An Italian experience of Ghana

Ernesto Dotti is Italian and 67 years old. He loves music and plays many instruments. He even plays in a band. Ernesto loves active sports such as surfing, sailing, jogging and yoga. Mr. Dotti has visited almost
every country in Europe and about 27 countries across the world. He is a fairly adaptable and
easy-going person in terms of discovering new things. Some of his greatest cultural shocks as
a traveler were in the USA and in Qatar.

“The USA and Qatar to me were shocking for their habits and incredible amount of wasted
energy, money, and wealth and socio-racial differences and discrepancies, and invasion of
police and security”. 

He believes that countries are becoming more and more alike. “In all of them humans can
have a family and raise kids. Over time the differences have become negligible –
globalization and exchanges have flattened many differences and many habits”. On the
differences he noticed, he mentions food, perceived goals of the population in their daily
struggles, habits linked to rituals, religion and climate.

From his travels, he is convinced that every country should first and foremost focus on their
educational system. This way, the people can improve and get out of poverty and mediocrity.

We come to believe certain things about countries that are debunked or confirmed when we
visit there. For Ernesto, the USA was not as it was projected. He explains that probably
because it was the first country in which he resided for an extended period of time and I was
also quite young, the USA has been for years picturing itself in movies and fictions as
heaven, while in reality it is totally different, with many problems in all domains”.

Mr. Dotti has admired different things about different countries.
a. Their politics – UK.
b. Their culture – France.
c. Educational system – France and the US.
d. Work ethics – France, Germany, South Africa.
e. The daily life of the people – Spain, Greece, South Africa.

His recommended tourist destinations are in Africa.
“I love nature. The whole of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, with the beauties, the
parks, the mountains, deserts, savannah”.

About Ghana, he has this to share: “like many places I have been to, Ghana was a country
where I resided and worked. Yet, I did not have the opportunity to visit extensively. I have
visited and enjoyed some parks, botanical gardens and waterfalls in the vicinity of Accra and
they were all beautiful and welcoming. I went to a couple of surfing beaches too, where I
have made good friends.

Sharing Italian food and jokes with his Ghanaian friends was a delight. And all the people
and characters he met along his journey in Ghana made his stay here memorable.

For now, he will hold on to the experience of live music, the memories of the people he lived
and shared with. Also, he has become a reasonable beginner surfer”
And oh, Ernesto would not mind considering Ghana, somewhere on a nice beach on the
ocean, as a retirement place.

Thanks, Ernesto, for sharing your travel experience and time in Ghana with us.