Greater Accra and Others
Accra is the capital of Ghana and a bustling, exciting, and loud city. The Aburi Botanical Gardens, on the northern hills overlooking the city, is a remnant of British colonial times.

Volta Region
Across the Volta River, there are many more hills and mountains, and on a weekend trip, some friends and I explored this beautiful, green region of Ghana.

Kumasi: Kente Village, Adinkara Village, and Lake Botswami
The ancient capital of the Asante Empire, Kumasi is a must-see for any African history buff. In addition, the outlying towns in the area offer excursions for tourists.

Cape Coast
Cape Coast is an extremely old town, and there rests Cape Coast Castle, once the seat of British power in the Gold Coast Colony, so many years ago. Cape Coast and Elmina are both the seats of ancient slaving castles, once competitors for goods, now competitors mostly for tourists.

North: Tamale, Wa, and Mole National Park
Most visitors to Ghana some time make it to Mole National Park, where elephants and warthogs can be seen within spitting distance--but the small cities of Tamale and Wa offer sites of ancient Islamic culture as well.

Takoradi and Sekondi
My last excursion in Ghana was to these coastal points of interest in the west. The twin cities of Takoradi and Sekondi are delightful for their very opposite natures: one is a brand new, circularly constructed metro, while the other is an old European town, complete with lighthouse.

Nzuelezo and Beyin
Nzuelezo, where I celebrated my 21st birthday, is a village built entirely on stilts in a lake. It takes almost an hour by canoe to get there from the staging point of Beyin, where the old (and not very imposing) Fort Appolonia sits. We came in just before a very impressive storm.

Best of 2009

These are my best photos from 2009 in Korea. I made trips to Gongju, Seoul, and Jeju, and there are a few from my home city of Daejeon.