Missing Ghana, Hoping for Africa

Every time I go to Ghana I come home exhausted--physically and emotionally. I love Ghana but it's a whole different world, and I miss my family terribly while I'm gone. Every time I leave I think it might be a long time before I come back. But it never fails...about six months after I get home I start missing Ghana. My heart is ready to go back.

Right now I've got friends/clients visiting Ghana for the first or second time and I keep wishing I were there with them! I feel like I'm missing out on so much, and I want them to fall in love with the country the same way I have. I don't want the "hard" to overpower the "awesome!"

Lately I've been thinking more about the rest of Africa as well. Ghana is in Africa, but Ghana is not Africa. Africa is a wide and varied continent, with some cultures that don't even closely resemble Ghana. Even other countries in West Africa have differences that are significant. It sort of bugs me when people go to Ghana and constantly say "I'm in Africa" as if Ghana represents the entire continent. If you love Ghana, allow it to stand on its own.

I don't feel in my heart that I am a very adventurous traveler, but I do feel ready to visit other countries in Africa. Specifically, I keep thinking about Togo (just a 5 hour drive from Ghana!), Liberia, and Uganda. If you've been to Ghana and any of those other countries I'd love to hear how you think they compare. What are the similarities and differences?

Now, if only my family could visit these places with me. THAT would really bless me! Eric can never visit Ghana, and probably not many other countries in Africa (because of his health issues). I feel like he knows Ghana as well as anybody can that hasn't ever been there! But really, there is no way to explain the feeling that you have while standing in the heat of Bolga, or the wet sea breezes of Teshie. You just have to be there to really truly "know" it.

Ah....missing Ghana, and dreaming of visiting more of Africa...