Ghana II

[Rogue Valley]

Currency in Ghana - The main currency in Ghana is called the New Ghana Cedi (SEE-DEE/GH₵). Cedi is the Ghanaian word for the cowry-shell which was the currency pre-colonialism. Cedi banknotes are color-coded and come in denominations of 1 cedi, 2 cedis, 5 cedis, 10 cedis, 20 cedis, 50 cedis, 100 cedis, and 200 cedis. The coin is the pesewa and there are 100 pesewa to 1 cedi. Pesewa come in demoninations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 1 Cedi, and 2 Cedi. I would recommend exchanging hard currencies such as dollars and euros asap after entering the country. Hold back some hard currency for an emergency. You will not need any large Cedi bills except for expensive purchases or for rent.

Travel - Vehicles in Ghana drive on the right-hand side on divided streets as they do in the United States. Traffic lights are the familiar red/yellow/green and road signs in Ghana are in English. The quality of streets depends on where you are. They are quite excellent in the wealthy cantonments, paved but with potholes in most city areas, and uneven dirt roads in poorer city areas and in rural areas. Traffic laws are only sporadically enforced and there are many accidents. Purchase insurance. Have your plates, tags, and paperwork in order. In the cities, traffic on the main thoroughfares can be bumper-to-bumper for miles. Any kind of vehicle can be either purchased or ordered in Ghana. I found that the best way to get around in the cities is either by bicycle or motorcycle. Motorcycles are very popular and you need nothing larger than 350cc. Gasoline stations are plentiful, mostly Total and Shell. Whether you walk, ride a bicycle, or ride a motorcycle always remember, Ghana sits on the equator and the sun is merciless. The Heat Index (temp/humidity/dew point) is almost always at least 100°F by noon. Although every lot in Ghana has a digital address, only the large business buildings have an address on their exterior. So you need one of two things if you plan on taking the transportation modes below. You either need the street names of the closest intersection to where you want to go, or you need a "landmark" destination (such as "the Makola market" in Accra). Sometimes something such as "the yellow row-house on Akasanoma Road" will suffice. Any of the many tourist companies will work with you on a tour of Ghana via a luxury bus, by Land Rover, etc.

Buses - There are two varieties of buses in Ghana, the gorgeous air-conditioned tourist and rental buses, and the municipal buses. The municipal buses charge a small fee no matter how far on the route you are going and an extra fee for baggage etc. The price is usually a few pesewa.

Taxis - All taxis in Ghana must have either gold or orange quarterpanels that make them instantly identifiable. Most taxis are compacts with a hatchback for storing carry-on items. Taxis are generally not air-conditioned and do not have a trip-meter, so it is important to agree on a price prior to service. Haggling is expected. I swear there are 15 taxis or more for every private vehicle in Accra and Kumasi.

Tro-Tro - "tro" means three-pence in the Ga language. Tro-tro are privately owned vans that have been modified for more seats and sometimes a raised roof. Mostly older Mercedes-Benz, Ford Transits, Chevrolets, Toyotas, or Nissans. They all have a thin flourescent yellow stripe on both sides and the back, and sometimes religious sayings are painted on. This is close-quarter seating so be courteous and respectful to your fellow passengers. Each tro-tro has a driver and his assistant. Each tro-tro has a dedicated route if travels everyday. These also have no ride-meter, so agree on a price as you enter. The assistant will collect all fares. Whenever the tro-tro comes to one of its route stops and some passengers have stepped out, the assistant hangs out of the big sliding side door and tries to entice new riders. A tro-tro will not continue on its route until all seats are filled. You can get the tro-tro to stop anywhere along the route by notifying the assistant. The assistants work hard and make very little money. I always gave them an extra Cedi for a bottle of water. People along the tro-tro route can wait at the designated stops (the curb is usually painted yellow there) or anywhere along the route someone can stand by the street and point their index finger down. If there is any room, the tro-tro will stop and fit them in. In many tro-tros the windows either don't (or won't) open so the large side sliding door is kept fully open on the journey for ventilation. The best seat is usually behind the driver, because his window is always open.

