Posted on: January 30th, 2012 by Clarke 8 Comments

Well, here we are beginning the trip from three different airports.  The three cities of Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg board the eager passengers on separate flights heading toward Minneapolis.  In all, nine passionate people (four doctors and five support team members) take to the sky and begin the long flight east towards Africa.

It isn’t until New York that we all meet.  The four Calgarians arrive at JFK first and with five hours to go, begin to look for a place to eat.  Andras (our photographer) mentions something about doing push-ups every day to stay in shape and the group decides to spontaneously drop and do 20.  Passersby stare as this crazy bunch of Canadians who are, well, exercising in the middle of Terminal Two.  With laughter in the group, we can all see that the trip is not only going to be life-giving but also loads of fun.

A few moments later, we find a nice sit-down restaurant and order our last North American meal for two weeks.  Upon finishing, Suzanne spots the Winnipeg and Vancouver crew walking down the terminal.  Hugs, handshakes and some introductions later, the nine of us are united and ready for the upcoming nine-hour flight across the Atlantic.  Discussion quickly turns to the upcoming itinerary and the excitement that fills the air is tangible from a team equally as passionate about serving others as it is the practice of chiropractic.

The flight is certainly long, but good.  A large, 767-ER flies at 37,000 feet, 600mph towards our destination. Many of us are separated, so a few of us find the space and position to sleep during the 5129 mile journey.  With a little over four hours to go, the continent appears below with the sunrise.  As the cabin of weary and waking travelers comes to life, we begin our descent into Accra, the sprawling capital of Ghana.

Akwaaba (Welcome) to Ghana

We’re met at the airport by a PR rep from the office of the Governor of Accra.  Thanks to her coordination, we make it to the hotel on African time, but in good spirits.  A quick supper, swim and national football game later (Ghana won!!), we’re all ready to call it a night before our long journey northwest to Kumasi the next day.

Stay tuned!  More updates every few days will come as Internet connectivity permits and pictures will be added soon.  For a detailed day-by-day description, please view our timeline which will be updated as often as possible at http://www.chiropracticfortheworld.org/global-initiatives/other-events/2012/ghana/.