The Strange Streets of Ghana

Besides our two day trips in Ghana we really didn’t have many noteworthy adventures.  With the heat and lack of easily accessible activities we kept to the ship most of the other three days we were in port.

On the first day in Takoradi we attempted to go to the market and find lunch but couldn’t find a restaurant we thought looked good.  We ended up walking around for a few hours and then just coming back to the ship to eat. 

The most interesting thing that happened that day was when I almost got arrested for taking a picture of a chicken.  It sounds strange but it happened.  See what I didn’t realize was the chicken was walking in front of a national bank and you are not allowed to take picture of government buildings.  The man in a military uniform with a large riffle yelling at me made that abundantly clear.  Fortunately he was a ways away and I was able to just walk away while blurting out, “It’s a chicken.  It’s a chicken.”

Besides my free-range friend, I also saw one of the most out-of-place sights imaginable on the streets of Takoradi.   For some reason there was a motorbike with a North Carolina license plate on it parked on along the street.  I almost missed it because I’m so used to seeing them on a daily basis and I have no idea how it got there or who owned it.  The questions will forever haunt me. 

Ghana was definitely a country unlike any other I have visited and, while it was probably my least favorite port so far, I am glad I got to go there.  I was amazed by the amount of things the people carry on their head, everything from baskets of produce to coolers filled with beverages.  As I stood and looked at the scene of the market I almost couldn’t comprehend it.  Or maybe I was just still trying to out how that NC license plate got there.

It's Ghana Be Okay

When we boarded the bus for our second field trip in Ghana on Tuesday I looked around and grew worried.  There were a lot of familiar faces from our disastrous trip to the water village, including the tour guide.  I worried we were in some sort of LOST paradox situation and were about to experience an encore performance of our crappy previous trip.

Our itinerary was for a full day trip to a nature preserve and a visit to a hydroelectric dam outside of Accra.  The bus was filled to capacity with a mix of kids, students and adults.  Our chariot had no microphone so it was hard to hear the guide and it reeked of mothballs.  The ride to the preserve was another bumpy adventure.  The highways here are really only highways in name.  It’s more of a mix of concrete with a series of large mounds of dirt every so often.  Fortunately it only took about an hour to reach our destination and we were greeted by a troop of baboons sitting just outside our windows.

When we got off the bus we watched as they frolicked around and they seemed to be pretty oblivious to our presence.  We then made our way to check out the ostrich enclosure but all I could think about was how I ate ostrich twice in South Africa and how good they tasted.  It was weird.  Our bus then traversed over a dirt path that was more suited for a four-wheeler than a tour bus to see a few herds of antelope on our way to a bat cave.  There were points where I thought for sure we were going to tip and fall onto the side but it was still better than walking through the burning sun.

The caves were perched on top of a rock formation that the native Krobo people had previously used to live in and escape their enemies.  It was a nice hike up the rocks that reminded me of our trip up Lion’s Head in Cape Town.  There was a really beautiful view from the top of the African savannah plains and it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip.  From there it was off to lunch before our stop at the damn.  We actually got to eat around noon this time and had a tasty lunch of rice, pasta and chicken.  For me the star of the meal was the two homemade hot sauces, including a green chili sauce that was spicy and delicious.  The restaurant was located alongside one of the rivers that contributed near the damn and was a nice setting.  There were lizards all about the property and the kids in the group chased them around trying to catch a souvenir.

With our bellies full we embarked on another hour bus ride to the Akosombo Dam, a hydroelectric dam that supplies Ghana and a few of the neighboring counties with power.  It also is home to the 2^nd largest man-made lake in the world and the view from the top was pretty damn impressive.  The dam was constructed using only compacted rocks from the area and amazingly had no concrete in the walls.  It was an interesting site but didn’t really compare to the majesty of the Hoover Dam. 

We finished our tour just as a storm was rolling in and I realized that today had actually worked out pretty well compared to our last trip in Ghana.  I would have liked to spend less time riding on the bus but it did give us a chance to see a large portion of the surrounding communities and how people outside the city live.  I guess it ended up being an okay day.

Village of the Damned

A few weeks ago I had one of the best field trips of this voyage when I led a group to the Grass Roots Soccer School in Cape Town.  And obviously if I’m ranking trips that means one has to come in last on the list.  Sunday’s visit to a water village in Nzulezo, Ghana now ranks at the bottom of my favorite adventures.

I was really looking forward to Ghana and seeing a different kind of Africa.  South Africa is amazing, but with the skyscrapers, mountains and large white population, it sometimes feels more like California than Africa.  Ghana is more the typical African experience.  People carry large amounts on their heads, the infrastructure is still in the developing phase and it is HOT.  I had heard the phrase “Africa hot”; I really understand it now after our trip yesterday.

The trip sounded like an interesting day trip when we researched it in our guide book.  We snagged our tickets from two students whose plans had changed and they were selling them for half off.  It was a full day trip from 8 AM to 6 PM and it seemed like a great deal.  What it turned into made me feel like I should have been paid for going on it. 

The first setback was that our bus ride to the village was scheduled to be an hour.  It was closer to three.  The roads in Ghana can go from concrete to dirt in a few miles and were filled with construction, crazy traffic and the occasional goat crossing.  Once we got to the visitor’s center to pick up our life jackets for the canoe trip we were told we would have to pay a woman there in order to take pictures at the village.  Now since the village was supposed to be an hour away by canoe and she wasn’t coming with us, I smelled a scam.  How would they even know we paid her?  I saved my Cedis, Ghana’s currency, and bought a few bottles of water instead.