GHANA TRAVEL REPORT
One
of my least favourite countries. I really didn't
like it. Hassle , overcharging, bureaucracy, corruption,
an oppressive climate and not much to see. oh and I was
in a coma with hepatitis and malaria one week after
leaving.
I had high
expectations, because when I lived in Southern African
people I met who had travelled overland all the way from
Europe told me that Ghana was the friendliest country in
the whole of Africa. Maybe the general economic decline
and dilapidation has hardened many people and turned them
into a class of exploiters (after all this is the country
where slavery was invented ...by the natives !).
The aid budget is 99% squandered on such things as big
shiny new cars for important people.
|
(Chief) Nana Fabin
the crocodile caller |
Culture At first I thought the culture was
very similar to the West; people work in a capitalist
society, spend their money in shops, go to school etc. But after
a while I began to realise that underneath West African culture
is completely different, perhaps even more so than the deep
differences between the West and Japan. I can understand how a
West African could adapt to living in the West , but a westerner
will always be an outsider , especially if they are not black
skinned. Fundamental Western values like a sense of privacy,
honesty, equality, fairness, a work ethic are too good to give
up. Some of the fundamental Ghanaian cultural values are not
nice..it's OK to lie, take bribes etc. There are some really good
people in Ghana, but you rarely meet many. There are a large
number of people who are initially very friendly and show an
interest in you, but ultimately they usually want something from
you.
The UK is a very rich country and I am used to seeing a lot of
poverty in other countries (though of course the ruling
classes are always substantionately well off), but West Africa is
the first place where I have seen the larger part of the
population living in a mostly Stoneage way.
Colonisation meant that a western face was stuck onto the body of
West African culture.
(Of course there is no such thing as an all encompassing African
culture, after all Africa comprises 57 different countries and
the culture in the West has only a few things in common with the
South or East.)
Underneath there are some pretty disturbing fundamentals.
Jealousy and greed form the basis of the religion. When you go
and see the native priests (juju man in Ghana, voudoun in Togo
and Benin (Voodoo sic)) you don't ask for a prayer to be said for
your success, but rather that all your neighbours chickens will
die. In Ghana there is the worst kind of Christian fundamentalism
TV evangelist style where people think it is important to go to
church but not so important to behave in a Christian way
outside. Under the surface people are generally still
influenced deeply by tribal beliefs.
Government
is pretty hopeless
there is so much
bureaucracy as well as endemic corruption.... teachers don't turn
up for school.....people bribe their way into university etc
There are many shocking things ..slavery still exists ..In the
East of Ghana a man raped his cousin. A western concept (not
necessarily right) is that he must be punished, but in that
particular area the concept is different people believe that the
bad is in the family not the individual. He gets off scot free.
It was agreed that the family would be punished by his 8 year old
sister being remove to the house of the priest mystic where she
would be his servanr and as soon as she is ready his sexual
servant. Perhaps when he is tired of her and he has some younger
girls she will kicked out and allowed home.
Highlights - Land of history,
sophistication, beautiful buildings, parks, theme parks. No not
really . Ghana is
pretty boring ; it shows you how good as travel destinations
other counties are and also how corruption intrinsically present
in the culture screws up the country. Often it was a travel
experience rather than a pleasure.
The European castles are the architectural highlights, but now
they are $5 to visit. (I am not trying to be nasty as in many
cultures buildings for living people are not considered important
and there is nothing wrong with that it's just that there isn't
much to immediately capture the interest and imagination such as
the architecture of say somewhere like Italy.
All the towns look a mess; theres no obvious townplanning so most
are just sprawling and rundown. And there is no really fantastic
natural scenary such as great mountains
One fascinating but
immediately apparent thing that I learnt is that slavery
was never a purely white oppressing black business. You can see
the cruelties of the slavery business and the realities that it
was the natives who organised the sale of other tribes and their
own people.
Bad
Experiences
On the first day Ghana was
quite different from what I expected. The customs man at the
airport held the passports of 2 travellers and led them out to
his brothers taxi. They ended up paying a pretty extortionate
fare. When I got into my hotel room I found that the
lock on my bag had been broken and my rather cheap camera was
missing. I heard other stories that the luggage carousel workers
helped themselves to peoples goods. As it was the first day I was
cautious about the tap water and went off in search of bottled
water. At a stall I was qoted a really expensive $1 , but I was
so thirtsy I paid and started gulping it down. Irealised it
wasn't very cold and then I thought I didn't need to break a seal
ie they had quickly filled a bottle with tap water..(now I have
no problem about grabbing a bag of "ice-water" from the
street hawkers for 1c.
