It's official: January 24, 2011. First stop, Belgium! I know, Belgium doesn't sound very adventurous. We have to pay a visit to the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) for our shots. Travel medicine is hardly ever covered by insurance in the US and certainly not by NYC Dept of Ed's insurance policy! The agent at the ITM stated that our shots in the US would cost 4x more in the US than in Belgium. That was a no brainer. We'll be there a week and then hopping on a 10 hour flight to Accra, Ghana.
Unfortunately, the plans to meet up with my former professors and some current OT students have been nixed. Just could not get it together before the end of January. And since the next semester begins in February, they'll be long gone by the time we get there. We decided to stick to Accra anyway. At a recent Christmas get together, we met someone who is married to a Ghanian and was there recently. She said that it was fairly hassle free to get around and would be easy with a kid.
The Travel Independent website speaks frankly about the pros and cons of West African travel. This author found Ghana to be a highlight in the region for it's friendly people, better developed (by W. African standards!) infrastructure, and variety of things to see and do. Buses that run on time? Good cheap food, beer and accommodations? And yet no McDonald's in sight? All sounds just right to me.
Heeeej you all! Best wishes for a wonderful New year from Belgium! What a great idea to have a blog for the world tour! We'll be reading about your adventures from little Meensel-Kiezegem.
ReplyDeleteHah - what do you mean 'Belgium doesn't sound adventurous'?! Feel free to drop by to help put our three screaming kids to bed any night :-)
Wishing you all a good (and safe!) trip - maybe we'll see you in January?
Maarten, Kris, Elizabet, Hannah, Inne (and Choco and Chablis)