Blogs from Greater Accra, Ghana, Africa - page 71

Anthony and his wife Martha picked me up this morning at 9:00. I started the day out with a cup of coffee and a croissant topped with almonds. Nothing terribly exciting happened to day. I went to get a prescription for some malaria medication. Then I went to the immigration office. I need to extend my visa by 7 days because Ghana only validates Visa’s for 30 days. I never found out what the exact rules about extensions are. All I know is that I have to come back when the expiration of my visa is closer. Internet cafes have exploded since I was here in ’01. Back then you just paid the fee and went to the computer. Now you buy time and they give you a card with a password. You don’t have to ... read more

July 1st: HAPPY CANADA DAY as well as GHANAIAN REPUBLIC DAY! Two holidays in one to celebrate on this day in Ghana, however I’m not much in the mood for celebrating. The last two weeks have been a little bit rough for me, nothing serious so please don’t worry but it is the reason why I have not written in awhile. To be honest, I don’t really know what happened but I become seriously homesick, anxious and a little bit depressed. Louis, my EWB partner in Ghana, came back from Northern Ghana where he had spent the last 5 weeks. It was the first white person I had really spoken with since he left and I think I had a weird form of culture shock, all of sudden it was extremely obvious that I was white, ... read more

Bonjour chers amis! Je réalise que ça fait déjà un certain temps que vous avez eu de mes nouvelles! En voici donc une mosaïque peu ordonnée ! Je vous avais parlé de mon ambition de devenir un marathonien, et bien j’ai démarré mon club de course a pied ! Mon fidèle acolyte est Daniel, un jeune Ghanéen de 10 ans qui court un peu plus de la moitie de ma distance en sandales, 2 a 3 fois par semaine. Il fait aussi la promotion du club en criant à tous ses amis de venir nous joindre pendant notre course… (quoique en terme de visibilité, une échasse blanche de 6 pieds, c’est pas mal aussi) mais aucun d’entre eux n’arrive à faire la même distance que Daniel. J’entreverrais une belle carrière pour lui, si se n’était qu’il ... read more

I've been taking it easy for the past week, spending a lot of time in Accra, with trips to Lake Volta and Kokrobite. Lake Volta is the largest man made lake in the world, the lake was created when the hydroelectric dam was built in the first years of independence, under the government of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana and independence leader. The lake and the scenery around it are spectacular. The rainy season seems to have started early. That doesn't mean it's been raining all the time, but there has been a lot of heavy rain. Parts of Accra have suffered from flooding as a result. This is not helped by the fact that many of the streets that have flooded are low lying, with no drains by the side of the ... read more

Bonjour la maison! Tant de choses depuis que je suis arrive, je vais donc essaye de vous en donner les meilleurs moments! D'abord, IL FAIT CHAUD! Il fait vraiment chaud! Je suis habitue a travaille dans "les pays chauds", mais la, c'est imbattable... et je ne suis meme pas encore rendu dans le desert (je devrai sans doute passer une bonne partie de la prochaine annee). La bonne nouvelle, c'est que le matin, de meme que le midi, je fitre les 5 litres qu'il me faudra pour la demie-journee... (merci Etienne!) Ensuite, la nourriture. C'est vraiment bon, et diversifie. Je mange du magnoc, du riz, de la "cassava", des feves, avec un peu de tomates (cheres), des oeufs et beaucoup de bananes! Mais l'ingredient de choix, c'est l'huile! TOUT ce que l'on mange beigne dans cette ... read more