Day 7 - Long Drive to Mole National Park

Hawking or selling on the street while carrying all your supplies is quite common in Ghana.  You can find just about anything on the street and this is part of the informal economy that a large portion of the country depends on

Today, we drove to Mole National Park which is one of the few places in Africa to visit elephants and other animals in the wild.  Safaris are more common in East and South Africa.  However, elephants are also found in parts of West Africa.  The drive took us nearly ten hours, inclusive of stops.  It was not the most comfortable of drives as there are a gazillion speed bumps in Ghana.  We managed and checked into Mole Mole Motel, the only boarding available in the park.  It is located on an escarpment several hundred feet high and it offered beautiful views of the park.  As we were driving to the motel which is in the park, we saw a wart hog (Pumba :-), several bushbucks, and troupe of baboons.  Yes, we are in the wild now.  We got settled into our rooms and are ready for an early morning foot safari to track down animals.

Our bus with BSU decal and all

As we drove north, the cultural and geographic landscape changed.  It is dryer up north and Islam is the major religion in the area.

One final note as I finish up today's post.  Due to a lack of time in London and a lack of powerful internet in the places we have stayed in Ghana, I was unable to complete my blogs regularly (Chromebook depends on internet just to type up any posts).  We are out in the middle of nowhere, here at Mole National Park, and it is so relaxing away from civilization.  Although there is not hot water in the showers, the internet connection is surprising good.  Moreover, I have all the time in the world to catch up and blog.  The night sky is amazing here which is something that is hard to find in urban areas.  Good night!

Day 6 - Finally, in the MOTHERLAND!

We landed in Accra Kotoko International airport last night.  It was a 6 hour flight from London.  We completed immigration, exchanged some money ( $1 = 4.5 Ghanaian Cedis), and met our guide outside the terminal.  I booked our tour in Ghana thru Ashanti African Tours who helped me plan an economically budget trip for our group.  Michael our guide, along with Foster our junior guide, and Ansai our driver will escort us for the next 12 days.

We checked into our hostel and boy were we all happy to finally have AC!  The following morning, we were ready to leave for Kumasi.  On the way to Kumasi, we stopped at TK Beads Company to see first hand how beads are made.  A worker from the company showed us step by step (collecting glass bottles, crushing them, powdering them, preparing the molds, smelting, heating, designing, polishing and finally threading) how to make the beads.  The students really enjoyed this and we also had the opportunity to purchase some of their fine beads.

Step by step demonstration of glass beads making

After the bead factory, we headed into the Akwapim mountains to our next destination - Aburi Botanical Gardens.  The gardens is home to hundreds of species of plants, trees, and birds.  It has always been a cool and calm respite for Accra residents.  We received a wonderful tour from a local guide who explained all the important flaura and fauna in the gardens.  My students had many questions for the quide and the calm and quite environment was a welcome respite for us after living staying in larges cities thus far.

Next, we headed to Kumasi, the cultural center of Ghana.  Kumani is the second biggest city in Ghana and is also the capital of the Ashanti Region which is home to the Ashanti people, the largest ethnic group in Ghana.  The town of Obuasi is located in this region.  This place is very near and dear to me as I spend a whole summer in 2004 doing my MS thesis research at the Ashanti Gold Fields.  We got into Kumasi around 7 pm, checked into Royal Basin Resort.  Dinner, settled in, and preparing for a long drive for one of the highlights of this trip.....

Day 5 - Good bye London! Hello Ghana!

Good appetizer.  Now, on to the main entree.  London was a lot of fun.  Even though it had its challenges, I believe my students got to experience hosteling.  If they ever want to travel on their own, on a budget, they now know what to and how to do it.  

  

My, how quickly do mindsets change once put in uncomfortable situations.  My students were excellent in adjusting to all the challenges.  Nothing serious, but important and unique to first time hostelers.  We are all ready for Ghana which is the real reason for this trip.

Day 4 - Geography Lesson

Today is our last day in London.  We have finally acclimated ourselves to the time change, the culture, location, tube and bus system, and feel comfortable going around.  Yesterday and today have been slightly cooler.  The students were free for the first half of the day to again, explore on their own.  

