Good morning.
I hope you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens.
I'm in Accra, Ghana.
Always best to start your morning with a cup of coffee.
Oh yeah, it's about 6 a.m. right now.
We're on our way.
It's a couple hours drive away to a village and they have arranged to cook us some Ghanaian food.
We're gonna have a chance to walk around and explore the village and then we'll be eating some amazing home-cooked Ghanaian food at the village.
They've already said that the village is really excited and looking forward to hosting us, so I know it's gonna be a lot of fun.
So we're on our way.
Hey, great.
I'm Michael.
Michael.
There's some flies in the car.
So there's Michael and Mark.
Michael and Mark, yes.
And how long is the drive gonna be?
Let's say roughly two and a half.
Two and a half hours.
We're in Cape Coast region, but we're actually heading inland.
We're not gonna be by the coast.
We're heading inland.
It's getting really green and lush back here.
It's beautiful.
The road got a little rough and then it eventually turned to a dirt road and now we're just on a single kind of bush road here.
We're really getting off the beaten path.
Oh man, it's getting really beautiful back here though.
Okay, that was about a three hour drive, and especially the last part, getting here, driving through the jungle road to finally arrive at the village.
That was the highlight of the drive, but it was great.
I'm excited to be here.
Hello, how are you?
Hello, nice to meet you.
Kids are great.
I think those chairs might be for us to sit on.
We're gonna walk around.
We're gonna have a chance to see the cocoa farming that's part of this community, but to begin with, we're just gonna have a chance to watch them as they're cooking.
They said they're gonna move back over where it's more shady to do the cooking, so that it's a little cooler.
Hello, nice to meet you, nice to meet you.
Thank you for having us.
Oh, palm nut soup made from the palm, those kinds of palm nuts.
Okay.
Okra.
Oh, cool.
Whoa.
All right, now.
So that one is the fish?
Fish in there?
Okay.
They're doing some of the cooking.
They've got some dishes going.
One of the cool dishes is an okra soup.
You can see how sticky that is from that okra and then she mixed it with some fish.
They've also got some palm nut soup going.
Cassava, fresh cassava there.
That's for fufu, okay.
Oh, they'll be making the fufu here.
Awesome.
Okay, we're gonna have a chance to see it all, and this is all fresh home cooking in the village, but they're getting ready to move, transfer over to the, where it's a little more shady.
Uh, so we can cook uh, but they're putting all the even the pots of like boiling things onto the head onto their heads they're.
Oh man, their balancing skills are next level.
Micah has so many friends.
One of the things that just makes me so happy the kids.
They learn responsibility from such a young age and taking care of their siblings and they immediately just start taking care of naturally taking care of Micah.
It's so great.
Okay, we're gonna move to the shadier, cooler area.
We just finished flying the drone.
That was a lot of fun, especially getting to show everyone the aerial views.
And then it can fold up to very small.
So you can travel.
Can you see yourself?
They're gonna be making for us fufu for lunch today, and fufu is a staple in this region of West Africa, but it can be made from a few different things.
They're gonna make it today with a mixture of cassava, which she's peeling right now, as well as plantains.
More of the village is gathering here, and we're about to be officially greeted and welcomed to the village.
The village will officially welcome you and ask you of your mission, because normally that's how it's done in every village.
It's a tradition in Ghana.
Thank you for the warm welcome.
We are very honored to be here.
Such a welcome to this community, to this village.
And one of the Ghanaian traditions is that when you enter a village, you sit down with the community, with the elders of the community.
You tell them what you are here for.
You have a conversation.
They get to know you.
And that's the official welcome into the village.
So they've given us an extremely warm welcome.
We're taking a little walk back into the jungle.
And this community is, they grow cocoa.
And Ghana is actually, they grow a lot of cocoa.
They're the world's second largest producer of cocoa.
But they don't do a lot of processing, but they grow a lot of the cocoa.
So we're gonna just take a look at some of the cocoa.
As we're planting some cocoa, we may as well snack on some cocoa beans, a fruit.
Oh yeah.
It's so nice, it's so good.
Really sweet, a little bit sour, creamy and kinda like sticky.
Really sweet.
That will turn into fruit.
Okay.
Yeah.
Oh, you have to close it like that also?
Ah, so then it's fermenting.
Once they pick the pods then they empty out the cocoa seeds, which are covered in that fruit membrane, and they cover them to ferment for seven days.
And so actually, when you're at the village, you can smell kind of the sour fermented aroma which comes from the cocoa.
And then they're dried and the actual seeds.
