Ghana Part Three

Danielle and I had signed up to do a trip through SAS that went to Kakum National Rainforest and to see a Bamboo Orchestra.  We had to get up at 0600 for breakfast (they opened the dining hall early for us and a few other trips) so that we could leave by 0700.  After piling onto the small bus with plastic covered seats we found out that Kakum is about a four hour drive from Tema—didn’t see that one coming.  Basically I spent four hours slipping down my seat (due to the plastic covering) whenever we hit a bump which just happened to always be just as I was about to fall asleep.  Oh and the driver was playing a CD the whole way…….a four song CD……..a depressing four song CD.   Anyway---after that long drive we finally reached Kakum, which was beautiful and reminded me of Jamaica and Puerto Rico.  We had to walk for about five minutes to reach the actual beginning of what was considered the Rainforest and were told about the various animals that lived there.  Then we were casually warned not to lean on or shake the trees as Mambas and Vipers liked to perch in the branches---um Yikes!  The forest is home to many animals but almost all of them are nocturnal.  We saw butterflies and then we saw some more butterflies.  It was really pretty though and we could hear lots of wildlife (namely birds) so it worked out.

The cool thing about this trip was that we were going to be touring the canopy of the forest via seven rope bridges that had been built to span the gaps between tall trees sometimes up to 40m above the forest floor!  We were all super excited and started freaking out when we saw the first bridge.  Now,  I have done some high ropes courses before(granted these bridges were “roped in” and there was no way to fall) and I was expecting a lecture on safety and how you need to always hold on with both hands and walk slow and so on and so forth.  Nope, the guide just said that they check the bridges every morning to ensure their safety and sent us on our merry way.  They just let us go on our own and explore—which was actually really awesome.  Danielle and I were among the first to cross, so we got to see everything without being blocked or held-up by others.  We took goofy pictures and I filmed us walking across some of the bridges :)  They were a bit unstable and if everyone took a step with the same foot they tended to slant severely in the other direction but that was all part of the fun.  Half the time you couldn’t even see the ground but you could see the tops of the trees stretching for miles—it was gorgeous. 

There were seven bridges to cross at our leisure and they went in a circle of sorts.  Our guide met us at the “end” and showed us the path back to the main lodge and visitor’s center.  We stopped in the gift store for a bit and checked out the pictures they had taken of us crossing the first bridge.  Then we all piled back onto the bus to drive to the place where we would get lunch and watch the bamboo orchestra.  We ended up at a fairly fancy resort where they served us a great buffet for lunch and brought us watermelon for dessert!  And trust me when I say that we were more excited about getting fresh fruit than if they had brought us chocolate cake—the fruit on the ship is…..decent.  After that we went out into the courtyard for the performance.  The orchestra was fun to listen to and watch as they did dancing and singing as well.  They performed a few traditional songs, dances and plays and then invited us to come up and learn some traditional African Dances which were really fun but I am sure that I looked like a total idiot!

We were all hot and tired after that and looking forward to sleeping on the bus ride back but about an hour in we got a surprise in the form of a police escort.  We had heard about other trips getting escorts back when traffic was terrible and one trip who had a bit of a fender bender because of it (don’t worry everyone was fine) so we were a bit skeptical.  The motorcyclist who was leading us didn’t go dangerously fast though, but he was aggressive and some of the stunts he pulled would never have happened in the US. 

What we didn’t understand was why we were given the privilege of being escorted through the traffic?  Why did we get to zoom past everyone else when we weren’t in a hurry and some of them probably were?  Why were we considered more important than the Ghanaians’ on the road?  We had seen only one other police escort and that was for the president, THE PRESIDENT!  Now I know that we are not insignificant but seriously why was a bus full of American students given presidential status?  The answer----we have money.  As part of our fee for the tour guides and busses we had (unknowingly) paid for the privilege of getting escorted so that we would not have to wait in traffic like everyone else.  I can’t speak for everyone but I know that a lot of students would rather have paid less and waited, as was right and fair.  Just because we have money does not mean we should be held above the Ghanaian people—that is not what this semester is about and it was very disgruntling for me as well as others. 

On a happier note we had a fantastic day and got to see some beautiful parts of Ghana on our drive and tour of the forest and had the opportunity to experience the culture through music and dance.  I wish I could upload some pictures and videos for you but alas, no internet.  Maybe when I get to Cape Town :)

~Colleen