Ghana: First Impressions

I arrived in Ghana three nights ago after a pleasant stopover in Istanbul. I spent the trip periodically peering out of the window and marvelling at the size of the red Sahara beneath me. The plane was hot and the windows burned to touch them. Then, suddenly, it was dark. The sun had gone down and as we approached Accra the clouds were illuminated by the flashes of a lightning storm. As someone who is not the best flyer, this was terrifying. Happily, it was soon over and as we landed, the whole plane applauded. I am hoping that this was because the plane was on time, and not indicative of Turkish Airline’s safety record.

To my great surprise, I whizzed through passport control and baggage claim in no time at all, with minimal bureaucracy. Given the levels of bureaucracy involved in getting a Ghanaian visa (see previous post) I was expecting lots of paperwork on arrival, but everything was very simple. For the first time on a visit anywhere, my Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate was demanded at passport control, so visitors should not attempt to get away with entering the country without one.

I was met by Ben, the very friendly manager of the house I am living in. We drove to Abelemkpe, my new neighbourhood. First impressions had to wait, as it was so dark outside I couldn’t really take anything in.

I’m staying in the home of HHJ Barbara Mensah. It’s a huge place – so big I initially thought it was a block of flats. My room is comfortable and after a quick shower I ran outside to join Ben and watch Germany beat Algeria in extra-time. This wasn’t the best start. We’d all been routing for Algeria.

The next day I decided to take it easy. It was Republic Day holiday and so my internship wouldn’t be starting until the following day. Instead of heading off sightseeing I thought I would see how I coped walking around the local neighbourhood – not the easiest task given my broken ankle. But, as soon as the morning rains had stopped pummelling down, I managed to get out and hobble around with the help of a walking stick and my air cast.

When I left the house the first thing I noticed was how green everything was. The streets were lined with immaculate lawns and tall palm trees, and everything is immaculate looking. Of the seven countries I’ve visited in Africa, this must be one of the nicest neighbourhoods I’ve come across.

Abelemkpe is about 6km north of the centre of Accra and is evidently an affluent area, judging by the size of the houses and the numerous Mercedes dotted around. On my little tour, I managed to stumble across an international school, a mosque (which I knew had to be nearby after hearing the call to prayer early that morning) and several churches. The area is also populated with many NGOs. I came across a mental health advocacy unit, an anti-poverty initiative, and the Ghanaian branch of Transparency International.  I picked up some delicious tasting mangoes from a lady selling them from the side of the road (I think I’ll be eating a lot of fruit out here), and also managed to track down my local bars and restaurants.

Here are some of my very initial thoughts about Accra:

The wildlife is pretty cool

The first wildlife I noticed were birds. Absolutely huge birds. They look a bit like large crows, but sort of greying in colour. I’m not sure what they are. There are also a lot of chickens bobbing around, but I’m not sure these really fall into the category of “wild” life.

I saw countless lizards darting around. Most are small gecko or chameleon like creatures, but I saw one that was huge, probably approaching a yard in length. It was black, with bright green and orange stripes. If anyone can identify this mysterious dragon-creature, please comment below. Unfortunately, it ran off before I could get my camera out. 

[UPDATE: One week since writing this post, I have also seen countless truly remarkable butterflies. I am not much of a naturalist, but I wish I had some sort of butterfly handbook with me. Also, on the way to work in the tro-tro, I saw four vultures perched on a wall, near the 37 hospital. They reminded me of these guys 

]

Ghanaians are extremely friendly

Ghanaians seem to have an international reputation for being extremely affable people. Although I generally try to avoid such generalisations, I have to say that so far Ghanaians are definitely living up to their friendly stereotype. Walking down the street numerous people stopped me to wish my broken ankle a swift recovery. I have been made to feel welcome at every turn. And, so far, I have received not a minute of hassle or unwanted attention. Of all the “developing” countries I have visited, Ghana is almost unique in this regard.

In fact, so far I’ve found that people have been so willing to appear helpful, that at times it has caused confusion. Coming home from my first day at the office yesterday, I jumped in a tro-tro rather than taking a cab. Tro-tros are vans that carry about 20 passengers a time. Basically, they are Ghana’s local buses, except that for the uninitiated it is almost impossible to know where they are going, where they have come from, and where they are going to stop. Safely installed in the extremely leaky van, and happy to be out of the torrential downpour, I asked my neighbour, a kindly looking elderly gentleman, if the tro-tro would stop at Abelemkpe. He assured me it did and asked where I was heading to.

“Koi Street”, I replied, in a moment of madness accidentally giving the address of my office instead of my house.

Before I had time to correct him, he had warmly assured me that he knew exactly where I was going and would tell me where to get off. He was eager to please, but evidently unable to assist.

Another example of friendly but ultimately confusing advice came about yesterday, on my first day in the office. It being my first day, not knowing where I was going, and the rain bucketing down, I decided to take a taxi rather than a tro-tro. It took me and my taxi driver a while to find the right street and through the steamed up window I saw a sign saying “Human Rights Office”. That must be it, I thought. I knocked on the door, which was opened by another smiling face.

                “Human Rights Advocacy Centre?” I inquired.

                “Yes! You are welcome! Come in.”

I came in. Was seated in reception and given tea. Great. Safe at my destination, on time and out of the rain. Or so I thought.

I sat in reception for around 40 minutes waiting for someone to tell me what I should be doing and introduce me to the office. As the office filled up, I started to think something didn’t quite add up. Most of the staff seemed to be extremely young, blonde haired, girls. I eventually discovered that this was not the Human Rights Advocacy Centre at all. I had inadvertently stumbled upon some sort of High School Gap Year project. I thanked my hosts for their hospitality and ventured out into the rain. The Human Rights Advocacy Centre was two doors down. 

Time and Distance are relative concepts

I had previously been warned that asking for directions in Ghana can be difficult, as concepts of "very close" and "very far" seem to differ a great deal from what we are used to at home. The same can be said of asking how long something might take. In the past few days, I have discovered this for myself.

Yesterday, a taxi journey I was advised would take no more than 20 minutes took about an hour (though, to be fair, crazy rush hour traffic was also to blame). 

On Tuesday I realised I did not, as yet, have any Ghanaian currency. My first task of the day would be to go to the ATM. I asked a neighbour where the nearest ATM was. 

         "Oh no, it's very far. Wait for Ben to come back and he will drive you. He will be a few minutes." 

An hour later, Ben having not appeared, I asked someone else. 

       "It's very far. Wait here for someone to come and drive you."

After waiting for another hour, I decided to venture out on my own anyway. I located the mysterious ATM about a 10 minute walk away (and that's walking with a broken ankle). Ben came back about 10 hours later. 

Moral of the story: make sure you allow plenty of time for journeys, and take "very far" with a pinch of salt!

Religion is Pervasive

Ghana is a religious country. I was well aware of this before arriving. But what struck me on arrival was just how much religion permeates society, including through highly amusing business names. In my short walk through Abelemkpe and whilst sitting on a tro-tro, I have come across the I Love Jesus hair salon, Jesus is my Saviour guest house, God's Time is Best Time bus stop cafe, Jesus Saves One fruit stall, and My Redeemer bar and grill. This morning's tro-tro was decorated with a bumper sticker displaying a flamboyantly decorated Jesus displaying the "peace" sign. Hopefully he'll help protect me from Accra's traffic...