Ghana

 So very hot since we just came off the equator. Terribly impoverished and hardly any infrastructure. Several mines all owned by foreign companies hiring foreign workers. We drove 2 hours inland to a village that harvests several acres of coca trees (for chocolate). They harvest 3 times a year as a community under the direction of a government appointed farmer. 

The village has a king and 2 interpreters plus a village council. No one can speak directly to the king, everything is filtered through the interpreter. 

Ghana is 70% Christian and yet a husband can take multiple wives  There are 2 government parties….one socialist and one capitalist!  Corruption is a given  

Reaching the pods up high. 

Sun dried coca seeds already smell like chocolate 

Seeds are dried out and so are the pods.  The pods are burned to ash and then used to make fine soaps. 

Coca seeds in the pods. 

Coca pods