As I walked around peole were very forward in coming up to me
sking me where I was from and when I said England they wanted my
address. I soon found out that they were after an address to use
on the visa application form. Whilst I was in Ghana I was asked
for address dozens of times, usually in such a way where I found
impossible to say no; I just gave the address of the Ghanaain
Embassey in London.
Positive
Things about Ghana
Fan Ice
is the best thing in Ghana. Cheap frozen yoghurts & lollipops sold
by bicycle boys which taste good and really cool you down. They
should export them to the UK !
Cheap Transport petrol
is 20 times cheaper than it is in the UK. Though outside big
places you can have a long wait as not everyone can afford to use
it.
Street Food - you can
buy very cheapfood from very common roadside stalls. Pity about
the local tatses though, the bases are usually very bland
then the sauces are overpowering chili spice.
Low Street Crime
Sunshine 12 hours a
Day unfortunately the 6 hours in the middle of the day are just
too hot. Also West African people do not share western enthusiasm
for living near to the sea so in Accra for example there are few
buildings on the sea front to take advantage of the cooling sea
breeze.
Artistic things
..dance, drama and drumming - performers really do seem to work
hard . It's strange there is no western type work ethic for most
things, people seem really lazy.
Internet
Access - there are 4 places in Accra and some
communication centres in Kumasi.
In Accra try
Internet Ghana , On Kojo Thompson Road , opposite the Niagra
Hotel, 9-7pm ,12000 Cedis/hr
NCS, The Ridge , 9-7pm fast access because they have a Satellite
link
2. Africa Online - they
have a demonstration machine in there office; so you can use the
internet for free. You sometimes have to wait because there is
only one machine.
location - 1 Km
from Nkrumah Circle, go west then turn right at the first lights
(outside the CAT dealer) and then 300m to the 4 storey building.
open 9-5
3. NCS a
subsiduary of Digital have one machine in their office with fast
access.
10,000 $GS an hour
location- 500m away
from the ring road, get off the Tro Tro just before Sankara
circle and walk south on the back street which goes behind the
immigration office.
Aquarius Restaurant : this
expensive German restaurant used to be great because they had
free internet access, but now they have a coin slot 3000 Cedis
for 15 minutes location-
1 Km east of Dunquah circle, from the ring road follow the signs
through the back streets.
In Kumasi a few business centres
have access but it's expensive and slow because you also have to
pay the phone charges to Accra
In Lome Togo ..you can go to CAFE
Informatique 5Km out of the
city on Route De Kpalime (at Cite Maman N`Danida), 100CFA a
minute, Tel 25 55 55
In Cotonou Benin ..you can go to
Alinde et Fils near to thecentre on a road off Boulevard De
Republic, Tel 32.21.22 also 100CFA a minute
To find your local internet access
point in the UK tel 0800 456 567
Ghana Links
Newsgroups
soc.culture.nigeria, rec.travel.africa, soc.culture.african no
Ghana newsgroup try mailing okyeame-request@africaonline.com for
newslist
http://www.uta.fi/~csfraw/ghana.html
...links but some dead
http://www.uta.fi/~csfraw/related.html
..good links
http://www.ghana-mall.com/
can't see any good stuff
http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/Accra.html
http://www.erols.com/johnston/
nice personal webpage of town
personal experience
http://www.bpe.com/travel/africa/ghana/index.html
good city net links
http://www.city.net/countries/ghana/
LP info
http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/letters/afr/gha_pc.htm
Rough Guide online lot of
info
http://www.roughguides.com/RG_WWW/morebks/WA_bks.html#RTFToC3
Accra British High Commission
Osu Link, off Gamel Abdul Nasser Avenue
(P.O. Box 296), Accra
Telephone: (233) (21) 221665
669585 (24 hours)
Facsimile: (233) (21) 66 46-52
Office Hours (GMT): 0745-1445
(Immigration Section Public Hours 0730-1100)
(Consular Section Public Hours 0730-1330)
My
Travels
I spent a few days in
Accra, took the STC bus to Cape Coast, visited Elmina and
takoradi before spending a couple of days staying at the castle
in Princes Town. Then I travelled up through the goldfield
region stopping off at Taquah, Dunquah and Obassi. I spent a few
days in Kumasi before traveling through the hillls to the hill
station at Aburi and then back to Accra.
I then visited the
east of the country; travelling to H0 , stopping at a hill
village Mohamed Al Zofe and fleeing across the border into Togo.
