Hello from Ghana!!

Our story begins in Accra, where five of us were hosted by the kindest and most generous Israelis for three nights. There, we were showered with water, food and lots of very good advice. At mealtimes, we obtained a taste of the delicious fruit Africa has to offer and we have since been buying many fresh mangoes, small bananas and watermelons.

Our stay in Accra really opened our eyes to the Ghanian culture and way of life. Upon leaving the guest house we were staying at on Friday morning and walking out onto the main road we soon realised, from the number of hoots which seemed to be directed at us, how much attention we attract through being white.  This is something which, even now, we are still getting used to.

We had many rather interesting cab journeys that day, riding over bumpy dirt tracks with four of us squashed into the back of one car in the most uncomfortable positions. Perhaps not the safest way of travelling around Accra, but it was definitely an experience!

Although we felt safe and quite excited exploring the streets of Accra, we did have a rather scary encounter with the security guards on duty at Independence Square. Upon taking a photograph of the square, a nearby guard immediately started questioning us about where we were going. Our answers didn’t seem to satisfy him and he soon went to get his boss who asked us more questions. We were careful not to bribe the guards as they seemed professional and would probably have arrested us for doing so. Eventually, to everyone’s relief, we discovered why we were being interrogated; we weren’t allowed to walk near one of the castles which was located along the beachfront we were heading towards. This minor incident didn’t stop us going for our walk. However, upon being persistently asked for money by one Ghanian, we soon turned around and went for lunch.

After, we walked to a nearby market. Upon entering the market place, we found ourselves bombarded by people attempting to sell us their commodities, mainly bracelet’s, necklaces, football shirts and paintings. We were all extremely overwhelmed at first but our fascination with the speed the sellers made their jewellery in and the friendliness of the people soon relaxed us. It seemed that the sellers wanted to converse with us as much as they wanted us to buy their goods. Max, who seemed to attract more sellers then the rest of us, found themselves leaving the market place with three bracelets, a necklace, a football and an African mask. This was as much of a surprise to them as it was to the rest of us!

Just before heading back to the guest house, we took a short walk to a cash point, stopping off at a petrol station to buy water which, to our surprise, sold Cadbury chocolate! We also walked past a street seller, with random, second hand English school books laid out on a blanket in front of him. It was at this moment that we truly understood the description of third world countries as ‘our dumping ground.’

We were very lucky to have been staying with the Jewish Israelis as we were provided with a Kabbalat Shabbat service and big meal. It was extremely surreal, performing the Shabbos ritual in Africa and easy to forget, during the course of the evening, where we were and what was in store for us over the next few weeks.

(written by) Caroline x