This morning, the southern part of Ghana experienced a full solar eclipse. More than one hour after the event I am sitting in my cubicle, still left completely blown away. I don’t think I have ever witnessed a natural phenomenon more beautiful in my entire life.

Originally I had planned to watch the event with some friends who work at another NGO (Larry at a place called Elephant on the Moon) which was organizing a live projected screening of the eclipse for children (and others) who did not have the proper viewing glasses. But when I got there, they weren’t set up and for some reason I thought that the eclipse would happen instantaneously at 8.30 (yes, I’m a fool, I should have know better but I just got caught up in the excitement and urgency to get to a good viewing spot), so I rushed to work to watch it with my co-workers. As I got to work, my director rushed me to the balcony screaming that the eclipse had started. Looking around, it was just another ordinary sunny morning, but when I put my glasses on and looked directly at the sun, sure enough the moon had covered a quarter of it!

The build up after this was unbelievable. All the staff were running from the conference room where the television was broadcasting the eclipse from other parts of the country live, then to the balcony to see the moon slowly move over the sun, then back to the conference room to see what was happening everywhere else! Some were bouncing up and down with excitement, some were calm, taking it as more of a spiritual experience and others succumbed to superstitions and refused to leave their hiding spot inside the office! All of this energy and differing reactions made the experience that much more intense and interesting to observe.

And then it really started. When there was nothing but a tiny sliver of the sun left, the sky started to change to the colors of an evening sunset and the temperature suddenly (I swear, it was instantaneous) dropped to a cool night time breeze. The birds immediately all got up from the trees and were flying around wildly to go back to their nests and all the cars on the highway pulled over to experience the moment. I really wasn’t sure what to expect next; they said there would be total darkness, but I just assumed that this actually meant grayish pink haze. And then, to my great surprise at 9 am this morning there was total darkness.

I took off my glasses and looked up directly at the sun with my naked eye to see the most beautiful image I have ever seen in my life. I am not even sure how to describe it; it was like a shining rose in the sky with ripples of sunlight beaming around it.

With other natural phenomena, the experience is so isolated, the phenomenon happens in one spot and you can stand back and observe it. Even with a storm, you can identify where the storm is happening and its boundaries even if it is right on top of you. But with the eclipse, it engulfed the entire environment, everything surrounding, extending without boundaries and making you part of it rather than external to it. I think it is this that made it such a unique experience!


I have never felt so charged; it was equivalent to the most intense head rush. I stood on the KITE balcony in complete darkness with all my co-workers, looking out over one of Accra’s largest highways (normally a hideous sight) and I was completely covered in goose bumps, all my arm hairs standing up on end, and grinning from ear to ear

It is indescribable – utterly beautiful!

Then 2 minutes and 7 seconds later, the sun emerged from the other corner of the moon and within an instant the sky went back to normal.

When I was a little girl, I wrote down a list of things that I felt I had to do in my life. These included all sorts of wild adventures such as setting foot on both poles, traveling in a hot air balloon and seeing a crocodile cry, but never did I even think to include experiencing an eclipse. After today, I have made it my mission that I must watch at least one more eclipse in my life, but perhaps this time in nature from on top of a hill top with some wonderful friends and family!