The wedding project of Winnie and Cliff

We went across the bridge this morning which hangs over the riverVolta. I think this is the only bridge inGhana. We passed by some mud hut villages and the area was beautiful.

Then we went by the Kente factory where they hand made the cloth. It must be a lot of work. Each Kente needs at least 6 or 7 hours to finish. There are so many patterns , of course ,I bought some for my friends and family.

While we were at the cloth factory,  Terri-Lynn & Tony bought a few pineapple and they prepared them for us to eat. It was delicious and sweet! Because they were grown here, I think it’s extra fresh!

The next stop was the beads factory. The owner Cedi’s had a introduction of his factory and technique. It is amazing how he get the crushed glass to melt. We have never heard of Kaolin. It is used to cover the clay as a mole and so the glass won’t stick to the clay. We bought more beads bracelet.

After we went shopping, one of our crew member had bought a gift for our wedding. It was a very pretty necklace which I love. The beads that were used were the one I really want to buy. But it will take a while for them to make a bracelet so I gave up. ButSharonfound a very pretty for me to wear at the wedding. She is so sweet. We spent so much time at the factory and we all were hungry since we skipped lunch.

Anyway, we had buffet at the hotel for dinner. Now I  am really going to bed.

It was a relaxing weekend. We woke up and had breakfast. Then headed out to a church. The people were so excited to see us. They brought all of us to the front and thank us for trying to help people in Ghana. They sang the whole time at church and the music was nice!! Then we went canoeing at the lake. The weather was beautiful and it was very peaceful at the River Volta. Then we visited the banana plant and saw some baby banana. While we all were hanging out at the plant, we all started doing pull up. We had a competition going out. . It was funny.

Anyway, we headed back to the hotel and had a relaxing afternoon. Cliff and I took a 3 hour nap and woke up for dinner. So far, this is a comfortable trip. As we get further north, we will not have all these luxury items around us.

We went by the coffin shop. They are have large population died everyday. Therefore coffin business is very big inAfrica. This coffin shop will make any shape of coffin you want. We saw some for the kids, which they made it like a little cow. There are also, cars, camera, fruits etc.  Check out our pictures, they are so amazing. People from other countries will order it from here.

We had a great lunch by the Krobo mountain. The food was delicious. Then we went to the beads’ market and all of us went crazy.  We made a scene at the market everyone was rushing to come and see us. They were curious and excited to see us buying stuffs. The beads market is huge, there are so many kinds. Finally, I got some some at the market for souvenirs.

After the beads market, we went and checked in at our lake view hotels. This is one of the most jungle place of our trip. Anyway, we had dinner and went to bed. I know this hotel has air condition but we still have a bug net out for fun! 😛

Day 2  11/4/11

We woke up at 730am and had our breakfast at the hotel. I love the jam from the hotel, I was wondered what kind they were. It was not too sweet,  it was just right.  Having breakfast at the hotel with an ocean view was great! After the breakfast, we went to James town. This si a fishing village nearaccra. It is probably the poorest area aroundAccra. We had to get permission from the Chief to take photos and walk around the village. While we were walking around, we saw a big turtle being dissect. It was sad to see that. After visiting James town, on our way to a restaurant,  we found out that because there were lots of people died daily, funerals are held Thursday through Sunday every week. You know what ‘s special about it is that they wear RED for funeral! This is so different than Chinese culture ( Red color is for Wedding, or birthday, it represents good luck)

Before we get to the restaurant, we were looking for a pharmacy. I think we walked about a couple miles (round trip) and finally found what we need. When we get to the hotel, they had the food ready for us. We had pantain & Cassaba J Fufu, brown nut soup & Jollof Rice.

After the lunch, we went to pick up the bed nets, & straws which one of the crew raised the funds by doing a garage sale. It was very nice of her & her husband. The straw is very useful and hopefully it will help make cleaner water for the village to use.

Before the dinner, we went for a walk at the beach. It was beautiful.

The hotel has thrown us a welcome buffet dinner. The food was delicious and we all enjoyed it. Terri-Lynn (our Tour guide/ trip organizer ) gave us a speech and it was very touching. After the dinner, we went to the market and saw some night lives of Osu. It was a long walk and the street lights don’t work on some places. It was scary. Anyway , we made it back. We saw some night live music and clubs.

We got home at almostmidnightand went straight to bed.

 We landed Accra at 1:15pmlocal time and there was not a gate or terminal in Accra airport. We had to take the bus to gate and go through the immigration and custom.  When we get to the baggage claim,  it was packed with people.   Everything was fine, we got to through the custom successfully without any problem.  We were excited that we were here!!! Then, we were greeted by Terri-Lynn , Tony and Rasheed  We finally get to meet them! They are the nicest people in the world.   We also met two of the people from our Africa trip on the plane. We knew it would be a good trip, everyone is so nice!

Then, we took our rental bus to the hotel and got settled. The hotel was very nice. Our room was facing the ocean. People in Ghana are very excited to see us. They will try to talk to us but they do not like camera. We got yelled at couple times while were taking pictures of them. They think that we are stealing their souls. When we were walking in the market, we felt like we were in China. It is very dusty and broken concrete road and sewage ditches everywhere.

People in Accra are doing very well. They have lots of luxury products selling on the streets. And we are amazed how civilized they are inAccra.  Another thing that we are surprised to see is that Ghana people use their head to carry EVERYTHING. Anything can be put on their head and they can walk and run just fine!!  It is incredible to see that.  I attached people that we took. People are very nice and honest here. I think we all are very stereotype about Africa. But I am super tired now,  so I will talk more about this later. 

It was very stressful to leave in the middle of close.  I had to finish most of my stuffs before i took off.  I think i hardly got 3 hours of sleep the night before we left.  Anyway, long story short, we finally made it to the airport 45 minutes beforehand. (phew ~~)    I am not sure if there was the Melarone medicine, i felt dizziness on the plane to DC.  But in general, it was a good flight.  I slept all the way from DC toAccra. Food sucks on the plane, they burned my food. This is not the first time they . I was disappointed and will try to avoid United next time.

Cliff and I are very excited to be part of this trip. Hopefully we will have a great time and great wedding!