The Loop
In April/May I packed a bag and took a much needed vacation around “The Loop” in West Africa. I was accompanied by five Peace Corps friends who kept me company on 60 hours worth of bus rides, built wicked sandcastles, and schooled me in hiking technique. Our travels included Benin (stopping at Ouidah to see the “point of no return” where slaves boarded ship for the Americas), Togo, Ghana (taking some time at Cape Coast to see the Slave Castle, staying a few days at an eco-friendly resort, and hiking to the Wli waterfalls), Burkina Faso (mainly passing through, but we enjoyed some time in Ouagadougou eating crepes and bowling!), and finally Mali (where we spend four days hiking through Dogon country). Here are a few highlights from our trip:
- Two days of hiking involved a few steep climbs with our packs. We weaved around the mountanside, often crossing logs to get to our destination.
- During our hike in Mali, we passed through several Animist villages. These are just two of the hundreds of statues that we saw in our four days in the mountains.
- The beginnings of a delicious pineapple. Who knew that pineapples grew on bushes?
- Obama cookies, sold at every snack stand in Ghana.
- The girls sitting in our vintage sandcastle car. Just one of the many sandcastles we built while staying on the coast.
- A view from the slave castle. Cape Coast is a fishing village on the coast of Ghana.
Our friend Assoumane spent a few days in Benin and Togo with us. This was his first time seeing the ocean :)
On the menu this was listed as “chicken nuggets”. What it tasted like, however,
was a thanksgiving ball. Thanksgiving ball= turkey and stuffing mashed
together, battered, and fried. Not too bad!
Wli waterfalls. We hiked there two days in a row and spent a few hours swimming.
