I’m in Love with the Cocoa

 Maaha(good afternoon)!

A late night of enjoying a mix of American and Ghanian music had us all exhausted but happy with our experience at Chance the Rapper’s Black Star Line Fest right here in Accra. We were able to enjoy familiar artists such as Jeremih and Vic Mensa while also discovering new music for our playlists from artists like Tobe Nwigwe(who seemed to be the groups favorite) and M.Anifest, a Ghanaian rapper who attended college right down the street from St. Thomas at Macalester College! Continuing the trend of trying new foods here, some of the group decided to try eating fire before we headed back to the hotel for the night, which made for some very cool pictures and videos(do not attempt at home; we’re pretty sure they were trained professionals.) Big shoutout to our guide, security, and best friend Officer Reginald for keeping us together throughout the night and making sure we got where we needed to be.

After some much needed sleep and our usual breakfast this morning, we hit the road to visit the Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm in the Eastern Region. Tetteh Quarshie was the first to introduce cocoa to Ghana, opening the cocoa farm in 1879 after smuggling six cocoa pods into the country from Equitorial Guinea, hidden in his toolbox. He originally wanted to open his farm in Accra, but the soil wasn’t right for growing cocoa trees so he moved to the Eastern region; to the site we were able to tour. Although it is only a demonstration farm today, two of the original trees planted by Mr. Quarshie still stand, so we got to see a true part of the history of the industry.

 Cocoa is a huge industry in Ghana, bringing about $2 billion to the country each year. It is the world’s leading producer in high quality cocoa beans, a quality our tour guide Michael attributed to their specific fermentation process. The process takes seven days and involves drying the beans and wrapping them in plantain or banana leaves before cracking the seeds open to expose the beautiful cocoa used to make chocolate. The finished product can be chewed on, producing a taste similar to a high percentage dark chocolate. Before they are dried the seeds can be sucked on like a fruit, with a taste alarmingly similar to a mango, or can be planted to produce a full tree from just one seed!

After our tour, we headed back to Aburi Botanical Gardens for another delicious lunch. Today we took a bit of a break from the spice levels we’ve been (mostly) enjoying so far with some chicken, fried rice, French fries, and kelewele (a type of plantain.) The concert seemed to be sticking with the group, as some got in a little extra shut-eye on the bus ride back to our hotels. 

Tonight we’re planning on a group game night before our first free day of the trip tomorrow, so until then, as Officer Reginald likes to say, enjoy your lives!

- David Harmon