Over Christmas and
the New Year i travelled to the more outlying parts of the
country trto the west and then up around the borders of the
country and down the eastern side and back across to Accra
Accra - A huge sprawling city. The
most run down capital I have ever seen. Because it's so spread
out you can spend a lot of time waiting for and riding
tro-tros. At commuting times there are often hours of gridlock !
Best
Place to Stay Big Milly's Backyard , Kokrobite 12 Km out of the city take the
Tro Tro from Kaneshie (cross the road from Kaneshie market and
keepgoing right through the market cum busstation until you get
to the furthest patch of Tro Tros), get off at the last stop
single 11000 CD,
double 14000 CD
contact PO Box
11167 Accra/North, Fax 229988
Cape Coast -
A sprawling town of run down streets. The casle and museum
are quite interesting , but now the government has institutes a
policy of charging much more for foreign tourists so the entrance
fee is up from 30c to $5.
Elmina -
similar to Elmina, but a little more picturesque. The
castle has been extensively rebuilt by American Aid projects
(guilt money to buy black votes ?). I bribed the watchman
to let me into the castle wich would have beeen $5.
Takoradi -
The 3rd largest city. Another port with run down streets and not
very interesting at all.
PrincesTown - A small isolated
beachside settlement. Its 10Km off the main coast down a
very rough track and the drivers take the oppurtunity to
make some extra money by charging people way extra for
thier bags (well its probably only 20p but a lot on a
local scale). You can stay at the uninhabited castle for
CD5000. It would be a great place if there are a group of
you, imagine sitting on the terrace witha few beers
enjoying the beautiful view down onto the beach and sea
below.
They'll
organise a couple of trips for you, by canoe to a
aperteshie distillary, the next village where they have a
crocodile which appears if called
nice beach
around corner
in the
village of course the beach is covered in shit |
(Chief) Nana Fabin the
crocodile caller |
Mining Area
- see a lot of huge trees coming out on lorries
All the towns are
rundown
the train was 4
hours late and slowed even more co sthe driver had to keep taking
a taxi up the line to check on the red signals
Got down at Dunquah
cos the train had only covered a small distance in 7 hours
Took trotro to
Obassi but you are not allowes to visit the the gold mines
without prior permission now
obvious gold
workers have much more money than other people motor bikes and
nice club
Road to Kumasi
pretty bad with large craters -were they blown up in fighting ?
Kumasi -has much more of a city feel
than Accra
Presby OK place to
stay
small museum at
culture centre OK
museum at fort OK
market at centre
sprawling
Aburi - not
particularly intersting or cooler
nice view across
plain from hotel
Ho- neither
town or the museum were at all interesting.
Mohamed Al Zofe
- I thought it would be more interesting to visit a small town.
The hour long journey by pick up through the hills was absolutely
terrible. Unfortunately, because it was a small town. I managed
to get an "I'll be your guide", man on my back straight
away. He invited me to his aunts house for dinner and then
presented me will a bill for 5000 $GS, charming elsewhere the
same food wouldn't have been more than 500 $GS. Then as is the
custom I had introduce myself to the village chief. Other chiefs
I had met before had been hospitable and kind these villages made
it clear all they wanted was a bottle of gin. I felt exploited,
because of this form of tourist tax.
TOGO
Kpalime (pronounced with the customary
silent K) Because I felt so negative to Al Zofe I fled on the
first vehicle out to the Togolese border. It was a quite frontier
so I had to walk for about 6 Km and the passport control didn't
even notice I didn't have a visa. I changed money with the money
changer on the border and made it to Kpalime by collective taxi.
Togolese towns also have a rundown look after a more glorious
past.
hotel pretty
scruffy
moped up the hill,
nice view but apart from that no very interesting
a lot of guides
waiting for rich French Tourists to pay them big money.
I walked down
through forest paths
saw a funeral with
a lot of joyous dancing
Atakpalime
saw waterfalls on
the way
the peace corps
house is a really cool place to stay
See the book "Letters From
Togo" By: Susan Blake ..review
Benin
Ouidah - Adrianne will guide you
around in Frech or good English for 6000 CFA a day
You can visit the head of Voodoo..
Daagbo Hounon Houna (Chef Supreme des Vodoun-non), B.P. 317
Sogbadji, Ouidah, Benin, Tel 34 13 27
The European borders imposed on
West Africa are not natural the locals cross very often e.g. when
people want to visit Benin without a visa they go to the village
of Agokpame near Aneho and cross the river by canoe. On the way
back from Benin there is a Rothmans advert 800m before the border
next to the beginning of the path
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