I will post more information on Ghana as time permits. My initial post can be found here.....

Ghana

I once spent 1½ years in Ghana which is a West African nation of about 32 million. Ghana has a coastline of ~335 miles on the Gulf of Guinea. The Greenwich Meridian passes through the city of Tema which is an industrial town about 16 miles east of the capital city Accra. The equator goes right...

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Tourist bus in Accra, Ghana

Metro bus in Accra, Ghana

 

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Typical privately owned taxi in Accra, Ghana

Tro-tro picking up passengers in Accra, Ghana

 

[Rogue Valley]

Accra (ac/KRA) Ghana is a city of 5,000,000 inhabitants. Accra is the largest city in Ghana and the capital city. It is located in West Africa on the southern coast of the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. Both the Prime Meridian (the Greenwich Meridian which separates east from west on maps) and the Equator (which separates north and south on maps) intersect just off the coast of Ghana. The climate is tropical with 2 dry seasons and 2 rainy seasons. I lived in Ghana for 18 months and can't remember the temperature ever dipping below 70°F. Accra is divided into neighborhoods which is done via one's wealth. Wealthy Ghaneans and foreigners live in upscale neighborhoods that are called the Cantonments. Homes are in the $500,000 - $1,500,000 range. Condo/apartment rents are high. Everything works in the Cantonments which are subdivided into gated communities. The electricity works 24/7 as does the water system. The roads are perfect and a police presence is high. Homes are also behind walls and the driveway gates are electric. In the Cantonments are also modern shopping centers with big box food stores and indoor air-conditioned malls. No matter where you shop in Ghana you will need to use the legal GHS tender which is also called the cedi (cee/dee) which comes in various paper and coin denominations. Most businesses and people will not accept dollars or euros except for a rent payment and high-end purchases such as refrigerators and vehicles etc. The indoor malls feature stores similar to those found in American/European malls. All employess working in the malls are very good English speakers. The English in Ghana is British English and is the national language. But in most of the city outside the Cantonments the tribal languages are the everyday lingua franca, and the major ones are Akan, Ewe, Twi, and Ga.

The rest of the city beyond the Cantonments is informally divided into commercial and residental areas. The most striking feature of this Accra are the outdoor markets. They are virtually everywhere and operate 24/7. You will find sellers on the front sidewalks of every building and in every parking lot. Those huge patio umbrellas are everywhere. This is the grassroots flea-market economy that feeds and sustains the Accra populace. You can find virtually everything in the outdoor markets, clothes, jewelry, shoes, mobile phone cards, food items, etc. etc. etc. The largest of the Accra outdoor markets is the Makola market. Roads in these Accra neighborhoods run tha gamut from pavement to dirt. You can walk all day and never cover even a quarter of the Makola open markets. Traffic is bumper-to-bumper for miles. It is difficult to describe. What at first appears to be chaos is actually a finely tuned economic machine where each individual plays a part. Women predominate in the open markets by about a 70/30 ratio. When I have more time I will describe some of the jobs that are necessary to keep the open markets functional and thriving such as the 'Kayayei' ..... the women who transport all manner of things on their heads without missing a beat.

 

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Continuing, today I will write about Ghana's kayayei, the women who transport items on their heads. The kayayei are the backbone of Ghana's street markets. In Ghana, females are taught at a very early age (beginning at 6-8) to balance items on their heads. This applies to all females, from the very wealthy to the very poor. As the informal training of a young girl by family members progresses, larger and heavier items are added to the millieu. By the time a female reaches the age of 12-14, she can transport all sorts of items in this manner. The hands are not used at all in this.. It is simply an uncanny learned knack of balance.

