Getting on the plane in 9 hours for my long-awaited trip to Ghana. Fully packed and ready to go.

The current plan is to spend 6-7 days in Accra, the capital, studying basketmaking, goldsmithing, and beadmaking, followed by 3-4 days in a weaving village in the Volta region. After that I’m not sure where I’ll go, it all depends on whimsy. (That’s the fun of independent travel; you can go pretty much anywhere you like.)

I’ve had a lot of help from Aba Tours and the Cross-Cultural Collaborative in planning my trip – I’m going to stay at Aba House for the first few days, as I orient myself and get over the jet lag. There are apparently a lot of artists associated with Aba House (see the Aba Tours webpage for details) and I look forward to meeting them.

The little traveling tiger is with me, of course, tucked safely into a corner of my daypack. He’s quite the seasoned traveler (as you can tell by his nonchalant expression – he’s been with me through all my travels, as my personal mascot.

Off to Ghana!