West Africa Part 3 (Ghana)

The last stop on our three country tour of West Africa was Ghana.  If you missed the first two, click HERE for the first installment.

Arriving in Ghana, the first thing one notices after traveling through Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire is that everyone here speaks English. I was actually kinda getting comfortable with my French, or my terrible french...but still some words of a different language were being uttered out of my mouth! This was quite refreshing, especially when arriving late at night at a part of the airport other than where your ride was supposed to pick you up and trying to negotiate the use of a cell phone to coordinate with said ride. Lemme just interject here.  After getting off the plane we are shuffled into this small room with everyone else from the plane, to wait in line, have an ebola check and then what we thought was customs.  Not once was their any announcement of needing to fill out forms or anything.  But you were supposed to.  Thanks Ghana.  So we wrangled some forms and no pen.  I took a pen off of a desk and was promptly told that it was not my pen to take.  Thanks Ghana.  Ok, so we then survived the customs process to walk around the corner to our bags, right there.  Nice!  And then around the corner again to be BAM! outside.  Wait, that was it?  That was the whole airport?  The sight out side the airport was quite something.  Men standing around with GIANT wads of cash for currency exchange.  I wanted to ask what their rate and commission was...., so our driver was no where to be found (we were early) and this nice gentleman saw that we were obviously tourist and 'helped' us.  Well, let us use his phone.  It cost us about $5, but it was totally worth it,,  Welcome to Ghana! 

  Anyway, unlike all of it's neighbors, Ghana was formerly a British colony.  Gold is what drew in European traders and still does today (though these investors today are Chinese and Indian as opposed to Portugese and British from the 15th century.).

Like much of the rest of West Africa, Ghana is hot, humid, but full of happy people, prosperity, and promise.  Often hailed as the democratic success story, Ghana certainly feels more politically stable than it's neighbors, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement as with any other country in the world.

A couple hours southeast of the capital of Accra is Cape Coast.  This town would normally be unassuming had it not been for two imposing structures: Elmina Castle (St. George's) and Cape Coast Castle.  Like on Goree Island in Senegal, these structures tell the story of West Africa's history from the mid-1400's to today.  Built as a trade post by the Portuguese for the trade of primary goods from inside the continent, the deep dark keeps of these forts found new purpose as the hottest commodity from the region became the population itself as a new barbaric trade spanned the course of centuries before being banned in the mid 19th century.  Still these castles tell a story that's worth hearing, but more importantly feeling (not hard to do as you gaze upon the door of no return and think about the last sights, and thoughts of thousands going through this port.)

Ryan called me a total tourist for taking this photo.  But I thought it was fitting.  

The "Governors" room.  This is where he would pick his date for the evening.  

Door of no return at Elmina Castle 

Beach area used by ocean-going vessel from the 15th through 19th century

Obligatory picture next to a gun

After spending a couple of great days in Cape Coast and Kumasi (a place where we sadly took no pictures for some reason) (it was too hot for pictures) , we returned to Accra to take in some history a little more close to the present. Along they way we stopped at a few hotels I found on Booking.com ...it is now called Booking.fail in our house and Ryan is no longer in charge of finding hotels...that didn't quite meet expectations (what little I had), but as people are fond of saying, T.I.A. (This is Africa)

So Ryan has been waiting for me to write and tell y'all about our hotel adventures in Africa.  Now, re-read the last part of that sentence.  We were staying in hotels in Africa.  To anyone that has PCSed across the US with out a care in the world, the thought of a comfy bed and a shower is something that comes normally.  Sure, when you are on an actual vacation you will spring for the more expensive place to stay.  Perhaps with a king size comfy bed and a hot shower.  But that is not a thing of normalcy when traveling around Africa.  Now listen here, I AM NOT COMPLAINING.  Well maybe a little, just because Ryan got my hopes up with awesome reviews and 4 stars.  But I do understand that life is different anywhere you go.  And I just want to explain for those who would like to travel to the places we have explored.  FAO or not. 

So our first hotel in Cape Coast, first off we couldn't find it.  Our driver had the hardest time.  The directions given from the 'front desk' staff were take a right after the secondary school on your left and we are right there.  No, they were not right there.  So after some serious frustration and me eyeing the teeny tiny sign on the house, we found it.  It was very unassuming.  That's fine.  Now our room.  ::le sigh:: and not in a good way.  A small room  After sitting in a car for six hours we needed some time apart, but there was no where to go to get away.  There was no trash can.  Really?  That was strange, but there were cold drinks in the fridge.  Bonus!  I had read in one online review that the power had gone out one night and the staff was quick to fix the problem.  So when we got home from dinner I was not surprised to see that the neighborhood was dark, and the staff was scrambling to turn on the generator.  Which was right outside our window.  And the power did not actually turn on til about 5 am.  So we had the calming whirl of the gas generator as a gentle lullaby all night.  But the white noise was enough to keep the kid asleep while the people in the lobby yelled and threw a party all night long.  And I was wondering about the giant bucket of water in the bathroom.  Well duh, its to flush the toilet when the power goes out.  At least they are prepared. Oh and  no hot shower.  Our driver, Foster, laughed at me when I asked about hot showers.  I am sure he thought of me as "that dumb American" the rest of the trip.  But I honestly didn't know.  

