High Ropes Course, Clubbing Until 4am, and Church at 7am- June 17 and 18

 Saturday June 17 and Sunday June 18

We slept in a little then went to Kakun, a restaurant about 20 minutes away. I had a breakfast bagel and sweet potato fries and a ginger lemonade. We stayed there for about 2 hours then went to the Legon botanical gardens which were about 45 minutes away,

The drive was very pretty and there was lots of lush greenery, it felt like we were out of the dense urban city for the first time. I also noticed tons of roadside shops selling potted plants and pots. 

We also saw some groups of bulls with bumps on their backs which are apparently evolved for storing water. 

The gardens weren’t as much “gardens” as a giant park with some attractions. Lots of people were sitting and hanging out in the open spaces and some even doing photo shoots. 

We saw a monkey in a tree, a woman was giving it a banana. 

We did the high ropes course which was only 5 US dollars. It felt really high up and I was definitely scared, there were some parts that required swinging and some parts were definitely a workout. Some parts were zip lining which was fun. It was definitely hot and we were dripping sweat! 

After that we went to Oliver Twist restaurant but decided to just get a drink then eat leftovers for dinner at home.

We rested at home got a while and ate leftovers. We decided to go out tonight and our coordinator agreed to take us out.

Here, nightlife starts really late! Most clubs and bars won’t even be starting to get crowded until 1-2am. 

We had to wait until our coordinator was ready so we left around 12:30. 

We got stopped at a police checkpoint on the road which is normal at night. Usually they shine a flashlight in the car to make sure it’s not overcrowded or there’s anything obviously illegal. But, this time it took longer and our coordinator had to explain where we were going.

Our second car with my roommates behind us also got stopped but theirs was longer, they had to show photos of their passports and it was longer. Unfortunately when the car stopped for the checkpoint, it wouldn’t start again so they got stuck and our car had to go back and wait with them while they tried to get a new Bolt car (there were hardly any free and they ended up having to get a regular taxi instead). They decided to just go home after all that so it was just my car going out which included one peer and our program coordinator. 

While waiting during that, we noticed a very full stadium, you can see people sitting along the top edge! Apparently this is for boxing and this stadium can fit a few thousand people. It was about 1:30 am and it was packed! 

We went to the first bar called Alley bar, it’s a coffee shop during the day. It was pretty crowded and I had a palm spirit drink that was pretty good. Some of our peers came from dinner and joined us so we hung around for a bit. 

We then left and went to Mad Club. This was more of an actual club, there was a balcony DJ booth and they had a saxophone and electric violin at different points. 

This was also really crowded. There was lots of hookah smoking and surprisingly, inhaling helium from balloons. They also brought out a fire-breather and a dancer. We hung around here for a bit, mainly because it was taking so long to get service. When my peer tried to pay her bill, the waitress said it declined so I paid, but we later realized that it had charged her card so the waitress was either wrong or scamming us. 

At both places it was definitely almost all locals but there were several foreigners we saw. A few guys talked to us or tried to get our Instagram but all were respectful and I probably even felt safer going out here than somewhere in the US>

We left around 4am (it was very full and didn’t seem like slowing down anytime soon!) and it took about 20 minutes to even order a car to come pick us up. We got back and I went to sleep around 5 am….

And slept for about an hour before waking up to go to a 7am church service. I wanted to go to the same Presbyterian church as last time and they told me to go to the early service because it’s in English. 

So, I went, and it was pretty similar to last time, except with it being Father’s Day, some parts were geared towards celebrating that. I recognized the hymns but they did do some more contemporary and upbeat songs in Ga, the second most common local language here (and this church lists itself as part of the Ga presbytery). The sanctuary felt pretty full with at least 150 people I'd say. At one point in the service they had a couple who was married come up to the front in their wedding apparel and be prayed for.

The service went over time and I stepped out at about 2 hours and 20 minutes because I was too tired and didn’t feel the need to say for the last few songs. I saw the young woman who sat with me last time, Esther, and talked to her some then went back to our house.

I took about a two hour nap then we went to Labadi beach club. We hung out by the pool all day and had massages at their spa that we had previously scheduled (for only 30 US dollars). I had a great seafood pizza. There were people from seemingly all over, Europeans, Africans, Indians, etc. Two guys talked to us who apparently lived together in the Netherlands and moved here together. 

We left when it started to get dark around 6pm and then hung out at the house, got our laundry, etc. and went to bed!