Tag Archives: SaS
Dancing on the Table
The port in Capetown is one of the most beautiful that we’ve ever seen. We cruised into the harbor just before sunrise and got to watch the sun come up over the water and shine its splendid rainbow of colors onto the waking city with its picturesque backdrop of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. That […]
I Am Because We Are
As many of you already know, an honored and revered shipmate on our voyage around the world with Semester at Sea is none other than Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Even a five second interaction with this man is enough to brighten your week. We and our shipmates have enjoyed a wonderful amount of extra time with […]
Heartfelt Goodbye
As the ship pulled away from Ghana the group of street vendors whose booths were set up right next to the ship, many of whom were drum-makers, ran and grabbed a bunch of drums and kettle bells and Ghana flags and started an impromptu drum and dance send-off on the edge of the port terminal. […]
A Bright Future for Ghana
For our last day in Ghana we visited Father’s Home Care Ministries. It was founded 10 years ago by a Ghanaian man named Frances who felt God was calling him to become a father. At first he wasn’t sure what that call to fatherhood really meant, but after a couple years of prayerful consideration he […]
Carry On, Ghana!
Ghanaians are incredibly skilled at carrying things on their heads. We learned that they start doing this at a young age because it allows them to carry much heavier objects for longer distances than children can support with their arms. We saw children of all ages and sizes carrying everything–wood-framed glass boxes full of bread, […]
P90 Botwaeku
Another part of our village stay included a performance by a professional troupe of Cape Coast drummers/dancers/fire-eaters/acrobats called Botwaeku Dance Ensemble. Drumming for a living creates some pretty impressive arm muscles. Dancing/acrobatics for a living produces some pretty impressive muscles all over your body. As with any performance art, sometimes still images do not convey […]
Kofi Baako and Esi Dadzie Come to Visit
On our second day in Ghana, Shannon led an overnight SaS trip to the village of Atonkwe for a Cultural Immersion experience. We arrived in the village early in the morning and were immediately greeted by Chief Na Na and his council of village elders. We all received Ghanaian Fante names in a traditional naming […]
Cape Coast Castle and Slave Dungeon
On our first day in Ghana, we hired a taxi driver to take us to the town of Elmina to visit the Cape Coast Castle and Slave Dungeon. It was a very moving experience for us. The injustice and evil of the whole concept of slavery is appalling in and of itself, but to stand […]
Guided by the Best
We need to tell you a little bit more about our fantastic guide, Mohammad, pictured with us and another great guide, Hossein, below. Three guides helped us throughout our trip, but Shannon and I spent the most time hiking with Mohammad (the one with the orange hat). This guy was a walking, talking, joking encyclopedia […]
The Hotel of A Thousand Stars
After our time in Marrakech, we spent the next three days hiking and visiting Berber villages in the High Atlas Mountains. We learned from our guides that the term “Berber” actually comes from the word “barbarian” and was a derogatory term given to all non-Arabs in northern Africa. Most of the villagers themselves don’t know […]