Santa Claus vacations in Busua

This weekend provided a much needed break from my hectic time in Ghana. Between classes, my internship, and travel, I feel like I am always on the run or on the trotro or thinking about what I must do later that day. This weekend, I was finally able relax and breathe in some fresh air.

On Friday after my internship, Morgan, Cathleen and I rushed over to the Accra International Conference Center for the Malta Street Dance Competition. This was just… wow. This was the final leg of a continent wide dance competition. The teams that made it into the top five were Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Cameroon. Their dance performances were PHENOMENAL. We got to the Center with time to spare and somehow ended up inside the building before the rest of the audience, so we were able to get superb seats – third row, right on par with the judges. The DJ was bangin’, so we did not mind the long wait that followed. The show opened with the introduction of the three judges, who all entered while dancing. They were amazing. I knew right from this part that the Competition was going to be extraordinary. The five dance crews then came on stage and presented themselves. First, all five crews performed a dance representing their country. Then we had a quick break while this artist (not sure of her name) sang. I think she was lip singing though, but it was still cool. The five crews danced again after that. While the judges tabulated scores, Ruff and Smooth performed. Afterwards, the host announced the three teams that would move onto the next round: Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. VIP performed while judges again deliberated who the top two teams were: Ghana and Nigeria. These two amazing crews then did a last performance, which led to the decision that Nigeria was declared the winner. I only wish I could put videos up of the dancing (as a result of a three-way effort, Morgan, Cathleen, and I basically videotaped the whole thing). At the end of the show, the three of us just sorta wandered backstage and were able to meet all of the dance crews. It was really neat. We then got invited to the exclusive after party upstairs. Unfortunately, we could not stay long.

Our group (Emmanuel, T, Cathleen, Morgan, and me) waiting to get into the Malta Dance Competition

All five teams

The X-Fellas, Nigerian crew, after they won

Backstage with the some members of the Nigerian team

Backstage with some members of the Ghanaian Team, High Spirits

We got home close to 2am. At this point, I decided to pull an all-nighter since we had to leave early anyway to get to Busua. I also desperately needed to do laundry, so the timing was perfect.

Morgan and I set out at 5am to get to Busua. Our travels were actually quite smooth, and we got there relatively quickly. My seat on the one trotro was so bouncy though! I felt like I was on a trampoline! Morgan and I kept looking at each other and cracking up. I am pretty sure that the people on the trotro thought we were insane. Once we got to Busua, we met up with Haley and Jordan. The Alaska Beach Resort where we stayed was awesome. It was right on the beach, so we headed right to the beach the moment we got there. We tried to swim out to this island that is 2K away; however, the current was too strong and the waves were too big. The Alaska Resort was also pretty sweet because it had three pet monkeys, which we got to play with. The littlest one, Doobey, was absolutely adorable. He climbed all over us and was so fun! Sunday morning we got pancakes from Dan the Pancake Man. I got one with bananas and chocolate, and then (me being me) I got a second one with scrambled eggs, tomato, onion, and cheese. Mhmmm. Super delicious! The four of us then lay out on the beach for basically the whole day. We went to a French restaurant for dinner before we left. It was fantastic!

Santa Claus (a.k.a. the owner of Alaska Beach Resort)

The beach was so beautiful!

The best way possible to spend our days:

Doobie bit me.

One of my pancake breakfasts (super delicious)

Dessert at the French restaurant (Anyone know how to fry bananas?)

Traveling back was relatively painless. We got back in record time. Unfortunately, once we got home, I found out that despite my careful applying of sunscreen, I got a nice burn. Well, hopefully that means that my wicked crazy tan lines will be evened out…