Last day in Ghana, trouble with the law

The day we were due to fly home we decided to try to drive an hour away to Lake Volta to take a ferry ride. We were slightly pressed for time because we had to catch the ferry at 10:30am, which lasted until 4:30, make it home pack up, say farewell and head to the airport at 7:30pm. Needless to say, if you know me, you know it was on my mind.

Now I should preface this antidote with a story about the first proper day we were in Accra. We were sitting outside at Rhapsody's having a few beers, sweating a bit more than what I consider comfortable, but again, first day...

All of a sudden there is a commotion going on in the adjacent parking lot, literally 25 meters from where we are sitting. A cop was harassing a taxi driver. Screaming at the top of his lungs for him to sit down, flailing his hands and his rifle all over the place. The driver was barely responding at all, maybe this further angered the cop, because he started to beat him with his hand. He was roughing him up pretty aggressively. I was pretty shocked.
"Welcome to Africa" Akwasi smiled.

After discussing this with a few other Ghanaians, people came to agree that the police in Ghana are quick to get angered, and are often looking for a bribe. Needless to say it struck me, and set the tone for any interactions with authority for the rest of the trip. Luckily, besides roadside checkpoints, there was very little interactions with police.

Fast forward to the last day.
First off after a series of unfortunate events, which included forgetting someone behind, and a flat tire, we were running a little bit behind schedule. Now a friend of Charles' had loaned us a car he had recently imported into the country. Because it was imported it had temporary plates. In addition to the temporary plates you have to carry a log book with all the details about why the car has the temporary plates. Ok fine.

So after helping Akwasi with his flat, Chandra, Charles, his sister Pricila, and I headed off to Akosombo. About twenty minutes down the road, there is a police check point. We pull up, and two cops lean in both windows. One asks for the log book. Charles has no idea about that... so the guy takes his gun off quickly and yells at us to pull over. It was the taking-off-of-the-gun that made my stomach drop a bit. Charles got out of the car, got yelled at, and after about 30 minutes and a crisp bill, we were off.

Ten minutes and all of the sudden we were at another one, except this time the cop flew off the handle immediately. Ranting and raving, we pulled over, and sweated out in the car. He made us get out of the car, claiming that he had to impound the car. No bathroom, no water, two hours of raving madness, marching, and huffing. Even some of the other cops there commented on the fact that the ring leader was being unusually unreasonable.

Finally Charles' parents came from their home, over an hour away, and talked the guy down. I don't know if money was exchanged, but we missed the ferry, and were in general exhausted.

While I felt extremely safe for the most part of my trip, the only time I felt uncomfortable in Ghana, was around the cops.

After the club ...

Victoria came in on Sunday morning and said "After you go to the club, you go to church."

I think I may have noted in a past blog that church is slightly longer for Charismatics, which is what Akwasi's family is, than an American Catholic service.


Although Adwoa said something about 2 hours, after 3.5 hours Chandra and I started to wonder. Four hours in total the day we went. No air conditioning either.

Charistmatics are closely related to pentecostal Christians, and speak in tongues. True to the name, parts of the service were very vibrant.

My favorite part was seeing everyone dressed up.

That and Chandra nodded off at one point during the service (it was hard to stay awake especially since it was so hot) and an older lady sitting behind us told Victoria to wake her up. Victoria made Chandra come and sit by her. Flashback to St. Thomas.

Small world & crazy nights

Many Ghanaians who are studying or working in the US are home for vacation, including some people from Yale, and those we've met who have visited Akwasi at school.

In addition to the tourist sites, we've done our fair share of partying with these guys and friends of Akwasi's from high school.

Burning the nights up in Ghana...

These Swiss tourists...

may or may not have though Charles was 50 cent.


They came over and asked for a picture with him.

Kakum National Park

In addition to Cape Coast, we traveled about a half an hour north to Kakum National Park, which has a canopy walk above the rain forest floor (one of four in the world).

Most people have asked me if we were going to go on a safari in Africa, but the southern part of Ghana is rain forest.




I didn't think that Ghana could get any more hot or humid for that matter, but I was wrong.
The guide book I brought along had noted that the canopy walk was a bit over emphasized, but I was completely amazed. Approximately 200 ft up, the view was quite breathtaking.

