Customer Reviews

Travels in Ghana

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We are twice yearly missionary visitors to Ghana West Africa. Travels in Ghana recreates the sights, sounds and flavors we've experienced. Marie McCarthy also does a marvelous job of accurately describing Ghana's wonderful, warm people. The book will make you want to experience Ghana for yourself.

"Travels in Ghana" doesn't read like a travelogue as much as a day-to-day diary of someone's passing impressions of Ghana as they quickly made there way through it. There is no overall message or goal here, just a picture of a trip. And that would all be good and great if the narrative wasn't littered with unnecessary criticisms of people's driving habits, hotel room beds, and ATM machines that don't work. The book would have been at least twice as good if all that had been left out.

All that being said, it is still an entertaining book written by a former Peace Corps volunteer from Togo. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana (and currently still live in Ghana) and I found some of the impressions to be ill-informed at best. That being said, the story is sufficient for illustrating the country to someone who has never been there or will never go there. There is definitely an observer-observed problem that makes you feel like the author created quite a wall around herself during the trip. There are very few moments where she strays from her comfort zone. Her sense of being "shocked" that her driver wouldn't wear his seat belt would be humorous to anyone who has ever spent time in Ghana.

As there are few books on traveling in Ghana, it is a welcome addition.

I normally do not read many travel books, not because of my preference to them, but because I want to read so many books that books such as Travels in Ghana by Marie McCarthy are often pushed lower on my to-read list. However, once I got the time to read this particular book, it was very refreshing and a delightful read. Travels in Ghana is the re-telling of Ms. McCarthy's trip to Ghana and all the sights along the way. This book is written very much like a journal would be, and was a pleasant change from the normal books I read. There are also several pictures along the way that help you feel as though you were on the trip with Ms. McCarthy. I personally do not travel much, as I'm not big with the unfamiliar, especially in reference to travels to such places as Ghana. Though if I ever did find myself traveling, I believe I would enjoy going to a place like Ghana. Ms. McCarthy shared with us all the ups, and downs, of the trip and if you are planning on traveling to Ghana, I would definitely read this book. It prepares you for such things as food preferences, ATM usage, and tipping (even though some times it was repetitive) and I feel as though reading it from someone's personal experience is better then reading it in a mass marketed book that is strictly based on statistics. I do know that if I ever were to travel to Ghana, I would come home a much poorer woman as I can envision myself buying several souvenirs, like from the bead shops that are talked about in the book, though most women would probably feel the same way. Even if you aren't planning a trip to Ghana, this book would be a great way to learn about the variety of people the world as to offer and how the things that most people take for granted are only things that some could ever dream of.

This travelogue is the next best thing to a trip to Ghana! I felt like I was traveling along with the author, visiting unique villages and historic sites, participating in cultural events, eating the local foods, meeting colorful characters. Not only did I learn a lot about the history of Ghana, I enjoyed the entertaining anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book. I also appreciated the author's compassion and respect for the people of this country as she traveled throughout. Travels in Ghana is an extremely well-written and insightful description of life in Ghana -- not to be missed!

I have lived in other African countries and recently moved to Ghana where I expect to be for two years. I read McCarthie's book as an introduction and found it useful. It is an especially good book for those making their first trip to Ghana. It does not replace a more in depth travel book; the author recommends one, but this is a good first hand account of day-to-day life traveling around.

Storyline: Ms. McCarthy's travelogue of her recent experiences in Ghana is informative as well as entertaining. Travels in Ghana takes us on the 15 day (or thereabouts) trip from one end of the West African country to the other.

Grammar/Spelling: I didn't notice too much in the way of spelling or grammar issues.

Character Development: Ms. McCarthy provides quite a bit of insight into the Ghanan lifestyle and the people's outlook on life. Everyone she met was kind, helpful and willing to share part of their world with her.

Her guide, Stanley, was very capable and really looked out for her throughout the trip. He suggested various areas for her to visit and deftly steered her away from ideas that might not have been such a great idea for her. I'd trust Stanley to guide me on my Ghana adventures!

Writing Style: The writing style was a little informal for me personally. My suggestion would be that if it's a travelogue written in such a personal manner, it would be better received as a true-to-form journal, complete with date/time entries. Though, if Ms. McCarthy stays with the current approach, she might consider formalizing the language a bit more.

It seemed to be mildly repetitive at times as she mentioned several times that she didn't particularly like fish. Also, the ending when she was breaking down the cost of a personal driver/car versus public transportation was a bit repetitive. Ms. McCarthy might want to read over that section again and see about streamlining the information.

Continuity: As this was a timeline based travelogue, if there were issues with continuity, I'd have been very sad. As luck (or talent on Ms. McCarthy's part) would have it, there were none! Yay!

Overall Rating: 3+

Travels in Ghana by Marie McCarthy was a fun trip into the jungles of a little nation in West Africa. I learned quite a lot and when I can convince myself that it'd be FUN to be without my (required!) flat iron and AC, I will use her book as another resource in choosing my itinerary.

I was truly impressed with the kindness and welcome that she received from the local people and how beautiful and rich in culture such a small nation can be! I have to say that my favorite part included some fermented palm wine and drunk bees.

I'd recommend this to anyone who has the ability to travel or even someone who wants an escape from the day to day routine.