Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ghana: The adventure begins again

I've been home now just on a week and, having finally found my feet, I've begun the gruelling task of updating the Bradt Travel Guide to Ghana. While many people assume a guidebook author's work is done when they return home, this is in fact when the real work begins. From visa regulations and bus schedules to the descriptions of new hotels and restaurants, every little detail of a trip needs to be revisited as you transcribe your notes on everything and then add them to the current text (not to mention, marking up and redrawing maps). Just to keep myself on my toes, I've set myself the ambitious deadline of 20 December for my initial hand in date hoping I might be able to make it to shops just before Christmas to buy a few presents. I'll still have months of edits and queries to wade through, but this means I now have 42 days to update 420 pages (actually 41 if you don't count today). Impossible?... I'm thinking POSSIBLE. Mind you, considering I'll probably only emerge from my study to refill my tea cup, I may not have much of a social life over the coming weeks! Luckily my friend Margi, who accompanied me for the first three weeks of the trip, has decided to chronicle our adventures in her new blog Ghana road trip. In her first two posts, Margi recounts our journey from Jo’burg to Accra and our first day trying to come to grips with Accra's hectic public transportation.... Hmmm...I wonder if she has time to update a chapter or two? ;-)