Akwaaba: This is Ghana

Welcome or Akwaaba! Me din de Adrienne Nana Efua Wilson na eye ye ma akwantu mo nsem wo Ghana. In Fante, a coastal language of Ghana this means – My name is Adrienne Nana Efua Wilson and this is my travel story of Ghana. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Since my return home I’ve dreamt nightly about the lyrical prose I would recite to you about my first journey to the continent Africa and the country of Ghana. However, I’ve been tossed right back into the beautiful chaos and uncertainty that rules my world and I haven’t the opportunity to spell out every detail from my quick 12 day Ghana excursion. So for the sake of writing something I’ll provide you with what you’ll find down below.

Ghana, for me, like most destinations was one that got picked out of happenstance. I took off tagging along with my friend Dayo, who was going for business. Little research was done prior to my departure and so few preconceived notions were developed. Ghana was an open book of blank pages. Day one provides the first chapter.

We were greeted at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana by Fiifi, who I later found would be responsible for providing us with our daily adrenaline rush by driving us to and from place to place. The first call of business was getting malaria pills from the pharmacy. I didn’t bother getting a prescription filled in the U.S. because I was told it would be much cheaper to pick them up in Ghana on my arrival. Think $10 US max. From the pharmacy we darted over to the Paloma Hotel for breakfast at the hotel restaurant, zipped over to the local currency exchange guys from the north and then off on a three hour drive to Takoradi.

Sunset in Takoradi. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Takoradi (the o is silent) is a growing area in Ghana’s Western Region. A huge new stadium is being built for the CAN 2008 games. There is tons of undeveloped coastal land which is prime real estate waiting to be purchased. My stay in the area was actually quite short. I probably spent a full 24 hours there if that, but I enjoyed what I saw of the coast (clean/calm beaches), the food and especially all the nice people I encountered at the Western Land Commission. The first night in Ghana I ended up staying at the Super Star Hotel in the center of Takoradi. It worked out well for a one night stay, but I would have probably ventured elsewhere had I been given more time to figure out where I was in the first place. I’m not usually picky about hotels, but I find if you’re going to pay money to stay in a nice place it should have warm water at the very least. I’m all for cold showers and bird baths on a village stay and stuff, but not so down with the cold water hotel situation. Let me not dwell there though because that is really rather small and on the upside the hotel restaurant serves a nice English breakfast in addition to various other plates. If you’re ever in need of forgiveness, cook a good meal.

African Evening. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The next morning the game plan was to tend to business (not really mine, but I was tagging along). This meant more hanging around the land commission, visiting a Chief who owned some of the land in question and coming to some sort of agreement. Through this entire process I learned that purchasing land in certain areas of Ghana can be pretty complicated, but not impossible.

Quietly sitting. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

These are some of the shots I took from the rooftop of the Super Star Hotel in Takoradi before we took off that morning. Below those shots are a few from a neighboring town called Sekondi. We made a pit stop in Sekondi to have one of many repairs done on the vehicle.

Morning in Takoradi as seen from the rooftop of the Super Star Hotel. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Finally, the time had come for me to tend to the type of business I know best – tourism. Ghana, like many coastal, West African countries is the home of old slave castles and trading forts. I had the chance to visit Elmina Castle first. We arrived pretty late in the afternoon due to all the action earlier that morning, but with just enough time to get a tour by one of the contractors working on some of the reconstruction. Before the tour we dined at the restaurant that sits just to the east of the castle and I had my first taste of Palaver sauce and fish. It was just the right type of fuel to get through the tour. (I’ll describe food in detail later.) Since Elmina has become a pretty popular destination for tourists to visit to get their fill on the history of slave trade, the atmosphere is a busy one. You’ll surely make a friend, offering souvenir customized seashells so that you remember your visit. At the time of our visit the sun was soon to set making the fishermen’s boats glow and the castle feel almost majestic, until one steps inside. As we began the tour the sun started falling fast and the ocean swept bone-chilling breezes throughout the castle. I saw signs noting male slave dungeons and as I walked in I could finally see it was everything except majestic. The smell of the tight space along with nightfall creeping in painted an idea of a doom and gloom. I tried imagining strong, tall African men and women packed into these dark, dreadful, dungeons, beaten and weakened by the evils of man. It is difficult to picture.

