Ghana

September 22, 2009

After our arrival in Tema, Ghana, we disembarked and progressed through another fairly industrial port, with cranes and other large hauling equipment buzzing around. As we drove outside of the port, I got my first glance at Ghana. Although Tema is a large port and the main site of import/export activities in Ghana, it is a relatively small city of around 200,000. Interestingly enough, Tema is the closest land to the geographical position of 0° latitude, 0° longitude, thus deemed “the center of the world”. Lots of people were walking in the streets, most of the men dressed very well and most of the women were balancing something on their heads, whether they were selling goods or simply transporting their belongings. We also saw animals died strange colors, like a chicken died pink. The streets, both in Tema and Accra, were lined with booths and peddlers, selling anything and everything imaginable. One noteworthy category of curio was the wide range of items with President Obama’s face. President Obama visited Ghana in July 2009, and since then the Obama-mania has not stopped. I saw countless cars flying US flags, complete with Obama’s face. There were also American flag t-shirts with his face in the center of them and traditional African print dresses with a repeating pattern of Obama’s face. Our tour driver told us that some small children recognize Obama as the president of Ghana, and he is more well known than the current president of Ghana John Atta Mills. The Ghanaians’ love for Obama is a good representation of the attitude that we encountered as Americans traveling in Ghana. The mutual language of English made communication so much easier, and allowed us to form bonds with some of the people we met in Ghana.

Our first day was spent on a City Orientation tour of Accra through Semester at Sea. Although we were ported in Tema, Ghana, the capital of Ghana, Accra was only a bus ride away (30 minutes without traffic, but up to 1:45 in the thick of afternoon traffic). Once aboard the coach bus we drove towards Accra, our first stop: The University of Ghana-Legon. This is the largest, with over 30,000 students, as well as the oldest university in Ghana and the most prestigious university in West Africa.  Of the many students we saw walking around, I counted 24 that were white. The grounds were very beautiful, and we were able to walk around for about half an hour after we saw the campus by bus. We were wandering around a big pond area where there were lily pads, big pretty flowers and cute little frogs. We also peeked in the bookstore. It was interesting to see a bookstore that sold only books, unlike the USD bookstore that sells paper made of elephant poop, thousands of greeting cards, magazines, candy, energy drinks and a whole range of school apparel. After we came out of the bookstore we found a pair of lizards hanging out on the front steps. As I focused my camera, I saw a blur of lizard coming at me. My girlfriends told me that the lizard was about a foot from running up my leg before I ran away.
After visiting the University we drove to have lunch. On the way to lunch we drove by the Presidential Palace Golden Jubilee House and the luxurious political guesthouse, still under construction. We ate at a beautiful resort in Accra, where I was luckily able to find vegetarian fare. I had fried plantains, jollof rice and French fries, which they called potato chips. The people at the hotel were very friendly, and invited us to come back if we had any extra time. I went to exchange currency in the hair salon and met the first of many Franks that I would encounter while in Ghana. He was very nice and taught me the traditional Ghanaian handshake, which ends by snapping off of the other person’s hand.

After finishing up lunch we went to visit the Kwame Nkrumah memorial and mausoleum. Kwame Nkrumah was a key person in the fight for the independence of Ghana, then known as Gold Coast, from Britain. Nkrumah was also elected the first president of the new republican Ghana. We took pictures, learned about Kwame Nkrumah and visited the small museum filled with pictures and personal artifacts.
After getting back on the bus we drove past the Independence Black Star Square and the large podium and surrounding amphitheatre built for President Clinton’s visit to Ghana in 1998. Next we went to the Arts Centre, a large market focused on textiles, jewelry, masks, mirrors, drums and artwork. We were only given a small amount of time, so I only browsed, but I was quickly familiarized with the type of conversational exchange I would encounter the rest of the time in Ghana. “Old friend, how are you? Come inside, looking is for free, no charge. Why don’t I show you some of my beautiful dresses, very nice for you and your sisters? And this, this outfit very nice for your father and brothers…” and so on. While it was comical, and SO much nicer than the rude exchanges with the Moroccan shopkeepers, bargaining was still exhausting.

After leaving the market, we moved onwards to the W.E.B. Du Bois museum and mausoleum. We there learned about the author who was a Pan-African activist and author. Instead of returning to the ship during afternoon traffic, a group of ten of us decided to get off in Osu, the heart of restaurants, shopping and nightlife in Accra. Casey and I wanted to look around at the shops a little bit, and two of the boys were appointed chaperones. We each bought a dress before the boys got to exasperated. Then we headed back to the area where the Ship-Accra shuttle was dropping people off every hour or so. We waited at the Penta hotel bar across the street, where students, faculty and staff alike were enjoying the local Ghanaian brews and the company of the group on the outside patio, after a healthy application of DEET, of course. As we sat on the patio, quite a few young Ghanaian guys came up to us, and while they did introduce themselves and seemed curious about us, they mostly just wanted us to buy bracelets, artwork, key-chains or other small.

