After a full day in Accra, we enjoyed a shower, dinner, a dress photoshoot, entertainment, and after-dinner cocktails in the saloon (piano bar), where we sang along with ???? accompanied by a special performer… a true guest of the Serenity…. John-Michael and his magic clarinet. Then we headed back to the cabin, caught up with news from back home, talked to friends on WhatsApp, got ready for bed, read for a while, and then conked out.

It’s Groundhog Day but in a different port. We entered a sheltered harbor of Takaradi, Ghana and my first task in every port is to go out on the balcony and look for the locals who never disappoint. These boats are a little longer and more colorful–– I love the U.S.A. painted on the side. I think these boats are longer due to more waves and launching from shore. There are so many surf breaks in Africa I can’t stand it. My kingdom for a board!

Sekondi-Takoradi was our second port in Ghana and comprised of twin cities serving as the commercial and industrial center of Ghana. Sekondi is rich in cultural heritage with lots of landmarks nearby and the reason we ported here.

Our excursion today was to head off to the Kakum National Park where we were going to walk the canopy of the rain forest over seven rope bridges. Then off to a castle, lunch by the ocean and then back to port. Another nine-hour tour. Each excursion, when you sign up, states the level of activity. This was was labelled, extensive.

We had another luxury bus, using the same outfit we had in Accra (Ashanti). We also had another police escort, but this time we knew it was for clearing traffic and not protection. Folks–this is the only way to travel and something needed in the states. We have valet parking at airports and even RH these days–– why not paid valet traffic breakers? I’d pay for that!

A two and a half hour ride to the Kakum National Park leaves a lot of time for observation. Unlike our guide the previous day (Foster), Oscar’s cadence of voice was like being an oyster knowing there was an oyster drill on your back that you could do nothing about–– filled with pause, repetitive in content and never ending. So I massaged Meredith’s arm while looking out the window.

The scenery is like that oyster drill (Oscar): pause between settlements, repetitive in nature and never ending. What initially looks like the leading edge of a mudslide, having gathered up everything in its path and dumping it at the roadside, begins to make sense.

This is by design and the people are as resourceful as they are creative as they are collaborative.

As the structures zipped by my window, I realized most are recycled shipping containers, where welders take a container, cut it up and weld pieces back together to form smaller containers.

The rooftops are also made of corrugated sides of containers. These containers are strung together like a necklace at the roadside and serve as the settlement commerce area. The homes are in back. Each settlement seems self contained, where bartering probably takes precedence over commerce–– each person seeming to have a specialty.

There are hawkers and these are people (mostly female) who are independents walking the strip with products carried on their heads. These are usually with breads, vegetables or water. To stand out, many of the storefronts are uniquely painted and most likely serve for delivery and navigational landmarks. This would make for such an interesting study if only I had more time for observation and to walk test settlements which are densely populated. A possible reason for the density learned from one of our guest lecturers, a former Political Correspondent with extensive knowledge of this region, might be due to the conflicts taking place in the Sahel region–– the strip of war-torn countries in the sub-Sahara populated by refugees fleeing south to escape harms way.

Arriving in Kakum National Park, we were met by ourguide for the Canopy Walk. Seeing him in his uniform, his smile had a hidden deviousness to it. He asked if we were ready and we cried out yes! Then he told us it was a 600 foot climb to get there. Gulp. 600 feet of slippery.

Living in Florida, the heat and humidity we wear as accessories, but vertical is only a memory to us. We live in one story homes, never encounter a hill and it is amazing how much stamina you can have in the horizontal, able to walk for miles, paddle a SUP for hours against wind and current, yet when it comes to steps it burns the lungs. Add to this it was very hot (95F) and quite humid and you are dressed in long pants, long sleeve shirts and a hat because mosquitos love the damp and in these canopies there are mosquitos.

Finally, we were at the seven bridges. Not as easy as they look because you need to be out of step with the person in front and behind you, placing one foot in front of the other as if walking a longboard and never looking down at your feet, the key to staying upright on a paddleboard or you will loose your balance. Fortunately there are nets.

Surviving the climb, the seven bridges, the mosquitos, the heat and humidity… we still had to walk back down the 600 feet, which now that we were drenched in sweat, the path and steps seemed much more slippery than they did on the way up.

We were off and headed south (1.5 hrs) to the coast where the Elmina Castle was built by the Portuguese in 1842 and served as a trading post for goods and slaves. We made our way down into the dungeons, where it was hard to imagine having only pin-holes of light connecting you to the outside world, being shackled to the floors waiting possibly months, depending upon when you were captured and sold, waiting for ships to arrive back from the Americas and Europe.

But this castle now serves for field trips and tourism, the storefronts once used for traded spices and gold are still in use for modern souvenirs and crafts. They now hold only wreaths and remembrances.

Not far from Elmina Castle, we headed along the coast through crowded fishing towns, where the storefronts reached out almost scraping our windows and the streets parted of people and hawkers while our driver honked to returned looks of annoyance.

At one point I noticed a tilapia farm off to our right, just beyond the cobbled homes stacked upon each at the edge of the harbor.

I whispered to Meredith, “Don’t have any fish when we get to the restaurant,” for I noticed the culverts between stacks of homes were used for waste and trash which run directly into those tilapia farms.

When we reached our destination, The Coconut Grove Beach Resort, we piled out for a needed stop. Here we were treated to an nice meal, drinks and a view.

This was a long and full day. We had about 1 1/2 hrs drive back to port, where the scenes rolling by the window are impressionable and a way of life we are becoming accustomed to.

I think the real culture shock will be when we arrive back in the states.

I can no longer remember which side of the road to drive on or how much anything really costs, but our negotiating skills are carbon-blade sharp, so look out Publix, Dillards, and B&A Flea Market!

It was time to say goodbye to Ghana. A beautiful country as are all these African nations. One more African Country on the continent to go–– Dakar, Senegal. Stay tuned.

Now the dress….