Relaxing Day

Friday was a bit more relaxing. We started the day with breakfast at 0800, which is later than our usual 0700 time. Afterwards, we boarded the bus and went to Labadi Beach for some fun in the sun. Too bad it was cloudy. Despite the clouds, there were a few cadets that got a little sun burned even though the escorts reminded them to put on sunscreen, but nothing too serious.

After lunch at the beach, we went to a craft market so the cadets could practice their haggling skills and buy some souvenirs. They came back with lots of African masks and some other things. I had to go to the bank to change some travelers cheques so I missed the shopping time. Barclay's bank is the only bank that will change them and you require the receipt from when you purchased them to show where you bought them. Apparently there was a huge counterfeit travelers cheque bust in Ghana a little while back which is why it is so difficult now. My recommendation, if you ever go to Ghana, don't bring travelers cheques at all. After finding out there is only one bank that does this and figuring out the receipt requirement, it took well over an hour to get through the line and there were only four people ahead of me.

A bit of social time for the cadets in the evening and off to bed for a bit of an earlier start tomorrow.

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Thursday's Activities

Thu started off a bit more formal. We had to be dressed in our full International Air Cadet Exchange uniform which means shirt, tie, and jacket. In this weather, that is not very comfortable and the locals tell us that it is actually cooler than normal!

So into the bus we go and we are off to the Headquarters of the Air Force to meet the Chief of the Air Staff. A very personable man who was happy to receive the cadets. He told us how he came from a poor family and joined the Air Force as a young man. He also mentioned that he is still an active pilot. This is very different than a lot of other Air Forces. In conversation with some of the UK contingent, the very senior ranks of the Royal Air Force (and the Canadian Air Force) very rarely fly in any other capacity than as a passenger.

After meeting the Chief of the Air Staff we went to the air base for a little tour. We chatted with a couple pilots about what role they play in the Air Force and then we toured some of the aircraft. We saw one fighter (the A-8). We also saw a couple of helicopters, an American Bell 412, a French Alouette 3 and one other helicopter that I cannot recall the name of.

Following the tour we proceeded to the British High Commission to meet with the High Commissioner. As it turns out, the High Commissioner himself was unavailable so the Deputy High Commissioner greeted us and told us about the role of the BHC.

After the BHC, we were permitted to use the pool at the BHC Club which is normally reserved for BHC staff and their families. It was very nice and some cadets even enjoyed a hot shower for the first time since arriving in Ghana! I elected not to because I would find it that much harder to go back to cold showers, lol.

After the pool, we went back to the campus for supper and then social time for the cadets in the evening.

Free time and beach for Fri!

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Jungle Warfare School

So today was a really long day. We had to be ready to load the bus at 5:15! Then after arranging for an early breakfast at 5:30, we then boarded the bus and drove 4.5 hours to the Jungle Warfare School. They were very hospitable and really seemed to enjoy having the cadets there which is always nice.

As usual, we were given a brief about the courses they run and then we moved right to the demonstrations. They brought us to the firing range first and showed us a couple of the ranges that they have set up in the woods. Certainly not your standard 25yd range!

After we had lunch, we were shown the obstacle course stations and the cadets tried each one as a group not as a race. The cadets had a great time. There was a 12ft wall to climb, barbed wire to leopard crawl under, some hurdles, a rope swing over a barrier and finally, a high rope climb over an "alligator" pond (no real alligators, of course). About half the cadets did the last one and only one of the UK girls. Finally, they showed us some typical jungle booby traps. They actually set them all off for us as part of the demonstration. Lots of loud noises, lol.

Then it was supper and back on the bus for 3 more hours back to Accra.

More formal day tomorrow, we visit the Commander of the Air Force and the British High Commissioner to Ghana.

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Kakum National Park

Today we visited Kakum National Park just about an hour north of Cape Coast.

When we got there we were briefed by our guide on the park and some of it's features. Apparently, there are a great number of animals in this rain forest such as elephants, several kinds of monkeys, lots of snakes, leopards and many more. Unfortunately, the guide told us right away that we won't be seeing any of them. He explained that most of them only come around at night. He did say, however, that camping sites were set up around the park and that visitors could camp there overnight. The guides would then take the visitors out at midnight with a high powered flashlight (and rifle for safety) to spot some wildlife. I think that would have been an awesome addition to the program if we did that. I think I will suggest it for next year.

