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Jan. 23-24, 2012: The day the church group left to go to JFK airport was rainy and damp, but because God is good all the time, we said a prayer and arrived at JFK airport safe and in good spirits.
The plane to Ghana took off at 10:15 p.m., carrying approximately 230 passengers. Although it was a rainy and foggy night for the plane to take off, I thanked God that it was not snowing.
Our group was very friendly and helpful in making each other feel at home. The flight to Ghana took 10 hours. I loved that the plane had two isles and a middle section of seating. The back of each seat had its own TV screen and you did not have to pay to watch the many variety of movies, games, TV shows, HBO, etc.
The plane departed on time and it was a pleasant flight even with the many crying infants.
One hour before we were to arrive in Ghana we experienced turbulence and had to fasten our seat belts. We landed in Accra at 7:40 a.m. New York time, which is 12:40 p.m. Accra, Ghana time. Praise God we landed safely! It was very moving to set foot on our Motherland and to start to experience where our ancestor came from. To be here and to see and experience the greatness of the African continent and its people is a thrill.
Our hostess was very warm and respectful to our group, explaining the type of food that we would eating at the Buka restaurant. The selection of food was interesting. On the way to the restaurant we saw our African brothers and sisters practicing their entrepreneurship selling all kinds of items on the street, from food to clothes, toys and crafts. Some of the young men selling their goods were very pushy and relentless. At times it became annoying but than I realized that they were practicing the philosophy of, if you do not succeed try and try again. I bought two bracelets.
Leaving the restaurant we boarded our bus to Elmina beach Resort. To my surprise we were given the dignitary treatment with a police escort. They lead the way to help us navigate through the heavy traffic. As we traveled through the city, it was interesting to see the African women carrying heavy items on their heads with little effort.
After a two hour drive we arrived at 8:00 p.m. at the Elmina Beach Resort. Although it was dark out when we arrived, you could see that this was an architecturally pleasant looking resort.
The hotel staff was very helpful in making us feel at home and escorting us to our rooms. The meals that we were served were very tasty. We thank God for giving us the opportunity to make it to Africa.