In the street markets of the big cities of Ghana, female's who transport goods on their heads are called kayayei. A kayayei can work for herself or her family, or she can be employed by a lone seller or group of sellers. Because the street markets in the cities are so large, most kayayei will only work at one particular market, and only work a particular sub-section of that market. As an example in Accra, work the Makola market but remain near the Cocoa House building. How this is done is the kayayei all wear head scarves. Then they take a piece of heavier cloth and manipulate that into a circle about 6 inches in diameter and 3 inches in height. This goes on top of the head and whatever they transport will sit on top of this round piece of material. If they have to transport say many bulky boxes, a 3 foot long wooden board will go top of the round cloth and the boxes are then stacked on the board. All kayayei wear an apron with one or two pockets. This is for carrying their earnings and any change they must give back to customers. The currency in Ghana is the GHS (called the cedi 'CD' by everyone). Many kayayei will also carry one of those 2' high plastic stackable stools. The plastic stool is for either the kayayei to sit down a rest a bit, or for putting her load down on the stool so customers can choose what they want to purchase (say different brands of pop or juice). The kayayei either transport or directly sell what they are carrying. Many sell the food or drink they are carrying on their heads.

The kayayei work about 12 hours a day. Many are from the rural north where jobs are scarce. You can sometimes tell when a women comes from the rural areas because many have a small scar on the cheek which is a tribal custom in some regions. Sometimes they work alone and sometimes other females from the family will form a kayayei co-op. When I had occasion to employ a kayayei, I always tipped them 3 cedi (this was enough to purchase a filling lunch or dinner in the markets or at a 'chop house'). Not all women with items on their head are kayayei. Even wealthy women shopping the street markets will carry what they purchase in a bag which is carried on the head. As if the head load and the small stool wasn't enough, many kayayei also carry a baby on their back. There are no child care centers in Ghana and even if there was most women could not afford it, so they bring baby along as they work. I once sat next to a resting kayayei on a bench and discovered she spoke excellent British-accented English. In her early twenties, she said the money she made as a kayayei went toward her law school tuition. A kayayei during the day on on certain days night classes at the Accra Law School. But school consumed most of her money and left her with no money for a place to live so she slept on the side of the road. "Isn't that dangerous?" She said that God protects her. I never once saw a kayayei drop anything they were carrying, no matter how crowded the market. During the dry seasons in Ghana, the afternoon heat index is usually well over 100 degrees F. The life of a kayayei is not easy, but most kayayei are surprisingly happy and upbeat.

The kayayei above is waiting to transport a bag of goods for a customer using the large aluminum receptacle. You can see her money apron, and her green plastic stool on the ground.

 

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The aluminum kayayei bowl in the picture above is the largest in use. Most are about half that size. Some are only an inch deep with a half inch lip around the perimeter. The kayayei also use those round plastic laundry baskets to transport goods. Some families use a large 4-wheeled cart with 4 wooden planks across the bed. One person in front holds a steering shaft and pulls while 3 or 4 people in the back push. This is for large loads transported to stores or the larger stalls. Mostly large boxes or bags of merchandise direct from the factory. In the markets are male teenagers who use metal wheelbarrows to transport goods. You'll find them everywhere, even in the pathways of outside markets that are situated on huge parking lots. Over the years, corrugated metal has gone up covering a good deal of these market pathways. One has the distinct impression of being inside something until you hit a sunny spot where the corrugated roof is missing. The largest market of this kind is found in the industrial/port city of Tema which is about a 30 minute drive east of Accra. The large Kasoa open street market is found in the city of Senya which is about a 30 minute drive west of Accra. In the Accra markets (and all street markets) are those beach umbrellas. Everywhere. Ghana sits on the Equator and it is very hot and humid during the two dry seasons. In the two wet seasons it rains often and temps ususally are in the mid 80's F to the high 70"s F. Both sellers and buyers like the umbrellas to shield them from either the sun or the rain. Oh, most sellers have plastic sheets on hand to cover everything if it should start to rain. It only rains for an hour or less. Some of the rains are downpours and the streets flood. In Ghana cities, paved roads have these concrete gutters on the roadsides. They are about 3' across and up to 3' deep. I don't think the water in these gutters actually goes anywhere. It seems the rainwater just evaporates in the heat after a storm. Sometimes these gutters are covered with metal grates, and sometimes not. One has to be very careful walking the open street markets of Accra. Bank property in Accra seems to be off-limits to street vendors and vehicles blocking the street in front. Everyone seems to know this. It must be that the police come very quickly when a bank complains. The police - one rarely sees them. Sometimes they walk a beat through the markets. Police vehicles exist, but due to the immense traffic jams they are not very useful. Don't get arrested/convicted in Ghana. Jails and prisons are overcrowded and conditions are generally poor. If you visit Ghana, it is a law that you must be innoculated against Yellow Fever before you can enter the country. I also strongly urge visitors to get innoculated against Malaria.