People have asked about the feelings I experienced going into the castle. Well, for the most part I felt sad because I felt I should feel sad. Terrible things happened at those castles!!! However, I didn’t shed tears for those who may have been my direct ancestors. Instead, I made a mental note to remember these things and to think about the social injustices happening in this day in age. I told myself to think about all the visible and invisible chains enslaving and paining people on the planet. I must go forward from here, now.

Fishing boats in Elmina. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Remember. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

For the deceased – slaves. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Fiifi, Adrienne, Ben, and Dayo after the tour of Elmina. Photo: Unknown

On day three of my trip I explored Aburi Botanic Gardens. Aburi sits off and away from Accra (32km north), overlooking the city. The oldest tree is over 150-years-old in age and is called a kapok, if I am not mistaken. If it hadn’t been so rainy, I’m sure we would have stayed in the gardens a bit longer, but my pals and I did a quick tour and pretty much hit the road from there.

Wet, wilted, weathered flowers. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

On day four when my friend left for Nigeria for two days, I had Fiifi and Felix escort me back up to the coast to do some more touristy activities. The first was Kakum National Park. It is home to many animal, plant and butterfly species, not to mention a suspended rope / canopy walkway over and between the treetops. At first the walkway is a little intimidating, but the faster I moved through the narrow ropes it didn’t seem as scary. If I had to compare I’d say zip lining through the cloud forest in Costa Rica provided a greater adrenaline rush, yet in both the fear of the ropes snapping and plunging to the forest floor is always there.

From Kakum we went back down to Cape Coast to tour another slave castle, Cape Coast Castle. This time I got a real tour by a castle guide who seemed pretty theatrical to me. Our guide walked us through, describing the atrocities that had occurred long ago and the poor living conditions African men and women were provided before their departure to the New World. Again, the tour was disheartening, but a huge learning experience. I ended up purchasing some additional literature to take home and read further. I always find that I’d like to stay in places like these to really soak up all the history, all the knowledge and facts, but such was not possible.

Once upon a time the capital of Ghana – Cape Coast. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

On Sundays, the locals all come together (or a good number of them) for a beach fete near the fishing boats. Loud music is played, but is immediately turned off when the tour guide brings everyone out to the last point of departure. Everyone turns only for a second to look at the tourists and as soon as we’ve all come and gone and snapped our pictures and the door is closed again, the music is turned on once more. With all the laughter and fun people were having in the water and beach side it seemed even harder to believe that the horrible events depicted by our guide had ever taken place.

Every Sunday the good folks from the township splash in the Atlantic waters. How lucky they are today. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Bus station. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

The next day Fiifi, Felix and I made an attempt to explore some of the waterfalls in the Volta region only to cross over the bridge, consult with some locals in the village and find that we should have gotten the jump on waterfall hunting much earlier in the day. So we turned around and headed towards Akosombo Dam which is where we also discovered we should have come much earlier for a good tour. Instead we got the after hours tour. I basically had to smile and pay a little extra to some of the guys closing up shop for the day. We’d driven a good distance and I didn’t want to return to Accra without having seen the dam or a waterfall. And the Akosombo Dam is impressive. It is the largest man made dam in the world in regards to square feet and it is the one of the accomplishments made during the presidency of Nkrumah. Recently the dam which provides power to Ghana and about three neighboring countries had been experiencing a water shortage and so power was being rationed in parts of Ghana, but not in the nearby countries since an international agreement had been signed long ago stating they MUST always provide the others with power. On the day of my visit the power crisis had been declared over as new methods of supplying energy were being introduced. I’m not usually this geeky, but the dam was actually fascinating. They also have a cruise boat that leaves every Sunday for a half-day deal around the dam and is said to be very, very nice. Oh, I also learned that in the hills just up away from the dam is where the president of the country goes for his R&R. Sort of like Camp David for Mr. Bush. Sadly, I wasn’t allowed to take many pictures since the kind man giving the tour begged us to spare him his job.

