To Takoradi and Beyond

We are officially "Tadi" Girls (short for Takoradi)! We made it home safely from Takoradi on Friday evening. The sisters decided that we are now "city girls." We had an amazing time with Sister Helene, Sister Scholastica, and Sister Evelyn.

On Tuesday we went to the most wonderful place, Egyam Orphanage. This was an orphanage started by a Dutch woman named, Thea. She came to Ghana to visit a priest friend and fell in love with the children, but also was heartbroken by the living conditions of many of the children. So, in 2007 the Egyam Orphanage was opened (sponsored by a foundation in Holland). A young man named, Daniel, is the house father and pretty much runs the orphanage. Thea returns home to Holland to be with her husband and children for part of each year and Daniel makes sure that things are run well while she is gone. The orphanage has roughly 52-54 children currently ranging from age 3-15. Katie and I couldn't believe how happy all the children were. They were obviously well taken care of and comfortable. They have routine chores each day, scheduled meals, they attend school, and in the summer they have enrichment programs to keep them learning. What a beautiful environment. Thea wants nothing but the best and top of the line for these kids.

Tuesday evening Katie and I went with Evelyn to "Harbor View." It is a little lookout restaurant where we had a Coke and had a great view of the Takoradi Harbor. We also stopped at a golf course which was right on the ocean. It's only about $7 to play 9 holes!!! The next morning we were able to go down to the harbor and have a private tour on the docks. The gentleman who showed us around did it free of charge and explained everything from the history of the ports to how Ghana's ports are ranked 2nd in Africa and 4th in the world for "Turn Around Time" (how fast they can unload and reload a ship to get it back in the water).

Wednesday afternoon Helene, Evelyn, Katie and I took off for Busea Beach. It was roughly an hour drive outside the city. There was a "resort" hotel and hostels complete with a restaurant, swimming pool, and playground. We had pizza, fried potatoes, and salad! YUM!! Our first "American" food since being here. It was delicious and we relaxed the rest of the afternoon in the sand and at the restaurant. Katie swam and the rest of us just walked in the water and searched for shells. I took a walk down the beachfront where there are little houses and another village and met some kids bathing in the ocean. They immediately ran towards the camera and wanted pictures! Then a gentleman tried his best to sell me a lobster. I had to inform him that I had no way of getting this lobster home to cook it. He said, "Oh no no no, it still moving, it living."

Thursday was our Cape Coast day. We drove the 2 hours to Cape Coast and went straight to Kakum Nation Park to climb up to the Canopy walk. It was a steep climb and we followed our guide, Prince, as he explained various trees and ways they can be used for medicine. When we finally reached the rope bridges we were a little sweaty, but excited. Katie thought she was going to die, but obviously, she made it! It was a stunning view and so much greenery. From here we went to eat at Hans Cottage Botel. This is basically a little restaurant on a pond surrounded by alligators and weaver birds. Both creatures were fascinating!

Our final excursion was to the Cape Coast Slave Castle. We walked through the museum and participated in a tour. It was a very intense and somber experience. We were with a family that had traced their genealogy back to the Ghanaian slave trade. FYI: Ghana used to be called The Gold Coast and this is where the first accounts of slave trade began when the Portuguese built the castle as a trading post on the coast of Ghana. We learned a lot, but plan to go back because there is another castle in Cape Coast called the Elmina Castle (this was the first-ever slave castle).

All in all, our trip to Takoradi was a blast!!! We ate well, experienced tons, and met all sorts of new people.