Greater Accra Region, Ghana, Africa, Planet Earth

The past 20 minutes I've spent trying to decide how to proceed with this blog entry. The best way to relay our trip, I believe, is to break down the journey by regions within Ghana, including the photos and notes that best represent my experience while there.

PERSPECTIVE
Above is a map of Africa with an overlay of the United States. I've positioned the state of Oregon over the country of Ghana to give you an idea of relative size. While in Ghana for 10 days, we covered only 25% of its land mass visiting 5 regions (Greater Accra, Central, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, and Eastern) and 4 significant cities (Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi, and Techiman) and a number of smaller towns or villages.

GREATER ACCRA REGION





Accra (ăk'rə, or ə-krä') - although it appears that it's proper to pronounce the capitol city either way, the locals say it uh-KRAW. As you can see from the photos above, there's lots going on here. The first photo is of the Madina Market (one of a number of outdoor markets we visited). It's crowded, colorful, musical, and is filled with young women and girls hurrying by with a variety of things balanced on their heads. You shop here for fresh fruits or vegetables, prepared food (wrapped in banana leaves not plastic), dried fish, spices, cloth (which can be made into a piece of clothing on the spot by one of many seamstresses), etc. You can't find souvenirs or the like. Ghanaians (I heard it pronounced both guh-NAY-un and guh-NEE-un) shop here like Americans would shop at a Safeway. The second photo is of car traffic through another Accra marketplace, but is pretty representative of what any busy street looks like. The 3rd photo is a line (or it is better described as a group) of trotros and taxis. Trotros (TRO-tro) are roughly equivalent to city buses, but are actually 15-passenger vans. I'm sure it must be written in Ghanaian law that they cannot travel slower than 50mph, must have at least 15 adults and 5 or 6 children on laps, and must be able to carry anything from a wooden bedframe to a goat lashed on top. They're dirt cheap, though. The cost for most rides is less than one dollar U.S. per person. The taxis are independently owned and, as far as we could tell, are not governed in any way. Most of the taxi drivers don't know the places where tourists would go (say a restaurant that serves Continental food or a hotel), but that doesn't stop them from saying they do know and then asking a minimum of 15 people along the way. We eventually got everywhere we wanted to go, so the system must work. You negotiate (a whole section of my blog entry must be dedicated to that word) the fare before getting in the taxi, so if it takes the driver 10 times as many kilometers as it should, he (and it's always a he) is the one who loses out. The final photo is of Riviera Beach. Ghana is a coastal country, and Accra is a coastal city. While in Accra, Laurie and I stayed in the Afia Beach Hotel - a beautiful resort - for a pittance. The hotel backed up to Riviera Beach.

I see I've started a book and haven't even scratched the surface. I'll publish this much and continue to add regions so check again over the next several days.

Into Africa

I'm not taking my laptop with me, so this will be my last entry until I return to Martha's Vineyard on the 19th of the month. Until then, "Kyeng song" (that's farewell in the Ghanaian language of Dagaare).

Sometimes only others can speak what we ourselves cannot...

Art Spander:

The longer you stay in one place, the greater your chances of disillusionment.

Anais Nin:

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.

Unattributed:

People generally feel indignant when they are accused of something they did not do. It is a difficult thing to deal with when you are misunderstood and misjudged.

Anne Frank:

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.

Mohandas K. Gandhi:

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Abraham Lincoln:

It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away."

Gonna Go to Ghana

Duffel/Backpack and another bag about half this size will be what I travel with for this trip.

My project for today is to gather everything I need to take in one place and see if it all fits in the bags I want to take. I'm 50% there, now I just have to get energy enough to pack everything!

Here are a few facts about the trip and about Ghana (#16 on below map):

• Flight time between New York's JFK and Accra, Ghana - 10 1/2 hours
• NYC weather forecast for Wednesday (when we take off) - 40 degrees and rainy
• Accra weather forecast for Thursday (when we arrive) - 87 degrees and rainy
• Time difference - Ghana is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Time

Ghana is in Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast) and Togo
Area - approx 148,000 sq miles (slightly smaller than Oregon)
Natural Hazards - dry, dusty, northeastern harmattan winds occur from January to March; droughts
Polulation - 23.4 million (about the population of Texas) divided as follows:

0-14 years: 37.8%
15-64 years: 58.7%
65 years and over: 3.6%

Literacy - approx. 58% of Ghanaians over the age of 15 can read or write (vs. 96% in U.S.)
Internet Users - 650,000 (approx 2.8% of population vs. 72.5% in U.S.)
Transnational Issues - illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; major transit hub for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin

More detailed info about Ghana

Suggested Packing List for Ghana Travel

(from the Cultural and Academic Travel Organisation)

Toiletries:

Bug Spray

Sun Screen

Band-Aids

Antibacterial Ointment

After-Bite

Chapstick

Shampoo

Body Wash

Toothpaste/Toothbrush

Deodorant

Individually Packaged Antibacterial Wipes

Individually Packaged Body Wipes

Individually Packaged Face Wipes

Pads/Tampons (as needed; bring enough!)

