It's been a long time since I wrote something, I know. There were some things that I thought of writing about but the longer I am here the more I get used to everything and the weirder I feel when I think of writing about things that didn't work out or work differently than back home. This is just how it is. And sometimes I feel that I would be complaining or comparing on such a high level which would be unfair. But I'll see, I think I will write about some things retrospectively,  things that stayed vivid in my mind and will therefore be more likely to be worth sharing.
Right now I am enjoying two weeks of beachlife at Cape Three Points. This is a very small village right at the shore and in proximity of the lighthouse situated on the southernmost point of Ghana. I finished my research project, all the data is collected and waits patiently for me to attend to it further. The leftover time I spent first on a ranch next to Lake Bosomtwe and now on the beach.
The lake and my stay there were amazing! I stayed at a small ranch with some horses and a donkey, run by a French woman married to a Ghanaian. They also have an organic farm and offer only vegetarian dishes, the ranch has its own clean water running through all pipes. It was such a luxury not having to worry about rinsing out your mouth after brushing your teeth, and I even dared eating a salad!
I went on two horseback riding tours along the lake with Elodie, the owner. The horses were very gentle and the landscape is breathtaking. I enjoyed every moment and didn't mind the sour muscels in my legs and butt afterwards.

The lake has only one bad road connecting it to a small town and there were very few people. It was such a quiet and peaceful experience. The noise and dirt of the cities seemed so far away.
Two other guests were from Denmark and at some point there was a discussion about how tourists perceive Ghana and how they behave. The two guys were very sure of themselves and aware of their superiority to most Ghanaians in terms of money and also showing it off sometimes, as I concluded from some of their stories. One of them was born here but moved to Denmark by the age of 12. They were driving on their own through the country and told Elodie how they did not care about the occasional road blocks and checkpoints set up by the police. They would just drive through because the police appeared not to have vehicles to be able to follow them and make them stop. Elodie couldn't believe it. There are laws in Ghana and they have to be followed as they are in any other country, eventhough it might not seem like it sometimes. I told them about my experience with bribery, how Tro Tro and taxi drivers already prepared their papers with small banknotes before handing them to officers at the checkpoints. Elodie got really enraged about the topic and she stated that there are always two parties involved: the one who lets himself be corrupted, who takes the money, but also the one who corrupts, who offers money to avoid being checked at all or accelerate the process. This is true, of course, and it's one of the problems of this country.
With these conversations in mind I thought about how tourists perceive Ghana and behave accordingly. I think that a widespread opinion is that Ghana has a serious problem with corruption and fraud and that laws are very loosely followed. How far this is true I can not determine. Some tourists may think that this is a wild card for disregarding authority and laws and basically live the freedom of doing what they want, trusting that their money will solve everything. This, unfortunately,  might be true in some cases, but it also fuels this system.

Sunrise over Lake Bosomtwe