A fantastic day already! First we have to tell you about where we are staying, The Coconut Grove Beach Hotel in Elmina, Ghana. We all have these cute little white villas and the resort is right on the ocean, as you can see from our Kakum Rainforest/ Coconut Grove Resort Pictures. Our rooms are just fine, but who needs a really nice room when you can sit by the water and write your blog? I have found a quiet little hut on the beach and Geno is showering back at t...

On the evening of Nancy's birth we decided to go into Takoradi for dinner. We had 8 people with us and had researched a nice place online (not easy to find much info on Takoradi online or in guide books). We were a little nervous because it is a long walk to the port entrance, it was dark and then we were going to have to find a tro-tro (mini-bus) or 2 taxis (with no meters). We were determined to find a place to celebrate so we all started walking. Well, a man p...

Welcome to Ghana! We arrived in Takoradi, Ghana this morning at 7:00am. The pilot boat led us into the port through a maze of other ships and then the immigration officials came on to check our paperwork and all 700 or so passports. WHEW! That took them about 3 hours and then we set out for our twin city tour of Takoradi and Sekondi. Our guide today was Yaw. People of the Akan ethnic group receive their name based on what day of the week they were born. Our guid...

We arrive in Ghana tomorrow and everyone is so excited. We have had seven straight days of classes and so everyone is pretty tired. In the evenings, we have had meetings and seminars which have been fascinating. Tonight we had our logistical pre-port seminar which included everything we need to know about Ghana from the money to the toilets. There was one seminar... with a power point even... that told us how to use a squat toilet. Seriously, it was the funniest ...

Well, we have 2 more days until we get to Ghana. Yesterday we went through a storm so all of the smooth seas we were talking about went out the window and several people were sick again. Nancy is taking some Cipro because she can't seem to kick the revenge...5 days is enough to try to make it through, right?! Anyway, enough of that. Lets talk about our extended family on the ship. There is a program available for the students called Extended Family. Students can...