During the second half of the day, I had several activities planned.  First off, I took them to an imaginary line called the Prime Meridian.  I had planned for them to straddle the line for a pic.  Unfortunately, once we got there, we found out that we had to pay to get in to the area to straddle the line.  The last time I visited Greenwich was in 2003 when straddling the line was free.  Regardless, we hung out in front of the main statue, took pictures and relaxed a little until it was time to go due to the rain.

Group at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London

Next, we headed to the Planetarium and watched a show on solar super storms.  It is scary to think how much panic and chaos a super solar storm would cause.  After the planetarium, we headed down the hill to take a boat to get back to the hostel.

On our way back, we went to Chinatown for dinner.  London's Chinatown is a very entertaining and lively place.  We had dinner and then headed to Trafalgar Square which is one of the largest public squares in all of Europe.  We spent some time being entertained by street performers and we took some pictures before we decided to call it a night.  We took our # 24 double decker bus back to the hostel.  We finished packing our suitcases and backpacks and were ready to leave London in the morning.  Just when we felt like we had gotten used to London, it was time to leave.      

Day 3 - Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego - Free Day

After two days, my students have had enough of a geographic orientation of London that I felt comfortable letting them spread their wings.  For the most part, I was their guide for the first two days.  Now, they get to fly on their own to explore London, discover new places, and enjoy the sights and sounds of this beautiful city.

While they explored the city on their own, I decided to explore Cambridge and its universities.  Cambridge is home to numerous universities including the prestigious University of Cambridge which has nearly a hundred Nobel laureates.  Scientists like Sir Isaac Newton (what goes up must come down) and Sir Francis Bacon (the scientific method) and world renowned astrophysicist, Stephen Hawkins who is an alumni of Trinity College are all from Cambridge.  I also had to opportunity to see Newton's apple tree (descendant of the original tree). 

My students explored different parts of London.  They went to the Tower Bridge, the zoo, the botanical gardens, Piccadilly Circus area, a chocolate bar, and other places.  When they came back to our hot hostel room, several students seemed very enthusiastic.  Just having the freedom to explore the city made all the difference.  Also, everyone got a good nights's rest and our biological clocks are almost back to normal.  Tomorrow is our last day in London. 

Day 2 - The early bird catches the worm

I slept solidly thru the night and woke up.  When I looked at the clock, it was only 4 AM?  Wait, what?  Yup, that is jet lag.  Most of us woke up between 4 and 6 am, got ready and headed down for breakfast.  Unfortunately, breakfast was not until 7:30 AM.  We were the only ones in the hostel lobby hungrily waiting around for breakfast.  The effects of jet lag can take a few days to subside.  Most of us did not sleep well.  The room was hot since most homes in London do not have ACs.  10 of us crammed in one room with our large suitcases, absolutely no privacy, mini shared showers and bathroom facilities - all very much different that what we are used to in the US.  Our first day was an uncomfortable one.  Mostly, it was the environment and culture shock of staying in a hostel.  In fact, several students wanted to explore the option of checking out from the hostel and checking into a hotel.  I was open to the idea.

Today, we were scheduled for a London walking tour.  After breakfast, we headed out to the center of town to meet our travel guide.  This is a busy time in London - one of the most visited cities in the world.  Since the walking tour was a "free" walking tour, we had more than 70 people.  I've done several of these walking tours all around Europe and none have been this big.  During our walking tour, our guide did a fantastic job explaining all the sights and sounds that we walked past - Buckingham Palace, London Parliament, Changing of the Guards, and other palaces and streets.

Sights of London on our walking tour

Westminster Abbey

After our walking tour which ended by Westminster Abbey, we headed back towards our hostel for some lunch.  The area not far from Victoria station had a plethora of restaurants and shopping.  Students enjoyed some down time to eat some familiar food.  Some students also explored a few hotels to see if it would be feasible to move out to a more comfortable place.  When I asked them if they would, the cost of the hotels, the small size, and a change in their mindset had the opposite effect.  They said that they would just adjust and make the best of what they had.  They realized that London was very different from the US.  Everything was small here - the rooms, bathrooms, streets, etc.  This was a turning point.  Usually it takes a day or two to leave your homely mindset back and adopt a new mindset in the destination you are visiting.  As soon as that happened, it felt like my students were re-energized and they found their exploration shoes.  They were free for the evening and they all went out as one happy family to enjoy a few more sights and sounds of London.

I have a hunch that we will all sleep like babies, tonight......