That's the chocolate.
That's the chocolate you eat.
They're gonna show us where they dry out the cocoa beans and maybe ferment them too.
But as you're walking through the village, you can really smell a very distinct sour aroma which is coming from the drying and the fermenting of the chocolate beans, the cocoa beans.
These are drying or fermenting?
They're drying.
Okay, okay.
They're in the process of being dried now.
They're still not fully dried.
They have some moisture to them still, but you can really smell that aroma.
And then over here, they said there's some that are fully dried, ready to be sold.
This is the dried product.
Yeah, you can see they're kind of withered up.
They're fully dried.
They're ready to be processed and sold.
Sold and processed, but you can eat.
Oh, mmm.
Oh, that's chocolate.
Oh, that's the real thing.
It has kind of a skin around it.
Mm, it's almost purple in color.
It's a little bitter, a little sour.
Oh, it's delicious.
Oh, it's really fruity too.
Oh, thank you.
And he has peeled some.
So now you can see this is the, without that little skin on it.
Oh.
It's really good.
Yeah, that is just the pure taste of chocolate, the bitterness, no sugar added.
I love it.
Lots of good things packed into that.
Micah.
Micah, clap your hands.
Clap your hands, yeah.
Beautiful, beautiful culture, beautiful people.
So welcoming, so friendly.
I'm loving it.
Ian got a new baby.
They got a new baby.
They're getting ready to pound the fufu, so we're heading back to where they're cooking to see them pound.
You want to see me walk through Naban?
Okay, we're back just in time, as the cassava and the plantains have been boiled and now she's just starting to mash them.
But just first taking piece by piece of the plantain and mashing it, and then that's all gonna come together into the fufu paste-like consistency.
Banco, this one is made from corn?
Okay.
Corn and cassava also?
Ah.
Thank you.
With every pound, you have to take your hand and mix it over, kind of turn over.
It almost turns into a dough.
It's almost like kneading, but next level kneading.
But it takes such concentration, such a rhythm.
I can guarantee you if I tried doing that, I would smash my hand.
First they pounded the plantain, now they're pounding the cassava, and I think they'll mix it together little by little.
It's such a process to make fufu.
We're gonna really appreciate it.
Okay, now she's mixing in some of the plantain.
Now mix together.
The fufu is still being pounded and in the meantime they're frying up some of the plantains to eat with the beans.
Just walking around the village, you'll see so many innovative, so many creative, genius ideas.
And something I like is what the children come up to play with.
He has a bamboo pole and he has a little wheel with a spoke with the old slippers.
He cuts them into wheels and then he pushes that around.
That's such a cool, innovative. that he can make on his own.
Rain is starting to come?
Yeah, just a little bit.
It's been threatening to rain for a while now, but the rain is just starting to come right now.
But we're gonna go have a look at the school as they're continuing to, hello.
As they continue to finish pounding the fufu and finish frying the plantains, we'll come back to eat.
Let's go visit the school.
What's really great about the company, which is called Afiya they brought us to the village is that some of the proceeds from the tour that we're taking go directly to this community and directly to this school as well.
Go directly back to the community and helping with projects like this, like starting a school.
Right now it's a holiday so the kids are not in school but it will restart next week.
It's really great to see the school.
We're heading back to eat fufu now.
You have to look in here, look in here, and then you will show in here.
Hello!
As we're getting ready to eat, the rain is still coming down, so we're stepping into here inside of the patio area to eat and the fufu is all ready and prepared and ready to go.
You can have the fufu.
Michael, how is the food for you?
So delicious.
Very delicious.
Awesome.
Oh, this is the bangku with the okra soup.
She brought out the other dishes the bangku, which is the other starch staple, along with the fish and okra soup, and then the red red, which is those beans, those red oily, delicious-looking beans with the fried plantains.
I'm gonna begin with the fufu because this is the dish that we saw them making from scratch.
It's with the palm nut soup.
There's fish in there.
Oh, it's just a little beauty, just a little ball of fufu.
Scoop into the soup.
Oh, look at all that fish down there.
Oh, look at that, just wonderful soup, and then only fufu with soup.
Oh, that is, oh, that's amazing.
Oh, the fufu is so smooth and kind of gummy in texture.
You don't actually need to chew fufu.
You just bite and swallow because it's completely, I mean the pounding has done the chewing for you.
Mmm, it's so good.
That palm nut soup, wow, it's a little bit spicy.
You can taste that red oil.
You can taste the fish, the dry fish in there.
Wow, that's superb.
