DASHING THROUGH GHANA

(Wandering West Africa Part 6)

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January 26, 2009 the dash began. We left Po in Burkina Faso via shared taxi to the border. After quick exit formalities in Burkina, we walked the hot, sweaty, 1/2 mile to Ghama immigration and customs. Being a former British colony, there was entry paperwork to be done, but it didn't take too long. It was a good feeling to enter an English speaking country and not have to fumble for the proper French words. We took a shared taxi to Bolgatanga and from there a bus to Kumasi. We arrived in Kumasi after sixteen hours, having covered 400 miles since Po. Some travelers recommended what they said was a well located, budget hotel. We got there and found out it was $20. What? They called that budget?? However, it was 1:00am, the sheets were hospital white, the air conditioning frigid, the water hot, the room sparkling clean and the hotel well located so we decided it was budget enough.

We spent a day walking around Kumasi and really enjoyed the vibrant, thriving feeling of the city. It was the largest city we had been in since Bamako, at the start of our trip, and the standard of living was clearly higher. All road were paved, with sidewalks, no dust and relatively little litter. Most of the traffic was cars or tros tros (passenger vans) and there were almost no bicycles or motos. We came across the market and the tros tros station, both of which look to be the largest ones we had ever seen, anywhere. We discovered that transport in Ghana was quick and easy - stand at the side of the road, yell out your destination to the passing tros tros and the right one stops, loads you up and zooms off. We never waited more than ten minutes for a tro tros and they got us where we were going FAST.

Entering a new country or culture means learning a whole new cuisine. We were geographically close to Burkina Faso, but the food was totally different. No more baguettes or haricots verde (green beans). Instead, we had absolutely delicious red-red. Red-red is made from black eyed peas, some tomatoes, onions and red peppers cooked in red palm oil. The dish comes with fried plantains and either fried fish or fried chicken. We discovered red-red when we stopped for lunch outside a government office building and had a meal that couldn't be beat for $3. What we really liked was the little outdoor "dining room" the woman had fashioned . The other Ghanan treat was sweet, fresh, perfectly ripe pineapples for between 10¢ and $1. The vendors had a way of holding the pineapple in a plastic bag, peeling it and cutting off chunks into the same bag, all without touching it.

Unlike Mali and Burkina Faso, Ghana is a majority Christian country. From what we could infer, it's at least as secular as the United States, if not more so. However, we saw unusual names for a number of pretty ordinary stores. It seems that names involving a religious reference are very popular in Ghana, even if religious practice itself is not.

From Kumasi we travelled by bus over lush, green rolling hills to Cape Coast. The weather was no longer dry. It was now killer hot and humid. Cape Coast was a huge contrast to Kumasi. It was a large fishing village and was clearly much poorer. There were open sewers everywhere and most houses apparently didn't have toilets. We felt a somewhat unfriendly vibe as we walked around town. However, we came to see Cape Coast Castle, one of the centers of the slave trade along the Gold Coast of Africa. As a fort, it wasn't that impressive, but as a piece of history, it was very moving. Slaves were herded into dungeons for days, or weeks, with minimal food, fresh air or light while they waited until ships came to take them. We saw the "Door of No Return" through which thousands of slaves were led onto slaving ships for the voyage to the new world. After seeing that history, we could understand why there might be some resentment toward whites in the area.

On January 7, 2009 John Atta Mills was inaugurated as president of Ghana. This was a significant moment in Ghana's move toward a fully functioning democracy. It was the second time that a democratic vote had resulted in a change of ruling parties in Ghana. We had the sense that Ghana has the potential to be a thriving democracy, fostering a growing economy, as time progresses. Ghanans were well aware of Obama's inauguration in the USA and a number of people asked us about it. In Cape Coast, we stayed at a hotel called The Might Victory. Take a look at this picture of the lobby.

We were running out of time so, after a day trip to Elmina where we toured St. Georges Castle, we went to Anomabo beach. This was a beach resort recommended to us by a Dutch woman who worked in Accra. It had everything we need for our final R&R - a ($30) room to stay in and a beach. We spent four days reading, relaxing, and taking a couple short trips to see some nearby towns. During the week, there were only about six other people staying at the "resort". Saturday and Sunday it filled up with people from Accra.

From Anomabo, we went to Accra, the capital of Ghana for a final day before our flight home. Accra seemed like a reasonably nice city and would have been a pleasant place to spend a few days - next time. We just scratched the surface of Ghana and what we saw made us think it would be worth a trip back at some time in the future.

Final Notes on Ghana

Grand Totals For Wandering West Africa

The highlights of the trip were probably at the beginning in Mali - Segou, Djenne and Dogon country with a nod to Gorem-Gorem in Burkina. The trip turned out to be more expensive than we had estimated. Costs were much higher in Mali and Burkina Faso, in part due to the fact that the Dollar was so low versus the Euro. We ended up spending more in Ghana because of the time spent at Anomabo beach resort. But, it was money well spent. Thanks for reading and we hope everyone enjoyed it. Next up is "Crossing Colombia". What do you think? We are always interested in feedback on this and all other travelogues.

THE END OF WANDERING WEST AFRICA

Paul & Lois
McLean, VA
December 25, 2009

 

Wandering West Africa Part 5                 Pctures From West Africa

 

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