Trip to African Nations Cup

Family and Friends-

Hey, it’s Zatara, aka Jah Bless. Just wanted to let you all know about the crazy vacation trip I took to Ghana in late January to see the African Nations Cup soccer tournament. But first let me catch you up on life in the bush.

Everything here in the bush is just fine. The men have begun clearing the fields and getting them ready for planting. I spoke with some villagers and I will be getting a field of my own to plant beans and peanuts and maybe some millet as well. That should keep me pretty busy throughout rainy season. I’m still working on my Zarma daily while trying to stay in the shade. Hot season is approaching; yesterday it was over 120ºF in the sun at 4 pm and by nightfall it was still in the 90s. Anyway, back to my Ghana trip…

I met up with Alexis and Chris, two other volunteers in my region, in southern Niger and we all hung out at my buddy Jeremy’s place for a couple of days before we left. The bus ticket from Niger to Lome, Togo’s capital, was 15,000 CFA (around $35). The bus ride took us through Benin and on to Togo and then south to Lome, a 14 hour trip. It was quite a long haul with only a couple of rest stops in between. Quickly I noticed the change in landscape compared to Niger; many more trees and hills throughout the countryside. We arrived in Lome late at night, exhausted, so we quickly found a hotel and crashed. We hit the streets of Lome, first heading to the beach to put our toes in the sand and get our feet wet - what a feeling after living in a landlocked country for 6 months!

We stopped by an artisan’s center and then went to a fetish market where they practiced voodoo and sold every type of dead animal parts imaginable - horns, animal pelts, vultures, owls, bats, monkey skulls, elephant bones, pig vertebrae, hyena skulls, porcupine quills, etc. It was pretty wild. The highlight of the day for me was going to “King Burger” and eating a king burger (meat, cheese, fried egg, lettuce)! That night we partied with some Ivory Coast fans who were celebrating their team’s victory.

The next day we took a short ride to the Ghanaian border and then a 3 hour bush taxi ride to Accra, Ghana’s capital. There we met up with a professor that I studied abroad with in 2004. It was great to seem him again; he said that he always knew I would return to Africa. He was able to find us a hotel near the center of town where we stayed for the first few nights in Ghana. We checked out the capital on foot, hung out on the beach, went to several dive bars, saw a few soccer games at the stadium, ate some great local food, and more than anything, just relaxed.

Next we traveled to Kumasi in the interior of Ghana to watch a few more soccer matches. We also went to the zoo in Kumasi and spent a couple of nights with some Ghana PCVs at their hostel. From Kumasi we traveled southwest to Takoradi to watch two more soccer matches and then bush taxied to Cape Coast. We checked out the old colonial town, went to Cape Coast castle, an old slave fort, and ate at a beachside restaurant. We also went to Fort William, an old lighthouse overlooking the town, where I was able to capture some beautiful pictures. We then checked out Elmina castle, built by the Portuguese in 1482, which was later converted to a slave fort.

The next day we traveled to a small beachside town and stayed the night at Fort Good Hope, a slave fort turned into a “hotel”. The views from up top were amazing! We spent most of the day on a secluded beach, enjoying our vacation with not a worry in a world. Our last stop before heading back to the capital was Big Millie’s, a cheap, laid back beachside resort. We ate great food there, swam in the ocean, played beach soccer, and danced to reggae music with the local Rastafarians. It was a great stop.

Back in Accra we were able to get scalped tickets to a semifinal match between Ghana, the hosts, and their rival, Nigeria. As you all can imagine the streets were packed with Ghanaian fans, as was the stadium- not an empty seat around. It’s hard to describe the atmosphere in the city after Ghana came back to win 2-1. Everyone went crazy! That night we met up with a bunch of Niger PCVs at a nice sports bar to watch the Super Bowl. It was pretty crazy watching American football on ESPN!

We headed back to the border with Togo, spent one more night in Lome and then headed back to Niger, arriving there at 5 am. I got a few hours of sleep and then took a bush taxi back to my village. What a trip! Now it’s back to life in the bush. I’ve begun coaching the school children soccer. That has been a great time especially seeing the girls having fun. It has also taught me a lot of patience - keeping 3 teams in order at once is not an easy ordeal.

Well, I guess that’s about all for my trip. The pictures will tell so much more. I hope all is well back home, please keep in touch and continue to write and send pictures.

Much love,
James