I went to Ghana! I was very excited to go. It’s where I was born (but not raised). You know when you go to a hot place that has smiling people and good music and you can’t stop talking about it? That was me for the past five years, waxing poetic about living and working there.

So it was time to go back. Ghana is in West Africa and used to be known as the Gold Coast. Now it’s known in some circles as the “gateway to Africa” because it’s a stable, English-speaking country with friendly people.

My first stop was Sankofa Beach House, about 40 minutes away from the city centre of Accra, Ghana’s capital.  I stayed in a small apartment with a verandah overlooking the ocean.  It was relaxing, warm and serene.  The owner Masao had breakfast brought to us there, and we ate scrumptious pineapples and papaya and fresh orange juice.

Did I say we?  Oh yes.  I was there with my guy, who decided to upgrade our relationship to ENGAGED while we were there.  Right there.  On the beach.  On the verandah.   With half-eaten pineapples and a ring I had no idea about.

Yeah.  It was pretty great.

So Sankofa Beach House was magical for obvious reasons.  But you should still go!  Here are some other places I invite you to visit:

OSU: This  is the area in Accra where you can buy high end designer clothing, Blackberrys and bananas from platters perched on women’s heads. At Osu, you can get falafel (large Lebanese population there), sushi AND the traditional groundnut (peanut) soup. So yeah. I loved Osu. It’s also the home of Citizen Kofi, a pink and orange building that is a club, a restaurant and apartments all rolled into one. Went there for my girlfriend’s birthday where the DJ played a mix of house, R’n'B, and hip-life, which is a mix of hip-hop and traditional highlife music.

Adamu, Seton, Joshua and Ian at Adamu’s shop in the Art Centre.

ART CENTRE: This is where you can get beautiful art, intricate paintings, batik fabric, dresses and more.  I got my fiance a beautiful pair of multi-coloured batik pants.  I’d show you a picture of him in them but I believe he’d kill me and then this blog would be over.

Elmina Slave Castle – three hours west of Accra on the shoreline of Cape Coast city, where my father was born.

ELMINA SLAVE CASTLE: The slave castles in Cape Coast are sobering. I could attempt a more flowery description but it’s the first word that comes to mind.  In the centre there is a church, where slave owners would pray to God.  They’d also sleep in large bedrooms on the top floors while the slaves were kept in horrendous conditions on the lower levels.  If you want to know more about the castles, click here.

My mother’s family house in Mampong, approximately 30 minutes outside Accra city. The man holding a stick is pounding yam and plantain to make a starchy food we call “fufu”, often eaten with peppery soup.

MY MOM’S HOUSE: No seriously…  if you’re interested, I can arrange a visit.  My mother is helping to build a family house in Mampong, a cooler more lush part of Accra in the hills.  I’ve got nine aunts and uncles and don’t ask me how many cousins because I genuinely don’t know.  Every year the family gets together on New Year’s Day to eat. And yell.  There’s a lot of yelling.  And it’s all happy yelling because they haven’t seen each other in so long and how’s your husband and what’s going on with work and do you want a beer and jeez you got kinda chunky (yes, they say these things) and sit down you old woman and you get the idea.  They yelled a lot when fiance and I came.

My mom is on the left, and the sweet girl in the pink at the front is my niece.  The rest are cousins and cousins’ sons and daughters etc. at the annual New Year’s family party.  I believe this entire bunch may be related to me.

THE PEOPLE: I love Ghana because of the people.  I’m aware of my bias but I know you’d come back feeling the same. You’ll love the people because of their hospitality and how they’re constantly singing or playing music and how strangers greeting each other.

I know I don’t live there, so my experience is but a slice of real life.  Plus, I didn’t show you the images of poverty we both know exist.  But I swear, it’s like most people have their personal happiness metres generally set to “high”.

I kinda like that.

All images courtesy of Ian Stevens.