Day 3

So yesterday I wrote my post, put the pictures on, but I neglected to press "Publish". Whoops! Here's my post from yesterday! Enjoy!

Wow, it's been a long day. We got up and had breakfast beach-side at the Coconut Grove Resort. It was great, they had bread, pancakes, rolls, omelets, Ghanaian hot chocolate, fresh pineapple and watermelon, and pineapple jam.

We then embarked on an epic journey back to Accra. Along the way, we stopped to see West Africa's biggest tree.

They call it "the big tree" (I wonder how on earth they came up with that!) and believe that it has major spiritual power, and it even magically reappeared after being cut down by the enemy. My first statement upon seeing it? "Wow, that's a really big tree." How original! Our guide told us that we needed to put some money in the tree before taking a picture of it. Curiously, I didn't see any other coins there. . . And I seriously doubt that ours lasted very long after the guide walked past. And who says money doesn't grow on trees???

Our next stop was to one of the remote schools in which EPI will install a merry-go-round in October.

This one required a hike through the jungle; on the way we found all kinds of plantains, some kind of plant that collapses in when you touch one of its leaves, and snails, as is displayed here by Chris.

When we reached the school, we talked to Fontina Lardi, who is the teacher at the school. Ben explained to her what they were planning, and when he mentioned that the lights would "recharge" her face totally lit up.

I think the entire trip was worth just seeing her facial expression. There is no way that this village could realistically get power any time soon, so this will completely change their lives. What a cool place. (And my dad also made a friend)

Near there, we walked down the 166 steps to see the waterfalls, which were beautiful, but the hike back up wore us out.

We then drove back to Accra, and we ate at an Americanized restaurant. We actually had pizza! Let me say, the pepperoni here is funky. But it was still tasty. For the rest of the trip, my dad and I will be staying in the Oak Plaza Hotel, which has a nice shower, air conditioning, and an excellent internet connection! Thus, I've uploaded a bunch of pictures. So please check out my previous posts to see the photos I promised. Thanks for reading, and please comment!