 

[Rogue Valley]

The city of Senya located west of Accra reminds me grealy of Lagos, Nigeria due to the massive use of 3-wheeled motorcycle taxis. Most are yellow in color and no other city in Ghana features these conveyances. Most are made by the Royal Motorcycle Company, but there are at least four other mnufacturers all located in China. A typical new tricycle in Ghana costs roughly GH₵ 9,500 – GH₵ 11,000. This is far cheaper than buying an automobile to use as a taxi or purchasing a van to use as a tro-tro. The tricycle will accomodate 2 passengers riding in the back bench seat. The driver sits up front. These contraptions (called Yellow-Yellows in Ghana) are quick and nimble and can fit in very tight spaces. Due to their low procurement cost, entrepreneurship is increased.

A motorized 3-wheeled Royal brand used as a taxi. It is driven just like a regular mororcycle with handlebar throttle and brakes.

Motorized 3-wheeled Bajaj brand taxi. Unlike the Royal, here the driver is enclosed with handlebar steerage and gas and brakes are pedals on the floorboard.

 

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One section of the Makola market in Accra sells footwear, all kinds of footwars. Mostly they are from SE Asia and can be bought for $1 a pair and are displayed in huge piles. Some footwear piles have the shoes paired, others do not. Customers have to literally sit in the mountain of footwear and search for matching shoes/sizes. If you don't want to engage in this fun, you can always shop for footwear in a mall. In Ghana, the only people who wear dress shoes either work for the government, are wealthy, work in enclosed malls, work for a business that has an employee dress code, or are going clubbing. 90% of Ghaneans wear sandals, flip-flops, or bedroom slippers during the normal course of their day. A few will wear sneakers. Males typically wear a t-shirt and jeans or knee-length shorts. Females wear sun-dresses, jeans, cotton blouses, and Ghana Kente outfits -- most are loose fitting robes that feature vivid colors and Kente designs, others are tight one-piece outfits that also feature a vivid color and a Kente design. Ghana is a Christian country, and people dress accordingly. No x-rated outfits except at night in a club. The schools in Ghana are mostly run by Christian organizations, and uniforms are required for the students.

Typical Ghana Kente pattern dress.

I mentioned in one of the posts above that due to a lack of day care in Ghana, most women will bring their little ones with them and they are secured in what is called a Kanga facing the mother's back. I could never adequately explain how this is accomplished, so I found a YouTube video that shows you the process.....

 

[Rogue Valley]

In Ghana there are 221 amphibian and reptile species, 724 bird species, and 225 mammalian species. At least 20 species of endemic or near-endemic species of butterflies live within the nation and tropical plant life is abundant. All of the domesticated farm animals are found on family farms in the rural areas. You'll even see chickens and goats roaming city streets. There are many large national parks - Mole National Park – In Northern Ghana, Bui National Park along the Black Volta River, the Boin Tano Forest Reserve in the swampy area created by the Bisao and Tano rivers, the Nini Suhien National Park and Ankasa Resources Reserve southern Ghana, and the Kakum National Park with the 1,150-foot high Kakum Canopy Walkway. The parks and reserves contain lions, tigers, elephants, hippos, giraffe's, zebra's, monkey's, hyena's, aardvark's, warthogs, civet's, water buffalo, caracal's, viper's, python's, parrot's, crockodiles, flamingos, deer, antelope, fox's, bats, mamba's, jackal's, leopard's, lizards, baboons, and the list goes on and on. One of the most dangerous is also among the smallest, the mosquito, which can carry malaria. Swimming in the waters off Ghana are tropical fish, porpoises, and humpback whales. Lake Volta, located in the South-Eastern part of Ghana, is the largest man-made lake in the world. Covering 8,502 km2, it is the biggest reservoir by surface area in the world. The lake is formed by the Akosombo Dam which dammed the Volta River just south of Ajena and created a lake extending upstream from the Akosombo Dam to Yapei, beyond the former confluence of the Black Volta and White Volta rivers. the Akosombo Dam generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity.

