Tamale

It may have been the end of my month with the Human Rights Advocacy Centre, but I still had two weeks left to enjoy Ghana. I decided to use that time to travel around. My first stop was city of Tamale in the north of the country. Tamale is the gateway to the north of the country. If you are heading to Mole, you will struggle to get there without at some point transiting through the city.

Tamale is an easy trip from Accra – provided  you are willing to fly. By road, the journey takes around 12-14 hours. Flights are operated by Starbow and Antrak. My one way flight cost 150 cedi (£30), booked around 2 weeks in advance. The flight takes under 1 hour, although the general sense of chaos in the domestic terminal at Accra airport can cause delays. Despite the terminal being miniscule, no one seemed to be able to tell me at which desk to check in or which gate to head to. Eventually I found my way and arrived in Tamale.

Tamale has a very different feeling to Accra, although terrible traffic is something both cities have in common. Despite the bustle and noise, Tamale gives a sense of being a bit more laid back than the capital and people are incredibly friendly. It’s also predominantly Muslim, which also gives the city a different vibe. Mosques are dotted on every corner. Men wearing long, white galibeyas (full sleeved shirts that go all the way to the ground) are the norm and women tend to be much more conservatively dressed than in the capital (bear this in mind when packing).

Unlike Accra, Tamale has very little in the way of sights and nightlife: better just to amble aimlessly around and soak up the atmosphere. The streets arranged in grid-system between the STC bus station and the Vodafone tower is a particularly nice place to stroll. People here are very welcoming, and you’ll likely stumble upon women out in the street pounding fufu. Just be careful of the many, many, goats – I found myself caught up in something of a stampede!

Both the central market and the Cultural Centre are worthwhile visits. The central market straddles the main tro-tro and taxi station. It’s a mishmash of stalls selling just about everything: from household goods, to clothes, to fabrics, to food (you may want to breathe through your mouth when walking through the meat section). There is also an interesting section selling materials for traditiona medicine, including various crushed up bones, leopard skin, and horse tails.

The market seems to be a particularly good place to buy fabrics, particularly batik, as well as men’s smocks. These items, which men all over the country wear are baggy sleeveless shirts, with a v-neck, and flared into a triangle shape at the chest. Most have vertically striped patterns. There are rows upon rows of stalls where you can see men weaving these smocks by both hand and by machine. Expect to pay around 50 cedi (£10) for a machine woven smock and around 80 cedi (£16) if it’s hand woven. Everyone in the market is very friendly. The weavers will happily talk you through the production of smocks and allow you to take pictures, even if you tell them you’re not buying. I also had a very amusing exchange with a woman selling rice after I asked to take a photograph of her enormous bowls of rice, stacked up in high heaps. She shrugged and called me a “funny, strange, obruni*”, evidently not understanding why I would want to photograph rice. I explained that in my country we don’t sell rice like this – it comes in small bags. This was apparently hysterical.

The Cultural Centre, about a 10 minute walk from the central market is not a “cultural centre” as we might use the term. Like the Cultural Centre in Accra, it is simply a tourist-oriented market selling such things as beads, bags, African masks, carvings, drums, painting and ready made batik clothing. Unlike the Cultural Centre in Accra it is a hassle-free zone, with friendly vendors who will happily chat away and allow you to browse without going in for a hard sell. Prices also seem to be better than in Accra (though many are fixed price, which can be a mixed blessing).

I’m afraid, however, that I have no good recommendations for places to eat in Tamale. I ate at a few places recommended by the Bradt Guide but find myself disagreeing with its conclusions. Sparkles Restaurant, located in the Cultural Centre, was very disappointing. The menu is varied and includes both Ghanaian and Chinese dishes for around 15-20 cedi (£3-4). Unfortunately the food took a long time to arrive and when it did none of us actually received what we had ordered. We accepted anyway, but most of what we had was very bland indeed. The jolof rice in particular was a let down, tasting more like fried rice and really lacking in any flavour.

The food at the Catholic Guest House, though prompt and extremely generous in its portions, was all so salty it tasted like the ocean. Unfortunately guinea fowl, a speciality in Tamale, was off the menu owing to the current ebola outbreak in neighbouring countries and WHO advice to avoid bush meat.

Suad Fast Food, just down the road from the Catholic Guest House, however, was pretty good – though the Indian dishes were notably better than other items on the menu. Curries are good value at around 20 cedis (£4), including rice or naan. Better value still are some of the street vendors just outside which sell mouthwatering kebabs for around 2 cedi (40p).

The Catholic Guest House, salty food aside, is recommended for budget travellers. It is 1.5km out of the city centre, but very close to a rank for shared taxis, which will take you into the centre of town for 1 cedi (20p). The staff are extremely friendly and the rooms, though simple, are clean and come with their own en suite bathrooms (cold showers only). The green grounds are a pleasant place to relax in with a drink. Staff will store your baggage free of charge if you are heading to Mole and coming back in a few days. A “single” room with fan costs 35 cedi (£7), though this is actually a room with a double bed. A twin room with fan costs 42 cedi. Expect to pay around 10 cedi more per room for AC.

*white person