After a while, the group was hungry and we started walking down to the area where the restaurants were along Oxford Street/Cantonments Road, led by some of our new Ghanaian friends to a chop bar, the Ghanaian equivalent of a café serving strictly Ghanaian food. As we walked on of the girls who joined into our group at the Penta hotel had an absolute fit, complaining that she should EVER have to eat “their” food, when she would much rather eat, “our” food. In the essence of staying as a group, the majority of us stayed and ordered pizzas at a nicer fast food place. We were already famished upon arrival, but what we were unaware of was that that evening was a Tuesday, when the unspoken special is two pizzas for the price of one. Our worries of why our orders were taking so long were subdued, or serenaded away perhaps, by a Rasta man singing Bob Marley tunes near the outdoor bar of the patio we sat down on. On the patio, during our long wait, we met a few new friends. First there was James from NYU, who was taking a year abroad in Ghana. He decided to buy all of us the largest beers I have ever seen, which he delivered straight from the bar in plastic crates. Then there was Marvin Gaye, a Ghanaian who took a particular liking to Casey, and to having his picture taken. He gave Casey a Bob Marley pin, and a promise to pick her up at the ship the next day. My personal favorite was Marco-no-last-name. Marco and I spent a lot of time talking, about politics and school and how many languages he spoke (somewhere in the teens). At one point he decided to braid my hair… weird, I know. One thing that situation is very indicative of, is the good-nature of the Ghanaian people and my genuine desire to avoid offending them at all costs. Besides, at that point the amount of sunscreen, bug spray and sweat in my hair from the day of walking in the humid equatorial heat hardly left my hair anywhere near clean. Although I was not given any gifts or promises of private tours, Marco did encourage us to check out the beach Reggae concert the following evening at Labadi Beach, between Tema and Accra. I had a nice time talking to them, immersing myself in their culture for a few hours. Just before we left I went to the wash room (Ghanaians had NO idea what bathroom or restroom meant) and waved to a few little kids playing on the indoor playground. On my way back out to the patio I went over to talk to three of the kids, all of whom were born in the U.S. They were very cute and invited me to play with them, so I slid down the slide, told them how nice it was to meet them, and that I had to go.

Our group was clearly exhausted and ready to head back to the ship. We walked back to the gas station where the shuttle busses were, and luckily ran into one just as it was leaving. The way back was a stuffed ride, and I took a lap seat. It was so nice to enjoy the ride home and be happy with the Ghanaian experience, feel welcome in the culture, and genuinely look forward to the next morning.

September 23, 2009

The next morning, however, came a little too early. Because of the great distance we were traveling the next day on our visit to the Wli Waterfalls and to a village with Mona monkies, we had to be up at 6:00AM and leave by 7:00AM. With a paltry breakfast in my stomach, and my dissatisfaction appeased by a backpack full of snacks, we disembarked the MV Explorer and loaded onto three coach busses and a short bus. We elected to be on the short bus and Cat, Missy, Casey and I piled into the large back seat of the bus. The bus held a nice intimate group of 23 without the use of seats that folded down into the isle. Later I was thankful to have been on the short bus instead of the regular size coach bus as we continued onto dirt roads complete with car sized pot holes. Throughout the day the door on our bus kept opening, which made the bumpy roads all the more exciting. My only reservation of choosing the short bus was missing out on the stylish shag rug dashboard I saw in one bus that was following us.

The tone of the day was set with a round of applause for our Ghanaian driver
Driver and guide applauded upon entering the bus, a gesture they appreciated. Soon portable iPod speakers came out, and the driver and guide requested Akon, a popular U.S. artist who has roots in Senegal. Interspersed between periods of sing-a-long music, our guide gave us some background history on the area we were traveling to, as well as the history of Ghana in general.

The Volta region we visited was very close to the border of Togo. It had a completely different look than Tema or Accra. The Volta region was very lush, with lots of tropical looking plants, and significant bodies of water. On our way to visit the Mona Monkeys in the village of Tafi Atome and the Wli waterfall, we drove through lots of small villages, which made the long day of driving much more interesting. There was lots of outdoor activity in the small villages we passed through: laundry, school children in class, outdoor church-type assemblies held on porches, minding the children, and plenty of people taking a mid-day rest. In Morocco there were cats and kittens everywhere, but Ghana was overrun by goats. Everywhere I looked there was a goat. Chickens and cows were also normal roadside sightings, in the Volta region, but also in the cities. As we neared the village we debated whether the monkeys were of the poop-throwing sort, or whether they were nice snuggly monkeys.

