https://www.youtube.com/embed/JKuj57G6bpo
This is going to be a fun and exciting day, He asked me to show the passport and permission letter. He told me that I cannot cross the border. He told me to go back to Abidjan. If it becomes night, then I will get stuck in this place. I was not able to understand anything, I was out of my mind. It is 7:00 in the evening and there is no place to stay. This is a village. The condition of the road is very bad. It was not easy to come to the Cocoa plantation. Now, we are trying to visit the rubber plantation. This is known as pod.
Hey guys very good morning, Welcome back to my new vlog. My name is Tourvashu. Currently, I am in Abidjan which is economic capital of Ivory coast. Now it's time to visit the next country in this trip. This is my 11th country which is Ghana. It is currently 8:00 in the morning and I am with my friend Blancha. Now, we are going to the bus station. I am going to the bus station where, I had got down in Abidjan while coming.
I am going to Adjame, from there I will find car. I will get car to the border of Ghana because the border is officially closed. The border is closed, so I have taken permission from the ministry to cross the border. Since the border is closed, there is no direct vehicle to the city. I already have Ghana visa, I had applied it in Liberia. It was very difficult to get the visa, I had to convince the officer. The visa cost is 70 dollars which is valid for 3 months and it is single entry. The documents which were asked for the visa were the yellow fever certificate, hotel booking and covid vaccination certificate. I had to fill a form and the next day I got my visa. We are going to the bus stand through uber. The capital of Ghana is Accra, I had planned to visit Accra, but my plans has changed.
I am going to Cape coast. One of my friend recommended me to go to that place. First we'll go to Cape Coast and then I will go to Accra. The distance from Abidjan to Cape cost is 400 km. There is no direct transportation, I have to divide this journey in four different transportations. First, I have to go till the border which is 150 km. My friend will leave me till the border. After that I have to go to the border crossing and immigration. This is going to be a difficult task and it will be very adventurous. I will reach Cape coast in the afternoon. I am very excited to visit Ghana country. We have come out of the city and there are many people here. There is a lot of difference in the two areas. Ivory coast is known as one of the most developed country in Africa.
Ghana is also similar to this country. I have heard that Ghana is also a very well developed country, lets go and witness it by ourselves. We have reached Adjame and the School is over. Many children are standing outside. Boys have the brown colour uniform and girls have the blue colour uniform. This is the morning view of Adjame city, there are old houses and old quarters. The time is 8:15 am. The taxi fare was 3500 CFA which is 470 INR. We are very far from the area. We had went to that area through public transport, now we have come here through taxi.
The car leaves at 9:00 a.m. I will take the ticket and then drink coffee. I also have some CFA left, I will exchange it near the border. I have to get a haircut but, I am not ready to go. Last time I had got haircut in Senegal and it was very bad. I will get a haircut in Ghana and if it is not possible, I will go back to India and then get haircut. We have come to a bakery to have some croissant and coffee. This is a French pastry. There are a lot of variety items sold here. We have come to this coffee shop. We will have this croissant and then go to the next destination.
In whole of Africa you get 2 types of coffee. One with milk and one without milk. The coffee is ready. This is coffee powder and this is syrup of milk and sugar powder. This is the first time I am having tea in a bowl. I have one cheese croissant and one chocolate croissant. He is drinking coffee in the spoon. 10000 CFA is the cost for travelling 160 km. Which is 1250 INR. I am waiting for my car, these local women are preparing local food. These are some vegetables, I don't know whether it's soup or not. Two people are processing it here. It is a flour and there is also Aloo and Atta. They are also making curry. There is fish. They are making curry. I had come here at morning 8:15 Now the time is 11:15, it has been more than 3 hours. It has been more than three hour and the car is not ready to go. There is no direct transport because the border is closed.
I thought we will reach by night but I don't think so we can reach by night. The bag has been kept and the they are not able to close the back door. He is tying a rope to close the door. The car is ready to move after 4 hours. The time is 12 pm. It is already afternoon, I don't know when we will reach. He is going inside the country and I am going outside the country. Blancha helped me a lot. He took me around the city, he helped me to find the car which goes till the border, he has helped a lot.
There are very less people who help like this. He has helped me a lot. I salute him! He has helped me a lot. Welcome to Ghana. This is my 11th country in this trip and I have entered the country. I faced a lot of problems, now the time is 6:00 p.m. By this time, I had to reach Cape coast. I am still near the border between Ivory Coast and Ghana I have travelled only 160 km and I have to still travel more than 200 km. I don't know when I will reach the city, the time is very less. I have to take a car from the border to Cape coast, I don't know whether I will find a direct car. I have exchanged my currency, I have also brought a SIM card. I will tell you everything step by step. This is Ghana.
People are standing here, there are many buses. There are two ways to reach the capital, I have to take car till the Cape cost because I am very far from the capital of this country. The second type is have to take a car till Takoradi and then take another car to Cape coast. If it becomes night, we are going to get stuck in this place. This is 60 CEDI. I have to travel for a total of 220 kilometers, first I have to travel for 140 km, then I have to change my transportation and travel for another 80 km. The car will not go until the car is full. This is the main problem here in Africa.
