A Journey to Accra

“Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better.” –-Simon Raven

The big city is my anecdote. A weekend in Accra was just the ticket. Though I am somewhat unfulfilled here professionally, at least personally, I really am truly having the adventure of a lifetime. I’m appreciating Africa and the opportunities I have to explore more and more with each journey. But before the glory tales of my road trip begin, let’s start at the very beginning. When traveling here, people refer to road trips as journeys, and I absolutely understand why. I left my miniscule town on Wednesday morning at 7am. I arrived in Accra, which is about 164 miles from me, at 7:30pm. Yes ladies and gentlemen, twelve and a half hours later I arrived at my destination.

Here’s the story. At 7am I was sitting in a female dominated trotro headed to Kumasi that departed from Bechem. That early in the morning, the cool crisp air was ripping through the van as we traveled about 80mph. I noticed other women covering themselves for warmth, whereas I reveled in the coolness for a bit. It was refreshing. Arrival was about 9am. From the Kejetia trotro station, I got in a taxi, and for whatever ridiculous reason, the driver decided to drive through Kejetia, which is an absolutely gigantic, insanely overcrowded parking lot stuffed with trotros, taxis, and folks selling goods from the wooden boxes and tin bowls on their heads. Once the traffic shift occurred, I was driven to the STC bus station, and that bus left at precisely 10:30am. Pretty good actually, considering the departure time was scheduled for 10am. Not bad for Africa…..So, the large charter bus chugged through Kumasi, and it seemed that we were finally on our way out of the city center, but in fact we were pulling in to the repair station for STC buses.

Sigh….An hour later, after roasting for a bit in the blazing sun while gazing at cows eating grass right next to my bench, we were off! Very common to see farm animals grazing. Don't be alarmed. The bus made it to the main road that heads out of town, but at one of the roundabouts, there was an overturned truck blocking all lanes of traffic. Here we sat for another hour. Sigh again….thankfully I was equipped with an iPod and a great book to pass the time. From there, finally, at last, my cranky and anxious bus began the bulk of the journey towards Accra. Road construction runs rampant, but not just repair of the roads, this is building paved roads we’re talking about here. A portion of the journey from Kumasi to Accra is dirt roads loaded with enough bumps and holes to get my head banging against the bus window. It’s terrible to endure, but at the same time, it’s refreshing to see progress being made here. So, needless to say, transportation in Ghana is very tedious and is quite a chore. A journey indeed, but one with a beautiful African sunset. Lucky for me, the return journey to my college was much less treacherous.

I spent the weekend with two other teachers, Mabel and Amy S., who are each doing the same program as me. My first night was spent at the Paloma Hotel, and the rest of the weekend was at Kokomlemle Guesthouse. Most definitely, the highlights of the weekend were the restaurants we found. Thanks to some research in the Bradt travel

guide and a few curious minds, we found some great little places around town. Delicious Chinese cuisine, some authentic African at Buka, a glass of wine at an Irish Pub, a club sandwich at Cuppa Cappuccino, and gelato for dessert. It felt like a weekend in Chicago! We caught a movie at the mall, Tower Heist, hit up Makola Market, and lounged on the beach, where we got to witness the making of a music video. Arms spread like M.J. and a posse groovin’ in the background. Priceless.

Time spent with friends means the world to me, and I feel that I have made some good ones here thus far. I'm feeling more comfortable and settled here. At this point, I can get around half of the country on my own. I can find a hotel to sleep in when I arrive later than expected. I can maneuver various markets and purchase food. I’ve got the taxi and trotro business down, and now I even know some good places to eat. Only downfall to the food exploring was that something along the way this weekend disturbed my body. And I’m almost certain that the culprit was the meat on a stick I ate at the beach. These sticks can be found anywhere. Grilled fowl and onions served with an onion powder for dipping. Only concern with any meat here, is that if you’re not the one preparing it, you’re taking somewhat of a risk. Well, those meaty sticks are awesome, and I just couldn’t resist. Thankfully, my travel doctor prescribed an emergency antibiotic for these sorts of situations. Hopefully that does the trick. Maybe a little too much information for some of you out there, but I figured when I’m 80, and I decide to look back on this blog, I will appreciate the honesty and the authenticity in my tales. Good times, bad times and everything in between.