When we pulled into the small village of Tafi Atome, we were greeted by school children running across the lawn to welcome us. We were all happy to get off the bus, sick of sitting after the 3 hour drive. We wandered around, talked with the children and took pictures before splitting into three groups for a forest walk, village tour and monkey time. My group first visited the village. In the village we were invited in to some of the village dwellings. We also saw lots of young children playing and helping their mommies. In one of the buildings, we saw a few boys weaving Kente cloth, the traditional Ghanaian fabric. As we continued on our tour we visited the school building where the high school age students were in class. We were lucky to get a demonstration from the school’s drummer boy, who serves as the bell system for breaks, lunch, and other time announcements. He played a few of his drumming sections for us, which I took a video of. Then we walked through the pineapple plantation, which was a strange experience. I had never really thought of what type of plant pineapples grow on, but was surprised by the small spikey plant that fruits one of my favorite fruits. We stopped at another school building, where younger children were sitting on benches and standing outside. Some of the younger children were scared of us and started crying. The braver ones extended their hands for high fives and handshakes, and even those that were bawling were absolutely adorable. Then we entered into the forest, where we heard more about the history of Ghana. Our guide told us about Ghana’s reputation as a very peaceful country, and one rich with natural resources. We saw some huge centipedes on our walk through the forest. Upon our return to the center of the village we were given mini bananas to feed the monkeys with. We were instructed to hold the banana up near a tree branch. Soon enough the monkeys were scampering down the branches, whereupon they would reach out to the banana, pull back the peel, and take a big bite. This was good for a few pictures, but the experience was fairly short lived, and once the bananas were gone, the monkeys didn’t want much to do with us. We were then served lunch, weird sandwiches made on the boat and brought with us. I opted instead for a coke and some crackers from the small store the village had. Then I went to play with the children on the large lawn in front of the school building. They were all so sweet, and it was easy to communicate with them since they all spoke English.

After we departed the village we drove for more than an hour to the Agumatsa Forest Reserve. We split into smaller groups of 15-20 and started walking into the forest. Our guide stopped and pulled down a cocoa plant, and we tasted the fruit from a pod of the cacao tree, avoiding the bitter cocoa beans that after, processed, is used to make chocolate. 40% of the world’s cocoa beans come from Ghana, second only to neighboring Cote d’Ivoire. As we progressed into the reserve, we crossed the same river eleven times before reaching the waterfall. The Wli waterfall is the tallest in Ghana and West Africa. Up above the waterfall the sky was filled with bats, that roost in the rock surrounding the waterfall. Swimming at the bottom of the waterfall was a lot less leisurely than I had expected, in reality the water felt like sandpaper and the spray was fairly abusive. Nonetheless, we waded in. I stopped when I couldn’t touch any longer, but some of the taller boys waded all the way underneath the waterfall only to be knocked under by the force of the water. We hiked out of the forest and spent a short amount of time shopping in the village shops, before boarding the bus for the grueling 5 hour bus ride back to the port in Tema.

Originally Casey and I had planned to go to a concert in Labadi Beach, but were too exhausted upon our late return to the ship.

September 24, 2009

The next morning, we returned to Osu for some shopping. I bought a Ghanaian soccer jersey, t-shirt, bracelets and another dress. One of the boys we were with, Danny, was an excellent bargainer and I benefitted from his talent. Other popular items were drums, men’s tunics, soccer balls and canvas artwork. After a morning of bargaining, we stopped at an outdoor bar, which soon became an attraction for young Ghanaian men peddling their wares. Albert, who we met the first night, soon came and sat with us. As we enjoyed drinks, we talked with the various visitors, who calmed down after we made it clear we didn’t want to buy what they were selling. Soon more and more of their friends joined us, happy to be in the shade of the bar’s patio. I complimented a newcomer’s shirt from across the table and he came to sit by me. Soon Elvis and I were deep in conversation and before I knew it, I had purchased his animal/geometric print tunic for 12.50 Cedi (all the money I had left) and 2 granola bars. I tried the tunic on for the first time today, after I received it back from the laundering service, and am still very pleased with my purchase. After a while Albert asked if we wanted to go to the chop bar he had suggested the first night. Albert, Elvis, Joe (an aspiring R&B) singer and Frank led us to a delicious restaurant a few blocks off of the main street in Osu. I had more fried plantains and Jollof rice for lunch. Before heading back to the boat I wanted to visit one last shop, called Global Mamas, a micro lending non-profit focused on female entrepreneurship and financial independence for Ghanaian women. On my way to exchange more currency I ran into a boy wearing a Portland Trail Blazers hat! After visiting Global Mamas, and making a few purchases, Casey and I went with our friend Danny to the Accra Mall in search of a camera. He had lost his during our time in Spain, but had no luck in Morocco or Ghana finding one. There were lots of stores I didn’t recognize, some selling traditional African gear, others sold very American looking clothes, and some were familiar brands: Puma, Nike and even an unfinished Apple store. Our cab driver back to the ship was the largest, funniest Ghanaian man I met in the whole time I was there. He had a wonderful jolly laugh, hairy cheeks and was quite the talker. He was drove the official Ghanaian way, that is maximum acceleration on open expanses of freeway. At one point I snuck a peak at the speedometer, which read 120 km/h (74.5 mph). The cab, like all of them that I saw, was a tiny little sub-compact car. He was fascinated with our voyage, and asked if he could join us. He talked to us about politics, and President Obama . Casey and I had a great time reading the gossip section of the local newspaper, which was fun since CNN and the New York Times tend to be a little dry.

