Day 4: Ghana

   When I arrived in Ghana I felt a sleepy. I was also a little hungry. It was so late in the evening, so I decided to just stop by a grocery store and pick up a little something to eat. By the time I had checked into my hotel I was already half asleep. I had a dream where I was revising what I had learned on the plane. I learned lots about Ghana because there were several articles about Ghana in the magazine I was reading about Africa. This is what I learned; Ghana is in Central Africa and it´s capital city is Accra. Ghana´s neighbouring countries are Togo, Burkina and Cote D´Ivoire. Ghana´s main language is English . The population in Ghana is about 26 million. The life expectancy is 64 years, which is still quite low when compared to Finland which is over 80 years.  Ghana is a constitutional republic and their President is John Dramani Mahama.

   I woke up the next morning fealing great! It was 9:00. I went to the grocery and got juice, fruit and a bread for breakfast. The climate seemed to be hot and humid (tropical) and the vegetation where I was staying was clearly savannah (tall grass parkland with scattered trees), but I read that in South-West Ghana it is more tropical rain forest (many species of lush, tall trees). I wanted to visit River Volta that day so I left and I was hoping I could swim there too. On my way there I was listening to a documentary on the radio about Ghana´s geographical features. It was good documentary and I learned something from it. Ghana has a few mountains and several hills that rise up to 900 metres above sea level. The highest mountain is Afadzato, whih rises 1,500 metres above sea level. Also, several rivers pass through Ghana. The most important river that passes through is River Volta, It also streams into a lake called Lake Volta, and then into The Atlantic Ocean. Other large ones are Pra, Ankobra and Tango.

   Soon enough I had arrived.  I was beutiful! The water was refreshing and the landscape was amazing. I took lots of great pictures there too!

   Next I decided to go to Kakum National Park. So I got in the car and headed over. The car ride felt very long without any documentary on. Finally I was there and I was very excited for the tour and seeing all the animals. Before the tour started the tour gide told us a little about Ghana´s wildlife. Ghana´s native animal list is very large. It includes: mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, aquatic and marine animals, spiders and birds. There are 504 species of fish, 728 species of birds, 225 species of mammals and 221 species of amphibians and reptiles have been recorded in Ghana. Sadly a large amount of species are in danger. Natural resources in Ghana are gold, oil, timber, diamonds, bauxite and manganese. Crops that are grown in Ghana are tabacco. Minerals found in Ghana are diamonds and gold. Energy found in Ghana is oil and hydro. It was very interesting to hear him speak.

   It was quite similar to the tour I took In Hwange but I cant decide which one was nicer. My favorite animal in Kakum was the monkeys  in the trees. They were funny and there were banana peels everywhere!

   It was about 15:45 and I wanted to go see a castle. Idecided I would go to Elmina Castle. On the car ride there I saw lots of beutiful landscapes. When I got there I headed for the doors of the castle. There was no tour there, you could just go around freely. The castle was very old. It was opened in 1482.  The castle is a very important historical building and there has been a couple movie shoots there. The castle was very beutiful! It was big too. It was also interesting to hear tales about the castle and the people who lived there.

    It was about 18:30 when I was going to go eat dinner. I ate at a restaurant in the city centre. The food there was yummy! I got so stuffed there that I almost couldn´t get up! After having dinner I went back to the hotel and got ready for bed.