And for hotel number two, in Kumasi.  Now this place just makes me shake my head in utter disappointment.  Obviously my expectations were not that high bc of the night before.  But Ryan reassured me that this was going to be the best place ever.  I just wanted a hot shower and a good meal.  Neither of which I got.  When we first got there our room was not ready. Of course not!  The previous occupant was still in there bc of car troubles.  But it was nice to know that they would let us stay if we had no where else to go.  One problem right off the bat was that the staff did not speak English.  I understand that there are many different languages being spoken, but ugh.  Two hours later, our room was ready. And it was a WONDERFUL room!!!  King size bed, separate alcove for the kid.  The bathroom was less than unpleasant, but hey.  The toilet flushed.  (But that was about it) The chef personally came to our room and asked what we wanted for dinner.  We were the only guests and I suspect that he was happy to have something to do.  Poor guy.  Dinner was ready promptly at seven, and was edible.  I am willing to try anything once, but I would rather not eat then have an upset stomach for the rest of the trip.  Plus, knowing that you will be sitting in the car for at least four hours the next day really makes you examine your meal choices.  Anyway, my diet of french fries continued that night.  The kid ate a piece of bread and ketchup.  That was the norm for our trip.  Ryan tore through his "beef curry", Gross.  Anyway.  We went back to our room to retire for the evening.  That is when we found that there was no water pressure.  Well, more like no water at all coming from the faucet.  Called the front desk, she said some one would come up and no one did. So we all took ice cold wash cloth showers.  But at least we were clean. We went to sleep and were happy for the comfy bed. At about 1 am the power went out.  Ok, that's fine,  Woke up at two in a puddle of sweat.  Ok, I thought they are working on it.  Then the kid woke up.  Then we were all up.  Ryan went down to the front desk (bc the phones didn't work) to find the dude sleeping on the couch and oblivious to the world.  Luckily the power was on before Ryan even made it  back up the stairs but our fate was sealed.  Awake, sweaty with a baby at four am.  Meh. Oh oh oh!  And if you ask for a pack and play on your reservation sheet, just take it and smile. The gal was very happy to bring us a bassinet for our 30 lb 18 month old child.  When I said that I didnt need it bc we had brought our own she actually looked sad. Poor thing. 

 In 1957, when Ghana became the first European colony to gain independence, newly elected President Kwame Nkrumah was hailed as a nationalist hero of pan-African anti-colonialism.  But the honeymoon would be short lived, as many of Nkrumah's Marxist policies ran the economy into the ground.  The military staged a coup d'etat not 10 years later and this happened to poor Nkruman (the statue, not the man).

Later, in the spirit of national reconciliation, the people slowly chose to forgive (but never forget) as evidenced by the giant park and memorial gardens that bear his name (and also his tomb).

Independence Square and parade ground

As far as food is concerned, I am a fan of Ghana.  Sabrina also declared it her 14th favourite ( I see what you did there with the spelling, clever boy!) former British colony.  This place is no stranger to good seafood.  Like Senegal, fish on the bone is a go-to around these parts.  Something else I found I love down here is plantains.  You can do just about anything with them (reminds me a bit of Bubba and his shrimp in Forest Gump)  Fufu (ground casava meal) is also big and quite tasty with the right sauce.

Finally, like all good things, our trip came to an end.  And like most trips in this part of the world, it happened on yet another plane.  Nothing like a toast of warm beer (in the best British tradition) to cap off this adventure.

Happy to be headed home to Morocco.  I do have to say that was one of my favorite parts of the trip...When some one would ask where we lived, I would say Morocco...and the look of just total confusion that would be on their faces was priceless. 

I do hope that you guys enjoyed reading about our adventures. It was a great way to kick off our year long IRT and I cant wait for our next adventure down south coming this summer.  But its their winter.  Wait, we are going below the equator?!  Seriously. Epic.  Do the toilets really swirl the other way?  I am sure we will blog about it. 


 I am going to write an entry about the trials and tribulations of traveling with a toddler.   Seriously, its horrendous. I will publicly apologize to everyone we stayed with and encountered on the trip for his atrocious behavior.  He is getting help for his Bubble Guppies addiction.