Friday/Saturday

Weekend update-
So yesterday we went on a very nice hike- we had some things happen that I will explain- let me just say everyone is okay, but it was a little crazy….

A few things before I start the story
-The police are a little corrupt I this country and you can bribe your way out of things for about 1cedi= $0.75.
-A tro-tro is a van/bus which has 4 rows plus the row for the drive which can fit two passengers- usually you fit 4 people per row plus the two in the front so that would be 17 passengers plus the driver and the person called the Mate who collects the money- this is the most widely used mode of transportation in Ghana.

We went on about a 9mile hike in Aburi which is about an hour from Legon where I a staying. The ride up to the site where we were hiking was beautiful. We arrive and one of the girls who was here last semester was a ‘tour’ guide. We hiked for about 5 miles and took a 2 hour lunch break- because that’s how things are done here! We finished the next 4 miles and made it back into town and played with some children for a bit and then headed back into town where we were meet by a man on a motorcycle- I am not sure what the conversion between the girl who was leading us and him was but when we were about to go into the Aburi Botanical Gardens I heard him call to here again and the next thing was he was going to have the police come because we were trespassing on their property. There were 22 of us in the group and I am sure that out of all of us one of us would have seen a sign if there was one which there is not one. So long story short we ended up having to pay 4cedi a person just to make the situation go away. They said someone had called them to say that we were on the trail and I think it might have been the two men that we meet because some of the group saw illegal plants being grown and if we had been with a guide like we were suppose to be we would not have gone on that path. So that is situation #1 of the day.

We went to the botanical gardens which were beautiful- the trees are huge! The link will be at the end of this post- check it out…

So we headed home we had to split up into two tro-tros because our group was on the larger size and we wouldn’t fit- but we did put 4 in each row like we thought was the way that things worked. Well when we got to a police stop they pulled our tro-tro in… well come to find out the law is 3 per row… none of us knew this. The driver tried to pay off the cops which the cops would not have off, so the mate walked ahead with all the money so the cops couldn’t get any more. So they then pulled John out to wait for another tro-tro, but the driver told him just to walk through the check point and get in after- which I guess is a common thing to do. Well the police officer started following John- so at this point most of us are like omg what is going on… Well John and then two of the other girls from my group got out of the tro-tro and got a taxi with John, crazy- if from the time we stopped they said 3 people need to get out and get another ride, 3 of us would have and the whole thing would have been avoided- but its over and this is good to know for future reference. Also having 10 white people also gives a lot of attention to a vehicle.

We are all fine and we all got back- it was just the first time that it sat with me that I am not in America anymore. We have the Durbar tonight and then we have a birthday in our group so we are going to celebrate that!

Side note: A boy came up to me when we were in Aburi and asked what was on my leg- regarding my tattoo, this was a smaller village and I believe that do not get a lot of tourist. It was so cute- he was young and it was just adorable.

Here’s the second album- 300 pictures in two weeks- oh boy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/midge.mij/UGSpring2009Pt2?authkey=EB2Q02gorKE&feat=directlink

That’s it for now! Leave love!
<3 Midge