Religion - 96% of the people of Ghana identify as being religious. I'd say about 80% of Ghana is Christian, 15% Muslim, and 5% are pagan practicing witchcraft (the same voodoo rites found in Haiti). 'Voodoo' comes from the African Fon language which is still spoken today in nearby Benin. Many decades ago in Ghana, witchcraft villages were attacked and the inhabitants murdered. This does not occur anymore. I once visited a witchcraft village in the rural north. It is indistinguishable from other rural villages except for one mud-wall/thatched-roof structure where their religion is practiced. The people living there were very nice and hospitable. Most children in Ghana receive a 'Christian education'. Most schools in Ghana are staffed by domestic and foreign Christian teachers. Virtually all Christians go to church services on Sunday and wear their Sunday best. Which reminds me, children in Ghana are oftentimes named after the day they were born. It is not unusual to meet a female named Saturday or a male named Monday. All Christian school children wear a uniform to school. If the family can't afford one, a uniform will be provided. In Ghana you can always tell it's 3pm by all the children in their uniforms walking home from school. One can identify Muslims by their attire. The women have their head covered (not the face) and the men wear the Muslim pillbox hats. There are no religious problems in Ghana. The religions exist together peaceably.

Rural villagers fishing along the banks of the White Volta River (Nakanbe Nsu).

 

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The climate of Ghana is tropical. There are two main seasons, the wet and the dry seasons. When these seasons are experienced depnds on where in Ghana one is located. North Ghana experiences its rainy season from April to mid-October while South Ghana experiences its rainy season from March to mid-November. In the southern Accra region, the annual rainy season is coming to a close and the dry season is approaching. During the rainly season it will rain almost every day, from a few sprinkles to very hard rains. But they only last an hour or so. Temps in the rainy season remain in the 70's (Farenheit) both day and night. During my 1.5 years of living in Ghana, I never once saw the thermometer dip below 70° F. During the dry season it rarley rains and temps run from the mid 80's (at night) to the mid/upper 90's (during the day). However, the typically high dew point and high relative humidity make 97°F feel like 105°F.

You can be walking down a market street in Accra and suddenly your senses notice a change. Directly ahead there are no more structures or buildings in view, no more trees. Nothing but a bright blue sky. Then your nose smells the water and your skin feels a slight breeze. You keep on walking and come across Cocoa Beach on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Offshore here is where the invisible Equator (Latitude Zero 0° 0' 0") bisects the invisible Meridian Line (Longitude Zero 0° 0' 0"). But this really isn't a beach as most people would imagine it. There is no golden sand here. Only a reddish-colored soil that is quite lumpy until one gets very close to the water. About two miles offshore one can see cargo ships waiting for dock space to open up in the Accra port which is about 3 miles to your left. The cargo is mostly containers. Another thing you quickly notice is that there are no beach umbrellas or lounge-chairs here. As a matter of fact, no one here is wearing a bathing suit. No bikinis or speedo's. Everyone is wearing casual street clothes.... shorts and a cotton top. And footwear is a must. You see, mixed in with the reddish-colored soil are both large rocks and gravel-size rocks. There are no sailboats and there are no inflated floats bobbing in the water. No lifeguards. Everyone stays within 100 yards of the shore. But the people do have fun here. Playing volleyball or letting the waves wash over their legs. In a city clogged with beach umbrellas lining many many streets for miles and miles, there are absolutely none here at the beach. I can't explain it other than no one stays here very long. Spend on hour or so and then its back to more pressing things.