I will tell you what are the procedures that I have undergone to come till here. When I reached the border, they asked my passport and the permission letter because the border is officially closed. When I showed my permission letter they told that 'We have not received your permission request.' They told me that, I can not cross the border. They told me to go back to Abidjan. They will allow me only when they received the permission request. I thought my energy, money and time and everything is wasted. I thought that I have to go back to Abidjan. I had to tell the ministry so that they can allow me to enter the country. I was out of my mind! People are shouting, they are telling only to record myself and nothing else. It is very difficult to make a video here. They sent my permission request through WhatsApp and called me back.
After that they allowed me within half an hour. After that I came to Ghana immigration. 1 INR was equal to 8 CFA. The currency of Ghana is CEDI and here is completely opposite. 1 CEDI is equal to 8 INR. The currency has changed a lot. He is exchanging the currency, I don't know at what rate I had got the currency. I have exchanged my currency from CFA to CEDI. I have also taken the SIM card for 20 CEDI which is 160 INR. I have again paid 10 CEDI for the recharge which is 80 INR for 1GB. I will add extra if I want.
Everything happened at the border. I got the taxi from the border till here it is only about 1 kilometer. He was asking for money, so I gave him 20 CEDI which is 160 INR I am waiting for my vehicle, I have paid 45 CEDI for travelling 140 km. You will be shocked to hear that Ghana and Indian per capita GDP are same. This is my tenth country excluding Morocco. All the 10 countries lie in the same time zone. It is GMT 0 it is 5 and half hours before Indian Standard Time.
The time zone hasn't changed from the last 10 countries. I have heard that Ghana is also a very well developed country like Ivory coast. In Ghana 70% population follow Christianity, 20% follow the Islamic religion. This is a Christian majority country. I am not able to believe that I have travelled 10 countries by land. I have travelled 10 countries by land and I had come to Africa only with one visa which was Morocco. It is 7:00 in the evening there is no place to stay. I don't know when the car will move. There are many shops outside, some are close and some shops are open. I will take a drink. This Soya drink is sold in almost in all the places of West Africa. It is sold in India also. There are three flavors chocolate, strawberry and plain.
This is milo drink for 10 CEDI which is 80 INR This drink is imported from Malaysia, I used to drink this a lot in Malaysia. From morning, I have not eaten anything. I had drank coffee and ate croissant. I am eating this and managing my day. I have come to a grocery store and I can see many Indian Products. This is Parle wafers. There are many Parle Company biscuits. It is already 8:30 in the night. There is a lot of noise, people are playing lottery tickets. This town is in the border so some people are speaking English and some are speaking French.
Because Ghana is a English speaking country and the official language is English. Britishers had ruled this country. They got independence in 1957 from Britishers. There is a stall here in the bus stand. Now, the time is 1:15 In the Midnight. I have reached Takoradi, I have met a local person. Today, I am going to stay in this town. A lot of time is wasted, I had come out in the morning and now the time is 1:15 a.m.
A lot of time is consumed in travelling this short distance. I have come to his house. I thought I have to spend a night in garage but I have come here. I will meet you guys tomorrow morning. Hey guys very good morning and welcome back, I am continuing this from yesterday's video. Now, I am in Ghana, Takoradi. This is the nearest town which lies near the border. I slept at 2 a.m. I woke up at 10:00 am, now the time is 11 a.m.
I have plans to visit some tourist places here. I have ordered this in the breakfast. This is bread omelet and this is Milo drink. This is all in one ready to mix pouch. We have to just add hot water and the drink is ready. We are ready to go out and now I have my friend Abizi. He is a local from this place. This is the 4th most populated area in Ghana. The population of this area is around 5 lakhs.
The population of Accra and other main cities are more. When Europeans had come here to colonize Ghana, All the nearby places like Cape coast where I am going, they had come to these same areas. Many European powers had colonized this place. This place was colonized by Europeans, Dutch, Portuguese, Sweden and British. It has started to rain. Europeans wanted to colonize the different parts of Africa. In the year 1884 the conference was conducted in Berlin. It is known as 'Scramble For Africa.' It is also known as 'Conquest of Africa.' In the conference, Africa was divided to many parts. And it was given to different European powers for colonizing. Many other countries wanted to colonize Africa. But after the scramble For Africa, the country was given to different European powers. They had planned this very well. After that, Britishers got Ghana.
If you search it in the net, you will get a lot of information about Scramble in Africa. I have come here to buy a water bottle. This is a very big supermarket. He is buying the water bottle. This is 0.75 litre water bottle for 1.2 CEDI which is 10 INR. We are sitting in a local taxi. Two third of the world's cocoa plantation is done in Ghana and Ivory coast. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa after the Ivory coast. Now, we have come here to visit the Coco plantation. I will explain it in detail manner once I reach the destination. He is telling, yesterday the weather was very good, it was very sunny. But today it is raining. This is 200 CEDI note. We are purchasing ticket to the destination where we are going. Carbonated drinks are sold in glass bottles. This Mirinda is sold in glass bottle. We have come inside the car and we don't know the exact distance.
