Ghana is Great!

We have been in the country of Ghana for about a week and it is unlike any other country we have been to so far! Like most places we have been, the people here are very friendly, since most of them speak at least some English we are actually able to communicate with them other than just hand gestures. The biggest change other than the language is the Landscape and climate! We have finally left the dry dusty countries of Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso and are now in the Hot Tropics of Ghana. The usual landscape of dusty plains with small brush has been replaced with tropical jungles of Palm Tree's and Pineapple. We started out staying in the capital city of Accra and were lucky enough to be here as Ghana beat Nigeria in the Semi Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. That was an experience to say the least. You didn't even need to be watching the game to know exactly what was going on! You could hear the entire city roar or groan with each play made during the entire game! Ghana ended up winning 1-0 and when the final whistle blew the town exploded! Literally people running, screaming and dancing through the streets! Speeding cars and trucks with people hanging on all sides, on top and inside all hoopin and hollering with cheers of victory! This place was literally on the verge of out of control! The next day we dropped our Passports off at the Benin embassy to get our Visa's and with it being the weekend had a few days until they would be ready. We took the opportunity to drive west along the coast and see the famous Slave Castles and beautiful beaches. We saw the beautiful Slave castles like Fort Amsterdam and Cape Coast Castle which were pretty cool. We ended up staying on the beach in Dixcove. This turned out to be a fantastic beach with a small village about a half mile down the beach. There is a small eco friendly resort called Green Turtle which had more than reasonably priced meals, even though we mostly dined on Fresh Coconuts and Pineapple which the local kids delivered. Dixcove is also where we had to part with our good friend and Photographer Luke. Luke found an opportunity there that he just couldn't pass up. He found a good job working for the guy who owns the Local slave castle. He is living on the beach in Paradise while he saves up money to eventually fly home. Keegan and I both admitted our jealousy as we said our goodbyes. We made the drive back to Accra and stopped to camp along the way at Big Millies Back yard which is a camp ground right near the beach. Up with first light again we made our way to the Benin Embassy where we picked up our Passports and started looking for the Nigerian Embassy. Once we found it I dropped Keegan off to start filling out our forms while I went to the bank to get out some money. After getting a set of wrong directions I finally found a bank but when I saw it I was already going passed it, I pulled a quick U-turn and pulled in. As I was using the ATM I was disturbed by 4 police officers with there night sticks out. I was told that it was illegal to do a U-turn in the specific spot I had just done one ( which is BS because no one here follows the traffic laws even if it HAD been one) When I refused to pay a bribe , They told me I needed to come with them to the Police Station. One of them jumped in shotgun and started giving me directions as we drove through the bustling city streets. After about a 15 minute drive we arrived at the police station. On the drive I had realized all of our paperwork, from passports to car insurance, was with Keegan filling out paperwork. I stashed almost all of my cash in the glove box and went into the station. After about 30 minutes of arguing with the Police chief, refusing to pay bribes and showing them my wallet which now had only 10 cedi's in it they finally let me go. All in all the whole ordeal ended up just costing me a pack of fruit snacks for the officer who road with me and about an hour of time, but could of ended up alot worse! When I got back we dropped off our applications and go back to pick them up this afternoon at 2. We will then start driving east Through the rest of Ghana, Togo, Benin , Nigeria and the Cameroon!

If all goes smoothly we should be able to make it to Cameroon in about 10 days. Our plan is to drive north through Togo and cross through the center of Benin and Nigeria as the south and the north of Nigeria are both quite dangerous. Hope fully we will be able to cover at least 300 miles a day and avoid the police if at all possible.

Thanks again to all our sponsors the GPS and sat phone have been life savers.