The untouched trees stretched up forever, some were so tall, it looked like they would never stop growing.


The seven bridges were single file; a plank of wood on a metal ladder with rope netting. A little scary at first, because the bridges easily sway, but once you get over looking down at the plank you are walking on, it's quite beautiful.

Gorgeous.

Cape Coast

The car rental was for a trip that Kwasi, Charles, a friend of Kwasi's from Chicago home for break, Andrea, Chandra and I went on to Cape Coast, about two hours west of Accra.



Cape coast castle was a major holding station in the transatlantic slave trade, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.






The scenery was extremely beautiful on the coast, in contrast to the very somber museum, which is the first stop on the tour.


For me, it was reminiscent of visiting a concentration camp when I was in Germany in 2003.

One difference was that the tour guide after the museum was full of jokes, some slightly less appropriate than others. That sort of lightened the atmosphere, although I guess I would have preferred to feel the weight of the moment instead.




Inside, the holding rooms were very dark, and it would have been very crowded. For the tour of about 20 people, some of the rooms where they would hold two to three times as many people already seemed desperately hot, claustrophobic and overwhelming.















They have a small library there for anyone to come and read. Interestingly I saw this sign there:

Music in Ghana

You cannot go the day with out hearing this song



it is everywhere, in pubs, as ringtones, in the gas station, catching your ear as you ride in a taxi.

Ringing in the new year

Like Christmas, New Years Eve is more about church than anything else here in Ghana.

Victoria and Ako spent NYE at their church from 8 to 2am. The rest of the family spent it at home.

Akwasi and I, after a long day, decided to head to Shakes, the spot we first visited the night we arrived, where many of his high school friends hang out. It was just like any other night except for at about 12:15 we realized it was the first and toasted. In all it was a great night, no ball or MTV countdown, no hype, no worries about special outfits or cover charges. Just friends and beer.

Happy New Year!

Vacation on vacation

A few days, after trampsing (according to the urban dictionary that is a word) all over Accra we've been so tired and sweaty, we needed to jump in a pool. So we did.

At most hotels here you can pay to use the pool and facilities.

Golden Tulip Hotel was where we crashed for a few hours and did hand stands and flips in the water, with the other ten year-olds.

Although the hotel was nice with the pool, air conditioning and wireless, we agreed that we were glad we weren't staying there. You don't get a feel for the city in the sheltered compound of the hotel, or even with in walking distance from it.

Traffic, roads and speed bumps

Once, I think I was in seventh grade, a teacher explained the concept of deadlock.I never fully understood how that actually could happen, until I got to Ghana.

While there are areas of Accra that have traffic lights, most of the places we drove did not. No lights and no stop signs makes for very aggressive and very defensive driving.

One thing that helps slow things down is major speed bumps and pot holes; although we frequently travel five in a car, which means the bottom of the car takes a beating.

In all areas there are constant, what Akwasi called, hockers.

Children, from what looked like eight and up, and adults alike sell everything: plantain chips, toilet paper, apples, loaves of bread and gum. As soon as you pull up to the light (or over on the side of the road), then hustle up to the window to showcase their products.

Although I hadn't seen on in Accra, in Tema there were also children dressed as clowns, collecting money on the side of the road in the same manner. Apparently that is a seasonal thing.

Rental cars here mostly come with a driver. To get one to drive on your own requires very expensive insurance. We rented an SUV with 6 seats besides the driver. For a day the car costs 120 cedis, plus twenty for the driver, plus gas, totaling about ~ 200 dollars.

A cheap way to get around is a trotro. These are small vans with as many seats as possible, that pick people up from the side of the road. Similar to a bus, but not as standardized; a taxi on a track of sorts. Usually there is one guy who hangs out the side of the van calling out for passengers, shouting the destination. The driver and passengers also use hand signals for where they are going, a short ways up the road, a longer ways up the road, downtown Accra, etc.


When the trotro isn't full, it's your best option. It varies, but the couple of trotros I've been on averaged about 20 cents for the cost of the ride.


When its full, it can get rather hot. And dusty.

In this ambulance sized trotro I rode at night, when you have to scramble just to get on one, there were twenty three people plus a crying child.

Pictures updated

I added some pictures to the post about the beach...