Accra, Ghana (September 2010)

[At the memorial center for Dr. Kwame Nkrumae, the first president of Ghana who led the country as part of the Pan-African vision.]

I participated in a week-long Opportunity International Africa conference that took place in Accra, Ghana, in September 2010. I had an opportunity to look around in the city of Accra, the capital city of Ghana on Friday and Saturday.

Ghana is called "the Gateway to West Africa." It is the transportation hub to many neighboring countries. It borders with Togo (East), Burkina Faso (North) and Ivory Coast (West). All neighboring countries are Francophone, but Ghana is Anglophone along with Liberia and Nigeria.

[Huge bamboo trees]

Ghanians, as they are called, are very friendly and warm people. Ghana is a safe country with political stability. But the country's weather is hot and humid since it is close to the equator and facing the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

Together with other conference participants, I walked around the Makalo Market located in the center of Accra. It has everything you need, literally. It is huge and you can be easily lost if you do not know the way around. We also visited an Art Center where you can buy many traditional souvenirs. It was full of small shops where very aggressive solicitation was rampant. We also visited the Memorian Center for Dr. Kwame Nkrumae, the first president of Ghana. He was a visionary who saw the Pan-African vision and actually shared resources to help other neighboring countries attain the state independence, such as Guinea.

On Saturday, we visited the city's Botanical Garden that was built by the British colonists 110 years ago. We saw very interesting trees, plants, flowers and vegetables.

[A ficus tree emptied by a parasyte tree. This photo was taken inside the tree towards the top.]

More than anything else, I was able to enjoy a variety of dilicious seafood that is rare delicacy in Rwanda.

Overall, it was short but sweet. - Jeffrey