Oh, this is so touristy! Photo: Fiifi Lord-Child Bohan

Alas, a real tourist style day fell onto my radar. I felt as though I had been spending too much time in the car driving to Volta and Takoradi so I wanted to stick to exploring Accra. I went over to Independence Square, caught a glimpse of the castle the president resides in, and snapped some photos of nearby monuments. Ghana celebrated 50 years of independence from British rule earlier this year in March, but the red, gold and green colors from the flag still fly heavily in government offices and in the windows of almost all taxis speeding past. I went shopping at the African Market and the Arts Center. Both are great places to pick up souvenirs for family and friends and even a trinket for yourself. I purchased kente cloth from the Arts Center so that I could later have a traditional African garment made and later purchased additional material for a second outfit. Woodin, which is located in Osu (a very busy part of Accra) has many beautiful prints on very nice fabric for purchase. It is pricey and considered more on the upscale end, but it feels quite nice to the touch.

I visited the museum of President Kwame Nkrumah and the Lamra Gallery, both in Accra. The Nkrumah museum gives a good, short and sweet account on the life of Ghana’s first president after British rule and the Lamra Gallery provides a wonderful art feast for the eye. Marigold Akofou-Addo, Director of Lamra and a highly accomplished artist gave me a tour of Lamra. She also filled me in on a project – a beautiful art wall in the early stages of construction, but most certainly not in thought. In the coming months a visitor can expect to hear quite a buzz about the wall and should keep their eyes peeled for events taking place around the wall.

One of many spots to bargain for goods. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

By the next day my friend had returned from Nigeria and we were off to explore the Volta region – for real! I decided to let Fiifi do whatever he would normally do with his day instead of worrying about me and hired a guide with a driver to assist in getting me and my friend to Volta. Our initial plan that day was to check out a monkey sanctuary on the way up to the Wli (pronounced like the name Willy) waterfall, but we decided to head to the waterfall first and check for the monkeys later. Well the waterfall not only holds the title as the world’s highest, it was also one of the most amazing I have ever seen in my lifetime. A 20-40 minute hike (depends on how fast you walk) leads up to the waterfall and once you reach you can either sit on a nearby bench or go for a dip in the water. I sat for a moment, but then decided enough was enough and the waters had to be tested. The rocks in the water are not sharp, but they are slippery and I had to be careful heading out. The water is shallow, but there is an area or pool close by that goes down about 7 feet deep. I’m not a strong swimmer (I must change that), therefore I splashed some time away in the shallow area. The wind was of a force that day and so when the water came falling down from above it also came blowing all around. I wiped my face to look above where hundreds and hundreds of fruit bats hung against the rocky walls near the waterfall. I felt like Nature Nancy, dancing footloose and fancy.

Surprisingly, I found out that many Europeans and white Americans often visit and take a leisure swim at the Wli waterfall, but many African Americans don’t if they even bother to visit at all. Why is that??? Come on ladies – get your hair wet. Men – just get going!!! Little facts and tidbits like this blow my mind. People are missing out!

Making sure I don’t slip and fall at the Wli Falls. Photo: D

The village of Amedzefe near Wli. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Dayo and I never made it to the monkey sanctuary that day because we had so much fun at the falls and it didn’t even matter. Afterwards we got back to Frankie’s (a very nice hotel located in Osu) and as far as I can remember I called it a night.

The Story of an African Sunrise and a lesson in the Queen’s English. I don’t know if I should tell this story. It isn’t for the faint at tummy, but it is an actual event that took place so I feel obligated to… A couple days prior, I had talked to my mother on the phone and she asked if I had seen the sunrise in Africa. When I said no and realized I probably should, it became part of my itinerary on my last day. I promised all that I would get up super early and walk down to Labadi Beach (a nearby beach with good and bad parts) and witness my first African sunrise in the true east. Well, first off it had rained the night before and there were still fat, puffy clouds covering the sky, but I wanted to walk anyway. Second off, I found out there are two ways to get down to Labadi Beach and the longer route would have taken us to a better part of the beach. Instead we took the short route and ended up on probably one of the most trashed beaches I’ve ever seen in my life. There was just a little sun poking from behind the clouds so I wanted to press on regardless. But before I ever really made it onto the beach there was a sign that gave me a fit of sorts. One line read: Do not ease yourself on the beach anymore. I obviously did not understand the meaning of ease in this fashion and thought it funny that one wouldn’t be able to relax on a public beach. I decided to take a photo of the sign. Moments after I had a concerned local suggested maybe I shouldn’t have my camera out with a military fort being situated right near the beach and so forth. I placed my camera back into my bag. Dayo and I continued on towards the beach over a makeshift bridge. There was trash all over the place and it seemed like a real dump and sad sight. I’d never seen such a trashed beach. Well as we were walking my heads were still in the clouds trying to see this African sunrise because Dayo noticed an older man waving us away from the direction we were headed in. Dayo said the man was persistent in us not going further and so we hooked a left and stood on top of the hill to gaze not only at the sunrise, but at all the young men watching the sunrise as well. I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t really see a lick of anything and thank goodness. I learned the true meaning of ease that day, snapped a photo quickly (of the sunrise) and got out of dodge. That beach was a royal mess.