But he is telling it might take around two hours to reach the destination. They are selling rice and chicken in a packed box. They have kept it on their head. We have reached the destination. We have travelled for almost 2 hours 30 minutes. Now, the time is 3:30 p.m. There are hens on the road Children's are walking on the road. There are goats as well. This is actually a village. The name of this village is 'Simpa.' The condition of this road is very bad. The road is very uneven, some are going down and some are climbing the road. He was telling that almost every people in this village are involved in farming. Everybody does farming. It is same as any other village. There is water on the road, the wheel might get stuck. Which bird is this? I guess this is a turkey. Bread is being sold in the shops. There are also snacks and biscuits. This is a very small village, we are walking on this bridge, because the bike cannot travel anymore.
They have constructed this Mini Dam. This looks like a dam. This water is used for the farming in this village. We have come inside the dense forest. I can see trees and plants everywhere, I can hear some animal sounds. Chocolate is made from cocoa, which is grown in Ghana and is one of the main Cash crop. We have come in the cocoa plantation farm. Cocoa is the main income source for majority of the people in Ghana maybe it's directly or indirectly. Along with Cocoa, rubber and timber plantation is also very common here. There is also a rubber plantation, I will visit that place if I have time. This is cocoa pod. There will be multiple pods in one single Cocoa tree. There are many cocoa beans inside one cocoa pod. This is very fleshy, after processing this chocolate is made. Chocolate powder is made from this. He is going to eat this directly. It tastes like Sitafal. The taste of this is very sour. This yellow fruit is ready to be cut. All the trees which are observed here are cocoa trees. There are some red Cocoa pods also.
No one look after this place, I guess the cocoa will get spoilt. Cocoa plantation can be done only where there is rainfall or forest area. A lot of rainfall is needed for the plantation. This is very sensitive, it cannot be grown everywhere in the world. If there is lot of Sunlight and wind the tree might get destroyed. The pod start to grow on the tree after 4 years. The average lifespan of the cocoa tree is 30 years, the tree produces pods for 30 years. Cocoa seeds will be extracted from the pods and it is processed and different products are made.
In a full-grown tree, there will be more than 30 cocoa pods. And inside one cocoa pod, there will be more than 30 cocoa beans. I cannot take it because, I don't have any place in the bag. There are more than 25 companies in this country. All the companies are government controlled and cocoa is exported throughout the world through these companies. Cocoa contributes a lot of portion in the GDP of the country. Cocoa plantation is very infamous in West Africa because of child labor and child trafficking. This is a very big major concern for international community. There are very less schools in the villages.
The demand for Cocoa is increasing day by day. Because of this, child labour is more in West Africa. The chocolate powder or the chocolate which you consume in India, there are lot of chances that those products are from Ghana or Ivory coast. It was not easy to visit the cocoa plantation. Now, we are trying to visit a rubber plantation. It will get dark very soon, I don't think we will be able to go to the rubber plantation. It's raining now. I wish my passport doesn't get wet. We have to carry passport with us, police might stop us anywhere and check the passport. Rubber plantation is main in South Asia and South East Asia. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are the main 3 exporters of rubber. According to many sources, India is the fourth largest country which produces rubber. Now, we have come to rubber plantation which is there in Ghana. These all are rubber trees. This is rubber plantation. There is many physical and chemical properties in rubber which is known as elasticity. Rubber has become very important product from many centuries. They have cut the tree in such a way so that they can find the lattix..
The white liquid is lattix. Rubber is produced from this and there are some insects on the tree. This is a very sticky substance and it is already dry. Rubber plantation is seen more in Kerala. They have tied this bucket using the help of metal wire. Same like cocoa tree, the lifespan of one rubber tree is around 32 years. Lattix extraction can be found after 7 years of plantation.
25 million tone of rubber is extracted around the globe annually. In that, only 30% is natural rubber production. Remaining 70% rubber is prepared in chemical and synthetic process. I have showed you cocoa and rubber plantation today. It takes a week to fill this bucket with rubber. It is 5 p.m. we are going to the bus station before it becomes dark. We will find bus which goes back to Takoradi. He has helped me in roaming this area, so I have given him 50 CEDI which is 400 INR. We have got the bus which directly goes to the Takoradi. I have come back to the room. I have ordered this for my dinner. This is Wa-chay, a local food. This is made from rice and Beans.
I have also purchased this 2 yogurt packets. I have purchased two flavors, one is apricot and another one is vanilla flavor. There is pipe here. I have to take it from here. The straw is already attached and is ready to drink. I have purchased this for 8 CEDI which is 80 INR. I will eat this and then meet you again when we are ready to go to Cape coast. Please do leave a like and share this video with your friends. If you have not subscribe to my channel, please do subscribe to my channel. You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook, my username is Tourvashu.
I'll meet you tomorrow..
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