Well we've finally made it back to the United States! Suffering from jet lag and waking up at 4:30 this morning I thought I would upload some pictures from our trip and write a little about the final leg.

We left Takoradi and went to Cape Coast. Here we spent 2 days and nights visiting the Cape Coast and Elmina castles known for their role in the slave trade. I found it interesting that the men who governed these posts considered themselves righteous and God fearing, yet for hundreds of years thousands of humans suffered in below ground dungeons waiting for ships to carry them to death or slavery. All in all it is a very sobering experience to visit these places.

While staying in Cape Coast we also went to the Kakum National Park/Reserve and went on the canopy walk where we were able to look at the forest from a tree's perspective. This park was one of the first reserves in West Africa and the first in Ghana. The canopy walk is not only used as a tourist attraction for Ghanaians as well as foreigners but it is used to do research and observe the life within the forest.

We went on from Cape Coast to Kumasi. This is the seat of the Ashanti Kingdom and where the current King resides. The King still a very important part of the society but he doesn't hold a political post. Kumasi is the second largest city in Ghana and I must say as crazy as the market was it is really refreshing to see how people work together (pedestrians and drivers) to help each other navigate the crowds and congestion. We visited the palace while here though we were not permitted to take pictures. We also went to the village of Bonwire to see how Kinte cloth was made and buy some!

We left Kumasi to make the long trek to Ho in the Volta region. On the way we stopped at the Boti Falls and visited a natural formation called Umbrella rock. We stayed in Ho for one night and visited the Ote Falls where we had to make a sacrifice of one shoe in order that none of us fell in! Fortunately our guide was able to rescue the shoe and we enjoyed to cool spray of the waterfall and made it back without a hitch.

Our second to last day we traveled to Akosombo where the hydro-electric dam is. The Volta river was dammed in the 1960s to create the Lake Volta and much of the electricity enjoyed by Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire. The Volta River got it's name from the Portuguese, meaning meandering. There is the White, Blue and Red Volta rivers which flow into Lake Volta. These rivers come from Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo. Again we were not permitted to take pictures of the actual dam itself but were allowed to photograph the lake.

The last day was spent driving to Accra and last minute souvenir shopping. It was a great experience for me and I think all of the kids really enjoyed themselves too. I certainly hope to do it again!