This weekend, me and 3 other volunteers were planning on traveling to the Cape Coast which is about a 6 hour drive south west from where we live. We made it to Accra where we were going to catch a bus to the coast, but right when we got to the station, the boy we were with realized he lost his wallet with all his money and credit cards in it. So we had to go to the police station and report it missing so that the insurance we get through the organization can help him out.
When we got to the police station, we quickly noticed that there were 2 jail cells, one for men and one for women, about 10 feet away from where we were standing. In the men's cell, there was somewhere from 15 to 25 men stuffed into one single very small cell. It was probably one of the craziest things I've ever seen. The prisoners were flirting witn us girls through the bars, but luckily there were 2 sets of iron bars preventing them from getting anywhere near us.
So after spending a couple hours at the police station, we took a taxi to the bus station where the police officer told us we could catch a bus to the Cape Coast. After a 30 minute drive to the station, when we got there, they told us that none of those buses go to the coast and they sent us back right to where we just were. Unfortunately the traffic in Accra is about 5 times worse than the traffic in LA, and what should've been a 5 minute drive took over an hour. By the time we got back to the station, it was 7 o'clock at night, very dark outside, and not safe to get on a 4 hour bus ride to go to a city that we had never been to before.
I decided it was much safer to head home, after ALL that, and we would find something to do near our village.
So that's what we did.
Yesterday, me and the same 3 volunteers went to the Shai Hills which is about a 1.5 hour drive away from our houses, and went on a mini safari at an animal reservation. We saw a ton of baboons and fed them bananas, we saw a few ostriches, lots of antelopes, and some cool looking birds. Then we climbed up a very rocky hill to get to the top where there was an amazing view of the park.
It was a very cool experience and made us feel a whole lot better about not going to the Cape Coast.
When we got back at night, we went out with all the rest of the volunteers that stayed here this wekeend (including our boss who was pretty damn drunk), danced all night and had a great time. Let me tell you, Ghanians know how to party. I've had more fun partying here in the last 3 weeks than I've had in my entire life in Chicago.
I would say we all had a pretty fun weekend, except for the boy who lost his wallet.