The REAL CROCS

Up and out early...well a little later than expected...to Cape Coast a 3 hour ride from Accra on a good day. Lots of fun stories and laughing on the bus, but our guide, SONNY, was good about trying to help prepare the students for the day ahead. About half-way, we took a little rest stop and were met by lovely children...one had on these great shoes...real CROCS!

On then to Check into our hotel - Saana Lodge and off to Cape Coast castle for a late morning tour of the castle (perhaps too late morning as it was HOT but our guide was able to keep us in the shade for a large portion of our tour. The students were astounded at the information they heard and many were visibly moved by the information but ALL of us were grateful for the chance to visit the castle with our guide, MORGAN - he allowed all of us to travel through "the door of no return" and then to return through it as a cleansing gesture. This was a fantastic, provocative experience for all - lots of photos and remembrances.

I was amused at the end of the tour when our students presented Morgan with a TU Aluminum water bottle and some cedi as a thank you. After the students left he called me back to ask "Madam, what is this? What is it for?" When I explained that in Philadelphia we're able to drink the tap water (I didn't begin to explain BRITA) and explained that many of the students use bottles like that he just said "WHY?"... I handed him another 10 cedi and suggested he could put BEER in there too. As we left the castle...he and his friends were tossing the bottle back and forth - likely thinking - crazy Americans!

On to Hans Cottage for lunch - it's a tough call to choose the HIGHLIGHT - the crocodile the students could pet (for a cedi, of course- this is SARA HANSON getting her money's worth) or the PINEAPPLE ICE CREAM! A real treat.

Then onto Kakunda National Park and the Canopy Walk - ALL of us did at least one leg and 18 of us did all of it - WOW. A real experience - I just wish we could have taken it slower so I could take advantage of the view of the forest canopy. I spied No monkeys sittin' in the tree but I did see butterflies the size of birds! A truly memorable experience for sure.