On July 2, 2019, I posted a blog titled Africa is Calling. I followed that up with one titled We’re going to Africa. And on January 13, 2020, I posted another blog titled I’m visiting my ancestral home. With several unforeseen circumstances, the most prominent of them being Covid-19, my trip to Africa was disappointingly delayed. However, good fortune smiled on Chris, my daughter Felicia and my cousin Hansel and his wife Martha; we made the trip Ghana, West Africa over the holiday season. We left the U. S. on December 24th and returned on January 5th. We spent 10 activity-packed days in Ghana, which included four days in Accra the nation’s capital, and the surrounding area; three days in Kumasi (The Ashanti Region); and three days in Elmina and the Cape Coast Central Region.
Our tour guide told us that the population of Accra and Kumasi probably far exceed the Wikipedia numbers of 2,557,000 and 3,490,000, respectively. The population of the country is well over 31,000,000. I share these numbers with you, because I want to make the case for why we went to Ghana during the pandemic. Consider this: my home state Arkansas, has a population of 3 million. As of January 8, Arkansas has 249,239 confirmed cases of covid-19, 3,926 deaths and 218,386 recovered. Compare those alarming statistics with the entire nation of Ghana, with a population of 31,000,000, 55,461 confirmed cases, 337 deaths and 54,164 recovered.
My primary care physician expressed more than a little concern about this trip. She told me about malaria, yellow fever and a host of other communicable diseases generally associated with Africa. Of course, much of her concerned was because I have Multiple Myeloma, a serious underlying heath condition that could cause significant problems for me should I contract covid-19. I can’t take the yellow fever vaccine. The only medicine I could take was malaria pills. My response to my primary care physician was that I had more concern about getting to Ghana than being there for a 10-day tour. When we got there, my concerns for areas in the West were amplified with the emergence of the new strain on Covid-19 and the surge of the virus in the U.S. Ghana was quite uneventful Covid-19 wise. We dined in restaurants, attended public areas, and had little fear of Covid-19. There were no unreasonable protests on the part of members of the public to wearing masks when required and, to be honest, there was no huge display of people wearing masks anywhere. We had to have a Covid-19 PCR test to get on the plane to Ghana, and another test upon arrival. On the return, a Covid-19 test was also required to board the plane coming back to the U.S.
Now that I’ve mentioned a few challenges we faced getting to Ghana, I’ll be sharing stories and images of our glorious journey. Please stay tuned. Oh, by the way, we all made it back okay, and we’re cocooned, as before to keep ourselves from the monster called Covid-19.
I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.
oldblessedwordpresscom 
I’m excited to read about this journey, through your eyes.
LikeLike
I want to do the blogs that follow justice. I will not do rush jobs on them.
LikeLike
Oldandblessed, that is outstanding. It is great that y’all had a great time in your Ancestral Home Land. I look forward to your shared experiences.
LikeLike
The eyes of the world is on the African continent. It’s resource-rich piece of real-estate, and it’s the only continent that has no need for any of the rest of the world, if all 54 countries could extract and process their own resources. I found myself in awe, overwhelmed, excited, and whole bunch of other emotions, all assaulting me simultaneously.
LikeLike
I was wondering why you hadn’t posted in awhile. Now I know. You amaze me! I’m glad you were able to go, glad you are safely back, and I am looking forward to reading all about your adventures.
LikeLike
This was the first of what I hope to be other trips to my motherland. Of course, I’m getting on up there in age now, and my cancer is always an issue; however, if it’s for me to go God will see that I do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So wonderful that you actually made it, and praise the Lord that you had such an incredible, positive experience in the land of your forefathers. Very very happy for you. Did you find any family members?
LikeLike
I didn’t go there with that intent in mind. I didn’t even do an ancestral DNA search as many people of African ancestry do. I would like to think that all Africans are my family members. I certainly felt at home. I met a good number of expats, who have made roots in West Africa. Ghana has proven to be the country that attracts more people in the West of African ancestry to visit and to live there permanently. We did meet to people who had ties my state (Arkansas).
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had a black American student once here in Switzerland, who was overwhelmed when she went to Africa and was immediately greeted with “hello, Sister!” I have heard only positive things about Ghana – it seems to be a really nice country. I look forward very much to hearing al^bout your trip.
LikeLike
How wonderful! I am enjoying reading about your journey and looking forward to future reads.
LikeLike
Thanks. I had planned to write more by now, but I’m still recovering from the journey. That’s quite a bit for and old guy with cancer.
LikeLike
Congratulations. This was a visit you had long looked forward to. I remember your disappointment when you had to cancel it so am very glad it was able to work out.
LikeLike