Day 1 - Hot hot jet laggin' in London

We landed in Heathrow Airport, passed thru immigration in an hour, and headed to the station to catch the Tube (subway in London) which is one of the cleanest, most extensive, and efficient subway systems in the world.  I had pre-ordered Oyester Travel Cards for all of us for travel convenience and cost.  We were exhausted since we did not get much sleep overnight.  We took two trains to get to Pimlico Station, our base station for this trip.  Now, it was time to lug our luggage thru the streets of London to our hostel.

Tubing thru the streets of Central London

Less than 5% of African American students study abroad due to various social, economic, cultural, and other reasons.  As I've conducted surveys in my classes over the years,   I've realized that very few of my students have traveled beyond the East Coast.  Although several of my students in this particular group have traveled abroad, hosteling was a new concept and none of them has ever experienced this before.  I was curious to see how they would feel about it in a day or two.  I've backpacked all over the world and I have always stayed at hostels.  The downside of hostels is that you don't get the luxury of hotels nor the privacy.  However, if you are a budget traveler (most students), the pros far outweigh the cons.  Outside of expensive cities like London, Paris, NYC, etc., most hostels cost about $15-20/night.  Breakfast and linens are usually included.  You will have to share a room with a few other guests depending on how many bunk beds there are.  Toilet facilities are also shared.  Most backpackers tour the city the entire day, use the hostel to socialize at night and get a good nights sleep.  The best part about hostels is that you meet fellow travelers from all around the world during evening social activities.  During my backpacking trips in college, I remember very fondly pub crawling with Australians, Japanese, British, fellow Americans, and others.  

Once we got settled into our hostel (all of us crammed in one room), we headed out for our first set of activities.  We took a quintessential red double-decker bus out to the London Eye for a 45-minute Thames River cruise and a slow rotation of the giant Ferris wheel.  It was a sunny and clear day so we got beautiful views of the city of London.  

We also managed to get a beautiful panoramic picture of the British Parliament which was closed to tourists due to the recent terrorist attack in Manchester.  The security level in London was at critical which is the highest it has been in a decade.  However, to us, the streets looked normal with thousands of tourists everywhere. 

Big Ben is not the tower or clock itself, rather, it is the giant bell inside the clock tower

Jet lag was hitting us.  My students and I were falling asleep every time we sat down so it was definitely time to head back to our hostel.  I could have just let my students rest in the hostel during the first day but the # 1 rule to fight jet lag is to try to get back to our normal circadian clock as soon as possible.  Staying up during the day even if we were sleepy in order to sleep at night was crucial.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local pub and were back in our hotel.  It was a very hot day in London.  We were exhausted.  A few of the students learned and enjoyed some salsa dancing which was an activity organized in the hostel.  Soon after, one by one, we hit the clouds sans AC.  Let's see how well we sleep and what time we wake up tomorrow morning.....

12 people crammed like sardines in our hostel room.  Salsa dancing.

    

Day 0 - Off to London

We are a group of 10 - 9 students and myself traveling on a two and a half week study abroad trip to Ghana with a few days in London.  Although we are enthusiastic about our upcoming trip, we start off with heavy hearts due to recently transpired tragedies on our minds.  One of our students was senselessly murdered in a possible hate crime (still being investigated) while visiting friends at the University of Maryland-College Park only days before he was set to graduate.  Furthermore, the recent events in Manchester, England where more than 20 concert goers were killed and several dozen injured in an apparent suicide bombing will be close to us as we explore London.

At times, life does bring tragedies.  However, we must move forward to explore and cherish the future while being mindful and cognizant of current and past events.  The most important tool (other than a passport) while traveling is flexibility and an open-mind.

BSU students in front of the Student Center

Teaching my students how to backpack on a shoe string budget

Our provost, dean, colleagues, and several parents gave us a warm send off.  It was great to see the support as I know how hard these students have worked to come up with the funds for this trip.  BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) airport was very convenient due to the low amount of international flights.  Our first taste of England came as soon as we were greeted by the British Airways air-hosts/hostesses with that charming British accent.  

The in-flight entertainment included quite the array of international options including movies in my native language, Telugu

Not much sleep on the short (7 hr) flight.  A dinner and a movie, a few hours of shut eye, breakfast, and bam, we landed in London.