Esther’s Testimony: Trip to Ghana 2018

An Unforgettable Trip to Ghana!

I had told my friend Pat, owner of pbdTravel International, a tours enterprise that, ‘I will come and see Ghana. I will try the foods even if it was once’. I had said. To ensure  that I got there with as less a hustle as possible, I handed over all preparations of my visit to her. For the fortnight Pat managed to fit my days out around her off periods of teaching, because I was the only one making this first time visit.

Trip 1

I must say that she thought it out well; planned historical places of interest like the  Cape-Coast and Elmina Castles, where the Europeans had held their captives before sending them off to be slaves in the Americas, Barbados and other Caribbean countries.

Trip 2

A week-end in Kumasi was my second trip. This saw me travel by the ‘VIP Transport’, a coach service that lived up to their name. With friendly people around, it was hard to relax and close one’s eyes for a much-needed doze!

Pat had organised my guide Sammy Asamoah Darko-her cousin, who met me when the coach dropped me off and showed me around Kumasi and environs.

Asamoah showed off the university(KNUST) in which he worked, and for my bonus I met his senior brother Dr. Joseph Darko who joined us. Off to Manhyia Palace  where there is still a king, the Asantehene in residence. The tour round the Exhibition hall was very interesting, for the first time I saw the statue of the kings and queens, and was very impressed with their life- like sizes.

To Bonwire town,  the home of kente. Here most of the weaving of the Kente cloth is done. Different designs with different meanings. It’s a little city with lots of shops just selling anything  Kente. (The kente cloth is an expensive woven cloth of royalty in  Ghana and it is also worn  by ordinary Ghanaians on formal occasions. It is a prominent symbol of Ghana and there is actually a piece adorning the foyer of the UN building in New York, U.S.A.)

Then it was off to Dr. Joseph Darko’s house for a relaxed time and a meal.

All too soon it was time to leave, this time I thought I would see the countryside, but this is a hard act in those VIP coaches.

Trip 3

A   second visit to  Fodzoku Kingdom, near Akuse in the Eastern Region of Ghana was next on my itinerary. The Chief’s grandson, Dickson  who worked with Pat at Legacy Girls’ College,Akuse  had made the arrangement with the family the first time around, and again, now . I had met the 95 year- old grandfather, Togbe Asare II, and could not wait to see him again. If I had to make a wish I would have wished for him to tell me the story about the capture of these people in Ghana to be made slaves of in foreign lands centuries back…..

On this visit we had school children give us a welcoming dance. It was great and I felt that I really belonged. Thanks Fodzoku.

My Last Trip

My last  tour which actually started with just a casual trip to the bank and then the dress maker’s for the  traditional ‘slit and kaba’ of Ghanaian women actually ended in one of the most luxurious of Ghana’s hotels, the Royal Senchi. Off I went without camera or my usual well powdered face. This ended up to be an evening out at the Royal Senchi Resort. Beautiful surrounding with well kept gardens and lawns and good food. It’s a place for a relaxing time with good company.

My verdict on this visit to Ghana?

Nothing like anything I’ve ever known…it’s seeing and experiencing life in an enriched manner; not the usual salt-water-sea and sand rubbing off one’s body;nor the grand architecture of Rome and Egypt…..but a broadening of one’s horizons to accept and appreciate our global existence in its entirety.

I recommend this journey into our ‘global existence’ to Ghana to you.I am changed for the better for this visit to the hospitable people of Ghana…

Pat of pbdTravel International shall say.’Akwaaba’ as you come off your flight at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, with such meaning and a warmth that will follow you throughout your visit amongst her people.