rangers. That night, we were exhausted and ate a light meal before heading to bed.