You're going where?

Map of Ghana click here

I am going to Ghana. It is a country in West Africa. It was once known as The Gold Coast. It was the first African country to gain its independence from a "modern" colonial power. Ghana was also a major gateway during the height of the slave trade. The coast of Ghana is dotted with trading forts that were originally used for gold and other items, but were converted for the purpose of trading human beings. Ghana has some parallels with Canada. It is a multicultural country, represented by regional interests. Some language tensions exist within the country.

Like all of Africa, Ghana has serious issues with poverty. However, Ghana is a beacon of stability, and represents the best hope for improvement in the region and possibly the continent. Ghana recently held an election, with razor thin results. The transition of power was conducted peacefully.

In contrast, Ghana has turbulent neighbours.

To the west is Cote D'Ivoire. Not too bad in the south, but as you go north the potential for really,really, really bad mayhem gets exponential by the mile. Plus their mayhem is in French.

To the north is Burkina Faso (it'll always be Upper Volta to me) This is generally regarded as the poorest country on the planet. If you want to get some of those National Geographic kind of images, there are parts of this country you must see. But it is a long, long , long freakin way from the ATM at Broadview and Danforth. Mostly tribal languages.

To the east is Togo, also French speaking. The capital, Lome, is not far from Accra. In its heyday, it was the Paris of Africa. Would like to go here, but recent reports of "tribal cult violence" are a little concerning. Seriously. I am not kidding. Angry, machete waving mobs hacking everyone in sight. But if I get a nice coupon, who knows?