Mini Toilet Paper Roll

Medications:

Prescriptions

Anti-Malarial Meds

Pain Reliever

Anti-Diarrhea Pills

Allergy Pills

Tums or Other Antacid

Miscellaneous:

Towel

Sleep Sack

Flashlight

Money Belt

Brush

Hair Scrunchies

Documents:

Passport

Airline Tickets

Itinerary

Extra Passport Photos

Copies of Passport/Tickets/Credit Cards

Customer Service Numbers for Credit Cards

Clothing:

(Aside from the basic underwear, socks, shorts, and shirts)

Long Sleeved Shirt

Long (or Convertible) Pants

Cardigan or Light Fleece

(All for night protection against bugs)

Rain Jacket

Hat

Bandanna

Sneakers

Sandals

Flip Flops for Bathing

Other:

Day Pack

Journal

Books for Reading

Camera

Film or Memory Card

Recording Device/Mic

Blank Discs/Tapes

Batteries

Gifts for Hosts/New Friends

Up Island Bus Tour

House on Vineyard Sound

Aquinnah and Gay Head

Beach at Aquinnah

Fishing boat in Menemsha


Frozen pond in Chilmark

I was getting cabin fever the last few days, so today I decided to just ride the bus to get out for a change of scenery. It took about 2 1/2 hours to do the loop that starts in Vineyard Haven, goes through West Tisbury, Chilmark (including Menemsha), Aquinnah, and back. I enjoyed it thoroughly and for 90% of the ride, I was the only one on the bus. At one point I passed a farm with a couple of horses standing in the snow near the barn. One of the horses was basically a beautiful chestnut color but had several large splotches of white. I found myself wishing I could turn to Dad and ask him if that was what was called piebald.

Besides taking some photos, I had some time to think about how to achieve more quality in my writing. A few days ago I read a foreword to a section of the Childcraft Volume 1 Section called Children's Own Verse. The foreword was written in 1934 by an NYC professor who believed even then that children have a natural ability to speak in what we adults would call poetry or literature. I enjoyed reading the selections by children in elementary schools all over the U.S., and it made me realize that I don't need to be more sophisticated to write...I need to be less sophisticated and more elemental. So much of what we write is influenced by others, or by our fears of what others will think of us. Children are honest (although in 2009 they are more quickly "corrupted" than they were in 1934), and I hope to peel away the layers of protection we build up around our hearts as we grow up in order to get to the core of my writing style - that essential and innocent self.

Watercolors, Ice Showers, and Preparing for Africa

I got a great gift of a portable watercolor set from my cousin's family. Today I tried it out. The result looks very much like a 5th grader painted it, but I know by now in order to be good at anything, you have to practice. It was fun and when the weather warms up in the spring, I can definitely see myself taking the set out to paint.

Today was a bit warmer - right around freezing as the high. The shower froze, but with a few tricks, some patience, and good advice from a friend, all is now well. Tonight the bathroom gets either the space heater or a little hot water running through the pipes.

Earlier, the sky was the color of icicles hanging from the eaves of a house...not gray, but a kind of translucent silver. No one clears the sidewalks here, but it was pretty easy to walk in the streets and get around town. My prescriptions are now filled for Africa - I start taking the anti-malarial drug on Monday and continue it the entire time we're in Africa, plus a week afterward.

New Year's Morning 2009

The sun is shining brightly this morning and the sky is the pale blue of a robin's egg. The temperature is far from what a robin's appearance would herald in spring. It was 8 degrees when I awoke.

My sleep was fitful last night. The wind has so many characters: one moment it is a wolf in the full moon's light, the next it is a locomotive on a long stretch of prairie track, but most often here it steals the character of the sea from which it comes...roaring and pounding as if it were waves upon the shore.

I laughed at myself in the mirror yesterday when I returned from my walk to the Post Office, drug store, and bagel shop. An umbrella would have been useless in the wind, and I neglected to attach my hood to my coat so my head remained bare. It snowed the entire time...a wet, sticky snow. When I came back to the cottage and went to dry my hair, the snow had soaked it and then refrozen it in little strands with icicles hanging from the tips! It was a funny sight, but next time it snows I'll be sure to take the time to attach my hood before venturing out.