After the introduction we started to climb the hill to the start point of the canopy walk. When we got there our guide explained that it was actually the handiwork of two Canadians who built it with the help of six Ghanaians and that we would be 40 metres above the ground. Then we started the walk. It was pretty high. Normally, I don't like open heights but this didn't bother me for some reason. In fact, it was my favourite part of the Exchange so far! I took some awesome pictures and there was someone taking video that will be shown on TV3, the local station, on Saturday when a couple of cadets will be interviewed (http://www.tv3.com).

On the way back from the Park, we stopped at the school for the deaf again to see a performance of drumming and dancing by the students there. Some of the musicians were blind students and the dancers were all deaf. It was an amazing performance of African dance and they even got the cadets up participating.

After a tiring day, the cadets were given free time the rest of the day with an early curfew because we have an early start tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, the Jungle Warfare School. This should be interesting, lol.

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Cape Coast Castle

Today our main visit was to Cape Coast Castle. On the way we stopped by a beach and briefly watched some fishermen pulling in their net. We didn't stay long because the Castle was opening soon. It was very interesting to see but it was too bad we couldn't stay to see what they did with a massive net full of fish. It was several hundred metres long!

Cape Coast Castle was one of (if not the) main slave trading posts in Africa. Like our tour of Fort Amsterdam on Sat, it was very somber and quite sad to hear the story of the Castle. By today's standards it seems unimaginable that this ever happened but the reality is that it did and it is a grim part of the history here. Thankfully, slavery was abolished long ago.

We saw all parts of the castle including the slave dungeons, the "door of no return" where the slaves went through to board the ships for the Americas and the Governor's quarters among others.

Following the tour, we stopped (again very briefly) at the fishing community next to the Castle.

After lunch we went to the Cape Coast School for the Deaf. After a brief presentation by one of the staff, we toured the grounds. It really is a nice learning environment. In addition to the regular school curriculum, they have a farm where they grow vegetables and raise animals such as chickens, pigs, and rabbits. All of the food produced is either used in their kitchen or sold. I think that is a wonderful idea and maybe more schools should do that! We passed out more pencils, pens, and balls but this time we gave them to the staff to hand out. The students even "sang" a song for us in sign language! We took lots of pictures of the kids. They just love to have their picture taken with a digital camera and shown the picture on the screen.
Then it was off to the beach for some fun in the waves for the rest of the afternoon and more social time for the cadets in the evening.

On Tuesday, a visit to Kakum National Park and a canopy walk above the jungle!

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Cape Coast

Today we arrived at Cape Coast after a long bus ride (again). Along the way we stopped at a small village to tour an old fort that was settled by the British and then the Dutch and then the British again. Somewhere in the story the Germans, Portuguese, French and a few others were involved but I lost track. Inside the fort we could see the dungeons where the slaves were kept. It was very sad. A small room about 15x15 ft at the most could have up to 100 slaves. We heard the stories about the "chosen few" African women who were selected to be the "consorts" for the English/Dutch Governors and Officers and how if they had a baby they would be lucky enough to be put up in a house to look after the baby and so on.

We also brought some pencils, pens, stickers and such for the kids of the village. They loved them and smiled so much when we gave them out. But then we ran out and then it was really sad because we couldn't give them any more. The kids just kept asking and we kept on having to say no. :( But when we left, we left them with a couple of soccer balls courtesy of the UK contingent.

Then tonight was more social time for the cadets.

Here in Cape Coast we are staying at the University of Cape Coast. Let's just say that as far as the accommodations are concerned, we will be happy to return to Accra. Supper was pretty good though. The cadets had fries for the first time since arriving in Ghana!

Tomorrow, Cape Coast Castle.

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Post for Saturday, 24 July 2010

Today we had a football match against the Ghanain cadets. Given Ghana's history with football and recent performance in the World Cup, We fully expected to get slaughtered, lol. We actually held our own, though! In fact, IACE scored the first goal! The game ended 4-3 for Ghana. Quite a respectable showing. That was all for daytime activities.

Following supper, we went to a Ghanain movie that was being shown at a local TV station. We only got to see about 20 mins of it and had to leave to see a live music show featuring Ghanain artists. They had the crown up dancing and clapping and we actually had a lot of camera time because we were in the first three rows. In fact, one of the UK cadets was chosen to go up on stage and compete in a "crazy dance" competition and he won! It was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we take the show on the road to Cape Coast.

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