The only other thing left to do was to check out a real beach. Bojo Beach had been on Fiifi’s mind for a few days and I was told by several that it was very beautiful. It was a private beach located about 20 minutes driving away from Accra. I was sad we hadn’t gotten to the beach earlier because this one ranks high in all the beaches I have come across. It was totally awesome if you don’t mind my valley girl lingo. To get to the beach you have to cross a river by boat and that ride is only about five minutes max. Once on the beach paradise is there for the taking. I personally like being on beaches to wade in the water, listen to the oceans crashing waves and to gaze as far as my eyes will strain. The Atlantic waters were rough though and being the great guesser I am about weather it probably had a whole lot to do with the nasty, dark gray, storm cloud hanging over our heads. Anyhow, I strongly recommend a visit to this beach and if I ever get back to Ghana you can be sure to find me there.

Now entering Bojo Beach. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Another touristy type shot. Photo: D

Canoe. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

With everything else all done, my final stop was to pick up my new dresses as made by Felix’s mum and a nice girl at her dress/sewing shop. I tried the pieces on one last time and quickly since I had just come from the beach. I thanked her ten times over and got in the car to return to Frankie’s where my trip basically comes to an end. the next day I was scheduled to fly out and away back to America.

Modeling my new gear. As you can probably tell I need some help with the head wrap.Photo: D

In short, Ghana was a warm welcome home and I was truly welcomed home. I learned that there are many Wilson’s living along the coast and that it is a coastal last name amongst Fante people. This earned me several discounts, so I wasn’t charged as a foreigner when visiting attractions. I catch myself these days telling people I went to Ghana instead of saying Africa. Africa is huge and diverse and Ghana is small piece of that diversity with its own diverse tribes, languages and culture. Was it an eye-opener for me? Not quite. Accra felt like the West Indies at times and I breezed past many villages so I didn’t get a taste of that type of life in Ghana. I was comfortable and eye-opening experiences for me are found in discomfort. Discomfort teaches me about my limits and of course about the grass that grows on the other end of the world. Perhaps my next trip will give me this – I long for it. Perhaps, it will be Ghana I return to almost immediately or maybe it will be some other country in Africa. That is yet to be determined.

Still hungry for more? Here are some shots of plates I dined on in Ghana. You’ll notice items like fish in palaver sauce, red-red, banku, goat kabob, and watchee. Dayo’s favorite stuff is the shito sauce and I suggest foodies head here to learn more about Ghanaian cuisine. In regards to nightlife there were three spots that come to mind where I had a good time should your heart’s desire be to follow in my footsteps. The first is club Vanity. The music was hopping and I danced my heart out. The next is Wednesday night Salsa night at Coconut Grove Hotel. I never thought of Salsa in Ghana, but why not and there are some incredible dancers there so be prepared. Lastly, the Container is a cool spot for a refreshing drink and music pumping out the sound system. A close contender is Club Afrodisiac.

Palaver Sauce with Fish and Yams. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Special thanks to everyone that made my first time trip across the Atlantic to the mother soil a heavenly one. All the hospitality has been noted and I hope to return the favor one day should you find yourself in my neck of the woods.

***All Photos taken by Adrienne C. Wilson except where pictured. All photos property of Adrienne C. Wilson. Please feel to reach out with any additional questions if going to Ghana or any commentary if you’ve been to Ghana or any part of West Africa.***

Strength.