Oh yeah, okay, it's kinda, It's kind of difficult to not chew because your instinct is to chew.
I'm sort of getting the hang of it slowly.
And again, you eat the fish separate from the fufu because the fish you have to chew.
Mmm.
Yeah, I think it's dried mackerel.
Really good.
Again, just soaking up all of that soup.
Next up.
I'm gonna move over to the plantain, because I've been waiting to eat the plantain, the freshly fried plantain.
And look at that beautiful golden color from being deep fried.
This is the bean stew, which is called Red Red.
And the oil is palm nut oil?
Palm nut oil?
Okay, the really fragrant palm nut oil.
You can even just kind of scoop it up.
Use the plantain like a chip just to... Oh, it's really hot.
Wow.
Oh, yes.
Look how beautifully hot that is.
Oh.
Oh, that's incredible.
Oh, that's so good.
It's the beans, that really fragrant palm oil, and then...
The plantain is just perfect.
It's a little bit sweet naturally sweet but then it has that crunchy caramelized crust on the outside from being deep fried, along with the starchy beans.
That is, it's so good, it's so fragrant.
And lastly for the , which is the other starch, which is, it's kind of like formed into a plastic bag.
It's fermented corn made into a mash and then kind of wrapped up in a plastic bag.
So you grab a piece of the bangku.
Oh, it has a very, again, a very smooth, bouncy texture to it.
Mold a bite in your fingers.
And then this one is the okra soup, so you can see how sticky that is with the fish in here as well.
Oh yeah.
Mmm.
Oh, that's incredible too.
Oh yeah, you've got the stickiness and the sliminess of the okra.
Their bangku here is excellent.
Loving that okra soup with the bangku.
Now moving back to the fufu.
Okay, stepping out, what a lunch.
Oh man, all of that food was cooked with love.
Such good, yeah, among the best Ghanaian food that I've ever had.
Oh man, it was really good flavors, really balanced to perfection.
Thank you very much.
Food was so good, food was so good.
Thank you.
Yeah, that was an amazing Ghanaian meal.
Everything home cooked.
Everything cooked right here.
And step outside and the rain has stopped.
Fantastic.
It's been so good being here at this village and meeting so many people and enjoying the food.
But before we leave they're trying to organize a dance, a village dance, and maybe a song before we head out.
They're getting ready to dance over there.
Yes.
They've even brought out a couple speakers.
I don't know where they came from for this event and for the speaking and the singing.
Oh, yeah, we can try.
That's what he's saying.
Okay, sure, sure.
One of the elders of the village, I guess.
I flew the drone earlier today and it attracted a lot of people.
It was really fun for everyone.
They've asked me if I can specially fly the drone for everyone, for the whole.
The whole village is here now if I can fly the drone so that everyone can see.
Thank you.
The chief of the village and the elders of the village.
They loved it so much they wanted me to fly it for the whole community to see, and they loved it.
It really is a fascinating device and now at the same time they're getting ready to dance.
What an amazing experience.
What amazing people. so this is a welcoming song Thank you.
The dancing, the drumming, the music, the singing, their footwork is incredible.
This is spectacular.
I've just been asked to quickly say a greeting to everyone.
Thank you very much for inviting us, for welcoming us into the village.
It's been very special.
The food is amazing.
And everyone has been so kind and so gracious to us.
It's really been an honor to be here.
What an amazing experience.
Thank you, thank you for everything.
Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Go back to the city, back to Accra.
Bye bye.
We just made it back to the house after quite a long drive back.
It was a little longer because of the traffic coming back.
But during that time, I just had a chance to absorb that experience and everything that happened.
It was an unforgettable, memorable experience.
Everything from interacting with the kids and the elders and everyone, to watching them cook the food, to eating the food, to just walking around the village, the natural scenery, the dances and the performance that they put on.
Today.
That was just one single day, but that really sums up, that demonstrates the beauty of Ghanaian culture and African culture the hospitality, the importance of relationships and interacting with people.
And we have, I have so much to learn from a community like that, from a village like that.
So I wanna say a huge thank you to everyone at the community for hosting us, for being so generous and friendly to us.
And also, I wanna say a big thank you also to Afia Tours, who organized everything.
I paid for the tour, so this is not sponsored, but they did an amazing job and they're doing great things and I love how they give back to the community.
It's really community-driven.
So that was highly recommended.
That was truly superb.
I want to say a huge thank you to you for watching this video.
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Thanks again for watching.
Good night from Accra in Ghana.
I'll see you on the next video.