After dinner and showers we headed back out to Accra with about half of the boat. We first went to the Venus Café, and then to a 7-story restaurant/bar/club named Citizen Kafi that was bright purple with pink windows and looked like one of the beach front properties in Mission Beach on some sort of psychedelic drug. From the fourth floor of Citizen Kafi, we were already taller than all of the surrounding buildings. In the neighboring blocks there was welding going on even though it was approaching midnight. We had a great time our last night in Accra. Because there were so many people in our group, we were given a ride back to the port in an open-air military security vehicle.

September 25, 2009

I spent my final day in Ghana in Accra. We first went to lunch at a big American-style restaurant called Frankie’s, where I had half the most delicious pizza and split an ice cream sundae with a few girls from Oregon :). We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a little more shopping and uploading pictures at an internet café. I’ve noticed a pattern that the last day in port I’m usually too exhausted and too worried of missing on-ship time to venture off the boat. I had fun using the last of my Ghanaian cedi, including buying a drum keychain for 5 pesewa (5 hundredths of a cedi) roughly equal to 3.5 cents in USD. It was nice to use the internet, and I did a little research for our next two destinations Cape Town, South Africa and Flic en Flac, Mauritius.

We took the shuttle bus back to the ship. The shuttle leaving at 4:00 was guaranteed on-ship time. But we were out of money and shopped out, so we hurried for the 3:00 bus. The bus came from the opposite direction than usual and was already filled with people heading back to the boat. Not wanting to wait in the humid outside, and already completely out of currency, we decided to pile on and stand. What followed was an hour and forty five minutes of bumper to bumper traffic back to the boat, the prime example of Ghanaian traffic flow problems. This gave me a lot of time to enjoy looking out the window, an activity I have yet to grow tired of in my travels abroad. Frequently I bring a long a travel book thinking I will read up, but never open it until we are searching for a restaurant, shop or street to head towards.

On my way back to the boat, as well as other trips, I tried to take notes so I could remember my thoughts and the sights I saw.
-In Ghana, instead of our plastic traffic cones, I saw large rocks used for traffic cones
-There were a lot of unfinished structures. Buildings built a few floors up, but without walls, windows, doors or sometimes even roofs. After asking our tour guide I found out the reason. Building is expensive and takes years (5-10 or more) to finish a building. In Ghana what little mortgage industry or credit there was before the economic downturn has dwindled even more. Those who want to build must save from income to gain capital. Some have help from relatives outside of Ghana.
-Everyone drove like a maniac.
-In terms of transportation, there were city buses and taxis, and a Ghanaian specialty, the tro-tro. Tro-tros were large vans, most similar to a 18-passenger van, with multiple bench seats. Tro-tros operate along a route, like a bus, but are extremely economical. They pick up riders on the side of freeways. They will always take in more passengers, even if it means removing the seats and strapping them to the top of the tro-tro. Riding in a tro-tro was an adventure I wanted to seek out but ran out of time and enthusiasm. One friend rode in a tro-tro, crammed with about 30 Ghanaians. It cost him 50 pesewas (35 cents).
-In Ghana, the day of the week you were born on gives you a name, particular to your sex. My Ghanaian name (Tuesday) was Abena. There is a typical print of Kente cloth that corresponds with each name.
-Ghana is a very religious place. With Christianity as the most prominent religion, I saw a lot of references. Some of the signs I noticed:
Amen Electrical Works
God the Provider’s Shop
God is the Best Barber
Thank you Jesus Salon
Jesus and Sons Electrical
-All of the taxis in Ghana had this particular type of window sticker. Some had similar religious phrases, other had more philosophical phrases. My favorite: “Before Before”.

Ghana was truly an amazing place. I thought the scenery was beautiful, the people were wonderful and the entire experience was fulfilling more so than the other stops have been. I would go back to Ghana, as I was encouraged to do by many of the friendly Ghanaian people.

Day after tomorrow--South Africa! How exciting!!

Until then,

Stephanie@Sea