Accra and the End .. for now

Sorry readers for the delay in this post. I started my journey down to Accra on Monday 25/06 at 3pm. It was painful to say goodbye to Hajia, IS staff and my ICVs all at once but it was a beautiful sadness and thankfully what's app is a thing in Ghana. If you believe in bad omens, then the coach being over an hour later would start your senses tingling. However, the coach was nice and fancy; big comfy seats, individual power sockets and air conditioning so it looked like it was going to be a hassle-free journey. We set off and got 45 minutes outside Tamale then the coach suddenly stopped and remained stopped for no obvious reason for 2 and a half hours until an older, more cramped with no sockets replacement coach turned up. 18 hours from start to arriving at the hostel but we eventually did arrive and volunteers spent a few hours relaxing until they started their plane journey the same afternoon. 

The following day, Tom and I met Nanna (my co-team leader) in Accra as she had finished the programme too and came down for a job interview. We got an Uber as didn't want to risk being ripped off and headed to the coast to see some sights. On the way we passed Agbogbloshie which is the world's biggest e-waste dumpsite  - TVs, PCs, HiFi systems, refrigerators. Traders from Europe, US, China and India label their containers as "Development Aid" or "Second-Hand Products", and in the end, up to 500 containers find their way, illegally, to Tema Harbour, 20 miles east of Agbogbloshie. Young boys smash stones and simple tools against TVs and PCs to get to the metals, especially copper. They will earn approximately $2.50 per day. Most of them, hoping for a better future, left their families from the poor northern and upper west regions of Ghana for this kind of work e.g. Tamale. If you want to read more - https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/01/pictures-ghana-e-waste-mecca-2014130104740975223.html 

We visited the grave of the first president of Ghana - Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Independence Arc to commemorate the end of British rule, Jubilee Park (found in all major cities), the beach and another few things before heading back to the hostel and our flight at 23:00. There was a short connection in Lisbon but it was overall a good journey. Mum met me at Heathrow airport and gave me the greatest hug of all time! 

I have now been back home almost 3 weeks but haven’t stopped! Went to Wales to get my car back and spent some awesome time with family and just got back from week 1 of 2 with NCS. Spent last week camping near Ullswater and even went for an early morning swim.

I have several travel plans but not planning on working abroad until next summer as I want to be home for the big 30 and enjoy some non-working holidays. Thank you so much to everyone who followed my blog during my time in Ghana. I hope you enjoyed reading it and please come back when my adventures start again! 

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum 

Inside the mausoleum, his wife is also buried here too

Independence Arc, was nice to go to somewhere on their money

Jubilee Park

The beach

Another grave near the old office of the president 

Random ostriches found in a park, they are like bird dinosaurs!!!

Home again, a long awaited Starbucks with my Moomin.


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