Busy day in Accra

Trip Start Sep 05, 2008

Trip End Jan 01, 2009

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Flag of Ghana Accra, Ghana
Sunday, November 2, 2008

Tom and Hannah picked me up at my hotel at 8am. Tom had warned me that it's very difficult to sleep in when you're in Ghana but I set my alarm just in case. The three of us went for breakfast and then tried a few ATMs, trying to find one that would take our cards. I hit the jackpot after only three. Tom was not so lucky. We then went to a mechanic where I sweated off my breakfast and watched the Land Rover being serviced. Pretty exciting stuff. I did manage to get two phone numbers from the mechanics while I was there, but it is really not a hard thing to get in Ghana. We then drove Hannah to the bus stop and she took off back to her project, somewhere up north. Tom and I continued on our errands, dropping my bag off at the hotel and then taking his car to the car wash. A Ghanaian car wash means you drive your car up on these concrete ramps and park it while someone rushes to stick big rocks behind the wheels. Then some guy tells you to come back in 2 hours while he washes your car with a very dirty looking rag

Quiet street in Accra

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We decided to go shopping. The markets are total chaos and they all same a lot of the same useless crap. There are never-ending stalls and dirt and people. Women walking around with huge loads of food and buckets and whatever else they could carry on their heads, not even breaking a sweat. Children running towards us just for the opportunity to say "hi, obruni!" It was a lot to take in.

After experiencing that we went for lunch back at the Paloma (my first night's hotel) and then met up with Peter, a driver that works with Tom on the school project where he volunteers. Peter was helping him pick up the many new volunteers arriving tonight. We went to another market with Peter so they could get a tarp and netting for the roof racks which would definitely be needed after getting the 8 new volunteers.

It is very hot and humid here with a cooling breeze occasionally blowing through. There are people and cars everywhere. I don't know where everyone is walking to but they all walk with a purpose. There are stalls along the side of the road and sometimes even someone sleeping inches away from the traffic. The roads are really good, paved roads with at least four lanes and sometimes six. But there are also pot-hole riddled dirt side roads in the mix, and these are quite fun to drive down in a Land Rover. When you are stopped in traffic in your vehicle, vendors rush to your windows touting their crap. Sometimes it is good crap though, like water and ice cream and other good food. And being obruni (white) attracts even more attention from the passersby and vendors.