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Hello friends, here are three things I think would have been very helpful to know before venturing off for 3-months into the unknown beauty that is Ghana. Enjoy!

1. Pack Proper Footwear!

I’m sorry to break it to you, but the roads in Ghana are definitely not the clean, yellow brick roads to your glittery, red Dorothy heels. Moreover, some of the roads in Ghana definitely need more work, but that’s another topic for another day. Most of the places my sister and I traveled to produced a lot of muddy and dusty roads.

As soon as my clean shoes hit the hem of that alluring, orange-brown sand, they were done for. Sometimes, I would literally return from 1-hour trips with very dusty shoes leaving me highly perplexed like how did this happen? Additionally, the mud/dust was very hard to remove from these shoes. The situation was always very upsetting. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love/care for my shoes.

With that being said, I would advise that you bring shoes that you’re willing to dirt up or don’t care if they get dirty. If you want, you can even purchase proper, cheap casual shoes while in Ghana.  

2. The Spices, OMG, The Spices!

Literally, after every meal in Ghana, my sister and I had a marathon to see who could use the bathroom the most. The food itself was not the problem, trust me! (After this post, venture over to this post to read about me going in on a variety of wonderful food dishes in Ghana, so delicious!)

But honestly, I think our bodies were not used to the exposure of the different food palettes that we had during our 3-month trip. We weren’t really familiar with all of the ingredients and how those ingredients would affect our bodies in the way that they did. 

When we came back from Ghana, I truly felt the effects and lost a whole 10 pounds! I honestly think this was due to the change in food diet while in Ghana.

Therefore, I would recommend that you be more cautious about what you put into your body and ask the diner about the ingredients that are going in your food and if you can leave certain ingredients out if need be.

3. The Less Time There, The Better!

If you choose to vacate in Ghana, do not, I repeat, do not spend more than 2-3 weeks tops there. I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for this but please hear me out. Personally, 3-months was way too long for us! Initially, I thought it would be fun to spend an ample amount of time with loved ones whom we haven’t seen in years. 

But unfortunately in the world that we live in today, everyone is so busy and nobody got time to be chillin’ out maxin’, relaxin’, and shooting some B-Balls outside of the school. When relatives had time, we would hit up the beach, travel to castles, attend weddings, climb mountains and eat great food.

But during those lag times where we had absolutely nothing to do, were one of the slowest days for my sister and I. We spent those slow days watching TV, sitting outside, filming YouTube videos, napping, and even conducting a staring contest with each other. Although there were a lot of lag time days, it was great to have those slow, introverted days offset the adrenaline-filled, extroverted days.  

Honorable Mentions:

Make sure your phone is compatible with the services that they offer overseas or you won’t be able to use your phone there. This will take some research on your part; whether that’s consulting with a Ghanaian relative or picking up a laptop and typing in “compatible phones for use in Ghana” in the Google search engine. The decision is all yours. 

It would also be very helpful to study up on some of the major words/languages used in Ghana (at least in the area that you’re traveling to). While residing in Agbogba, Ghana, one of the most popular languages spoken there was Twi. I found several apps such as the Twi Phrasebook app and the Kiddie Twi app to be very helpful in learning the language.

Lastly, try not to spend too much money on random things and souvenirs. I have a ton of bracelets and cooling fans literally staring at me on the shelf with nothing to do. I keep thinking I could’ve saved that money for some food.

Don’t get me wrong, sentiments from foreign countries are dope. I’m just saying that don’t go overboard in spending money on wants that you might not need long-term. But then again, I am no expert guru but just an average joe. Do what you want with yo money, yo life! 

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