Four days in Zebilla, and we had covered more like 4 weeks worth of things to do! In between our trips to market, to the locals and to new born baby Aaila, our crazy adventures in Togo, and our dabbling with Ghanaian food (soooo many people wanted to cook for us that we've gone through the whole range of Ghanaian cuisine!) we managed to pack in some walks about town, visits to (still closed due to summer holidays) schools, introductions to the World Vision team at my offices, and a wander up towards the hills of Burkina Faso. Oh and the girls also managed to find some gorgeous material and have some dresses sewn up in the space of a about 24 hours...a mission that led to me sending out a late night search party, but that's another story!

In their time in Zebilla, they managed to meet most of my friends here, discovered the ways of rural Ghanaian life, how people, eat, sleep, greet and live as one big community, and had an insight into all things cultural, from widowhood practices to the problems of teenagers migrating south, and from animal rearing ('how on earth do people know where their goats are or which ones belong to them?') to malnutrition (why do the babies have such huge round bellies?).

It really was a whip-round of an adventure here, and I think it left their heads spinning (and mine!) a little bit, but it was truly amazing to have them here, and to share some wonderful memories together.

And so we packed up for our trip down south. The journey there was horrendously long, not because the bus journey to Accra itself was so bad (it was relative luxury compared to most journeys I've been on, although I'm not sure M&L felt that way!), but simply because we waited no less than 4 hours to get out of Zebilla, it seems out attempts to leave were futile!

To be honest I think I needed the journey, the feeling of actually getting away from Zebilla, from my placement and having a real break. The adventures continued in Kokrobite, where we met up with Sarah and spent our time laying on the sand in the sun, paddling in the white frothy waves lapping at the shore, shopping for clothes that we can actually wear on the beach (after being covered from shoulder to knee for so long!), drinking cocktails gazing out over the sea, having BBQ's on the beach, and enjoying cultural shows and dancing under the big white moon - it was the let-your-hair-down-by-the-beach type fun that we all really needed!

After a few days of lazing and making the most of the beautiful beach there, we headed to Cape Coast, travelling along the wavy roads gazing out at the little fishing villages dotted along the sand and hanging onto the side of rocky cliffs. We spotted so many little wooden canoes and fishing boats, settled up on the shores like they were having an afternoon nap just like the fishermen that were sleeping underneath, and watched as the bigger fishing boats tumbled masterfully over the huge crashing waves - to look at the sea it's so beautiful you'd never guess there was a pretty dangerous current underneath - and casting their big spindly cotton-like green nets into the deep waters. Palm trees were dotted all about, strong, slim and tall, reaching up into the sky as though they are trying to grasp something far beyond the shore. The sun was blazing, and it really felt like holidays!

Cape Coast has a real historic feel to it, an old-town vibe with history and culture mingled all about. We drank ginger and lemongrass tea, ate cake, and the girls went off to explore the castle. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and a perfect sunset that made the castle and surrounding town so atmospheric. In the evening the atmospeher seems to change a little - we had dinner in one of the most popular restaurants that happens to actually be pretty much in pitch black! On the walk back from there to where we were staying, it was only a couple of hundred yards but i didn't feel all that safe! Also, we unfortunately stayed in a place that did not live up to it's advertised pretty-ness, and Lisa ended up sleeping with all her clothes on, plus hood up plus scarf around the face, to keep from being bitten by the mossies! The next morning too the drama continued, as the cash machine swallowed my bank card so I had to spend literally the whole day in the bank trying to sort it out. Luckily, Marianne and Lisa got to still go to the National Park and do the tree-top walk, spotting birds and wildlife and seeing some of Ghana's nature, but I was gutted I couldn't go along L.

After all of that, we made it to Elmina, where we were staying in a plush hotel with sparkling pool right by the sea. Listening to the crashing waves under the sun during the day and under the stars at night was absolute bliss. The pictures do the talking, I won't say anymore! This time I did go to the castle again, and absolutely loved it. It is completely steeped in history, and there is just something about standing on the stone floors of where many men and women have stood before us in another time and another place, in a truly terrible situation, something we can never really comprehend, but walking into castles like this one ca bring us a step closer. The castle is large and white and glowed in the sun, it even looked quite pretty. But the horrors of what happened there are shocking, and I learn something new and gain another insight every-time I go.

It was only on day two by the pool (the day before we left again!) that it dawned on me that I really needed this break, and I actually started to finally relax. It's been an insane 6 months, or year considering it took at least 6 months beforehand to prepare practically, emotionally and mentally for this trip, and although it's one of the best things I have ever done, it has honestly at times been really tough. It's so easy as a volunteer to keep on looking forwards, to deal with every whim of homesickness or frustration by pushing forwards and getting more involved. But being here and having some time out really helped to remind me that sometimes, the things we need most as volunteers is to take time, step out, lean back, and just contemplate all that has gone on in the dusty whirlwind of life here in Africa.

Volunteering overseas for a year is a truly amazing experience, but honestly 'it's not easyo' (one of the Ghanaians favourite sayings -I'll be adding 'o' onto everything I say by the time I get back!). Looking back I really can't believe all the things I have actually done in the last few months, and the number of challenges I have faced as bravely as I can along the way. I still can't get my head around the number of miles I have travelled on dodgy busses, the number of cold bucket-baths I've had, the number of crazy experiences I've taken on (such as learning to ride a motorbike in the sand and streams, and sitting on a crocodile for random examples!), the number of good friends I've made and then had to say goodbye to, the number of places I've visited, the sheer amount of new things I have learnt and the number of times I've misinterpreted the culture or tried to explain myself and been completely misunderstood!

It made me realise that it's so important for us as volunteers to consider where we have come from, what we have experienced, what we have learnt, and most of all (probably the hardest one for most of us volunteers) what we have actually achieved. Looking out over the lapping waves of the Ghanaian coastline to the beautiful deep blue sea beyond, knowing that there is nothing out there but sea until the south pole (!) really gave me a sense of perspective and clarity on what I am doing and why I am here.

Breathing in the cool air (instead of hot dust!), resting under the blue skies, swimming in cool waters and especially catching up with close friends, these were the really valuable moments of the trip, like perfect little shells washed up on the shore.

I think Marianne and Lisa had a good time, I'm so proud of them for really going for it here, and so pleased that they came to visit! I'll let them tell their own story when they get chance to write a blog post. It was really hard to say goodbye to them, I had absolutely loved having them here and had got so used to having them around, it'll be strange to be back in Zebilla without them, I think the children all around will equally gutted as me too when they realise they're not coming back - they absolutely loved them!

With love from the sandy white shores of Elmina,

Em

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