There are certain sections of Greater Accra that are called the "Cantonments". These are the neighborhoods where the wealthy and the upper crust live. Indiginous Ghanaians and foreigners. Africans (usually tribal royalty or those educated in London) and Europeans. Government officials and business moguls. In the Cantoments everything works and everything is top-notch. Some Cantonment neighborhoods remind me of where the rich and famous live in suburban LA. The Cantonment streets are perfect with nary a pothole. Street signs are where they should be. There are tall Miami-like buildings with expensive condominiums, private parking and in-ground pools. Cantonment homes begin at around $2,500,000. They are gorgious and spacious and exist in gated communities. Most of these Cantonment homes have a staff that work there duting the day.... cleaning the inside, tending to the garderns ouside etc. The Cantonments have business districts that cater to a wealthier clientele. From the huge Shop Rite food stores, to large indoor shopping malls, to smaller expensive boutique stores. I did not live in a Cantonment, but I rented a very nice 3 bedroom 1.5 bath home in a very nice neighborhood at ?? Lusaka Ave, East Legon, Accra, Ghana. Everything was guaranteed to work 24/7. Water, electricity, AC, cable TV, etc. A car was supplied by my employer, but I got far more use out of a motorcycle and my bicycle. One thing I noticed right away is that every home in such nice neighborhoods have an exterior painted block wall around it. On top of this wall are electrified wires. The only way to enter the property is via the electric vehicle gate. You have this sort of "garage-opener" device. Click the button and the electric gate will roll to the side allowing a car to go through. Click it again and the gate rolls shut. In these neighborhoods the police are very visible, quite a difference from the other neighborhoods. The most populous neighborhoods in Accra are Makola, Nungua, Ashaiman, Achimota, and Osu. The most famous street in Accra is Osu Oxford Street.

 

[Rogue Valley]

My apologies if the post above gave the impression of just one beach - Cocoa Beach - in Accra, Ghana. Actually there are five - Cocoa Beach, Labadi Beach, Kokrobite Beach, Bojo Beach, and Sakumono Beach. The best of them all is Labadi Beach, also known as La pleasure beach. Beautiful Labadi Beach is ringed by resorts with many amenities. Kokrobite Beach is by a village of the same name. Coconut trees line this sandy beach and every night there is a free reggae music concert. Bojo Beach is located on a piece of land that juts out. On one side the waters are very calm while on the other side the Atlantic waves pound the beach. While most of the beaches are sandy, Cocoa and Sakumono beaches are a mixture of sand and rocks until you get about 30 yards from the water. There are always soccer games being played at the busy Sakumono beach. Another very nice beach is Ada Beach which is located where the Volta River meets the Atlantic ocean which is roughly 100 km east of Accra. It is an area of great scenic beauty which has extensive sand bars that provide nesting grounds for sea birds. This is a perfect haven for skiing, fishing and other water sports. Ada also has the 4-star Aqua Safari Resort.

 

[Rogue Valley]

Forgot to mention. At Labadi Beach (La Pleasure Beach) there are men who bring their horses to the beach. These horses are a bit smaller than the usual American horse. They sell rides on the horses for 10 GHC (about $1.50). They also entertain by doing tricks on the horses. The men are actually jockeys giving their steeds some exercise. This beach also has hand made boats (all wood) of the local fishermen with hand made nets. These boats are about 30' from end-to-end and about 3' at their widest. Hand made oars also. I don't have a clue how they make their boats. I'm sure it's a trade passed down from father to son.

 

[Rogue Valley]

The seasons are beginning to change in Ghana. Less rain but higher humidity and temperatures.

The daytime Heat Index will be at least in the mid-90's F going forward. Nighttime temps in the 80's F.

Ghana sits right on the Equator. The shortest distance between yourself and that big yellow sun in the sky.

Staying hydrated is a must. So is AC lol. Ceiling fans just push the hot air around.