My Itinerary

I now have my complete itinerary for my trip.  I will post it here so that if I go missing you know where to start the search :)  But seriously, if anyone wants to know where I am at any given time, here is my schedule:

June 1: Arrive in Accra at 8:10 am.

June 2-13: Outreach in Kumasi (about 5 hours from Accra)

June 14-20: Outreach in Tema (about an hour from Accra)

June 21-27: Accra Region, more specifically Dagbamatey, Jasikan (in the Volta region), Anomabu (according to my travel book, "dotted with coconut palms and fresh turds"), and Kpobiman

June 28-3: Outreach in Tema

July 3-10: I don't know yet!

As I'm sure you can imagine based on the above description, I'm most excited about Anomabu (snort!).  Just kidding.  I actually am really excited about going to Kumasi.  There is apparently an Ashanti cultural center there, a zoo, and Kejetia Market (reputedly the largest open market in all of West Africa).  According to my Bradt guide, 10,000 traders operate there, selling food, pottery, metalworks, textiles, and crafts.  Fun!  Two of the places I'm going aren't on my map or in my travel guide.  They will have to be surprises!

I had to re-pack all my stuff today.  I weighed my bags and they were 16 and 22 pounds over the weight limit.  Just in case anyone thinks that they will just take their heavy bags and pay the "minimal" extra fee, I called the airline to ask how much it is, and it's $300 per bag EACH WAY!  I can't believe they can even say that with a straight face after they charged $1500 for the plane ticket!  I swear, the airline policymakers are totally huffing glue.

Trip countdown: 1 week from today!

Survivor: Ghana

Well, this weekend we raised just over $200 selling dog treats at Do Dah Day.  It worked out really well considering that it rained quite a bit in the morning.  Today I watched the season finale of Survivor: Tocantins and it occurs to me that I will be in Ghana for 40 days (the same tenure as Survivor contestants).  Unfortunately, there is no potential for getting voted out early and there will be no million dollars waiting for me if I make it the full 40 days.  Alas....  

I am now almost completely packed.  I have plenty of space; I think I may need to buy more beef jerky :)  I have a layer of t-shirts packed over the top of all my eyeglasses, eyedrops, and food.  Have I learned to one-up dodgy customs officers abroad, or what?

I have started taking my malaria prophylaxis, and so far I haven't had any vivid dreams, paranoia, or fear.  Oh, wait.  Except the inherent fear and paranoia that comes with traveling to a foreign country alone after reading guidebooks and pamphlets warning about crime, disease, and wild animal attacks.  On a whim, I checked the weather in Accra today.  It was 5:30 pm and 40C.  I think I figured out why the Celsius scale was invented-- 40 degrees sounds a lot less terrifying than its Fahrenheit equivalent, 104 degrees!  Guess I don't need to pack that sherpa lined hoodie after all.  I did, however, get some great news today-- I will be home in time for the release of the new Harry Potter movie!!!  Fate smiles on me!  Well, Nanti ye for now (I'm studying up--that means "goodbye" in Twi).

Getting Ready

I am halfway packed for Ghana!  It’s hard to believe I’m leaving in just a few weeks.  I’m in the process of making tons of doggie biscuits to sell at Do-Dah Day to raise funds for my trip.  I’ve already bought my travel insurance, camping TP, first aid kit, mosquito net, and all that fun stuff : ).  Now, if I can just get this blog thing figured out...