We made it to Ghana! For our excursion today we did a scenic tour of Sekondi and Takoradi, combined as twin cities since 1946. The excursion kicked off with a driving tour through the two cities, where we had many landmarks pointed out to us, from a forest called Monkey Hill (we didn’t see any monkeys) in the heart of Takoradi to a High Court in Sekondi. I’ve found that most photos from the bus rarely turn out since there is a glare – and the windows of our bus on this day were particularly dirty – so I don’t have any photos of the driving tour to share. Instead, here’s just a pic of me and Ryan on the bus. 😊

Our first stop along the way was to the bustling Albert Bosomtwi-Sam Fishing Harbor. Here we were treated to an in-depth view of how they ensure food safety. Namely, we were taken to the ice factory on site and shown the process of how they make ice blocks that they require the fishermen to use to keep their catches fresh for the market.

We all stood around a large floor in the factory and listened to the head gentleman tell us about how each boat is required to get their ice blocks in the morning before heading out to fish.

They then opened the floor up and showed us the process of actually making the frozen blocks of ice.

Later we saw the full circle as we saw some fishermen loading their boats with more ice to head back out to catch more fish.

After the ice presentation, we walked around the bustling fishing harbor.

There were black fishing nets lying everywhere beneath our feet.

In some spots, we could watch nets being repaired.

We also saw many women buying and preparing fish, apparently their role in the big fishing process.

In one of the photos above, you can see some women with things (buckets, pots, etc.) on their heads. We saw this everywhere. Actually, people all over Africa carry their goods on their heads, but it was extremely common to see in Togo and here in Ghana. And they weren’t just bowls like you might see in a movie. We saw huge Rubbermaid boxes, giant tubs with bottles in them, rolled up carpets, and many other things that were simply being transported on top of their heads. It was mostly women, but we did also see men and children carrying things on their heads. In many cases, they were simply balanced atop their heads without the need to use their hands. In the photos below, you can see how sometimes they use a piece of rolled up cloth that sits on their head to help balance the bowl (or whatever) on top. It was incredible to see – their posture was impeccable. And they walked at a normal pace, nonchalantly. The tour guide said everybody can do it and seemed surprised that we would even ask about something so normal to them.

We made one additional stop to allow us to take some photos of ships being built. We learned that it takes them between 2-4 months to build the ships and once finished, it takes between 50-70 men to get the ship into the water.

Our final stop was to a local hotel where we were treated to a spirited cultural show with refreshments. Ryan and I each had a soda and some prepared fruit. I decided the food was likely safe given it was prepared in a good hotel. I suppose time will tell whether I made a poor decision, but so far we’re all good and continue to be so…

After our stop at the hotel we headed back to the pier. Outside the ship there were many stalls set up with local people selling their goods. Ryan and I wandered around the stalls. He found a couple wooden souvenirs featuring people carrying goods on their heads, and felt that it was a perfect reminder of what we saw today. He bought one for himself and one for me. I also got a postcard to remember the stop. All in all, it was another good day in West Africa.