"I must have one" (Toad on seeing his first motor car)

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Toad clearly did not see the Land Rover that took us to Cape Coast from Accra. Believe me I am not anti British in any way when it comes to buying goods. My dad spent over forty years in factories making cars, tractors and other vehicles and I was brought up on his wages. It would be churlish of me not to respect the British engineering tradition but really why would anybody buy a Land Rover unless you had to go up ridiculous inclines? I challenge anybody to answer that.

We were travelling on a perfectly respectable main road. A few pot holes granted but nothing of any note. Everything shook, it was cramped and uncomfortable with five of us onboard but Frank obviously loved driving it. In truth, I much preferred the Nissan air conditioned 4x4 he picked us up from the airport in. I shared none of this of course. I had already figured out that upsetting Frank would be seriously bad move.

The journey was uneventful. I saw lots of pineapples which I later found out tasted delicious. (Clearly I did not eat them all but I have had a good few since) The plan was that Sallah, VSO administrator, was to check over our temporary accommodation, introduce Gloria to her employers (there was no one for me to be introduced to) and look at some proposed long term accommodation. The thing about plans of course is that they are not promises. Just as well because the only thing to come right in this plan was the temporary accommodation.

We did not know that our temporary accommodation, for two weeks maximum, was to be in the grounds of the Regional Minister’s residency. This is not small beer. The Regional Minister is a political appointment made by the President; in short, a big cheese. Gloria, you will all appreciate always looks well turned out whereas I have never been known for my sartorial elegance. On this day and having sweated in championship style for the whole journey my resemblance to a bag of dirty washing was particularly striking. I would like to say that it was my natural wit that carried us through that morning but it was Gloria’s enduring and endearing charm that persuaded The Protocol Officer for The Regional Minister that we were in fact half- way respectable and would be fine living in such close proximity to the Region’s number one man.

Rome was built on seven hills but Cape Coast can out- do that. Everything is on a hill, except the beach: come to think of it that slopes pretty dramatically as well. The Protocol Officer named Fiffi or Fida, meaning Friday, showed us our gaffe. The lounge was big enough for three snooker tables and would still leave room for a party; three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms etc. etc. It had just been re-furbished, Ghanaian style, it was not finished. The purpose of the house was to ensure that security personnel had somewhere to stay when doing their thing for visits by the President of Ghana or other dignitaries. They were due to arrive in two weeks; something to do with a visit by a chap called George Bush. We guessed that we would not be allowed to stay longer than our allotted time. Still, would you want to meet him?

The rest of the day turned out to be less than productive so I will not bore you with it. It was not even interesting or vaguely funny. That is unusual because most cock-ups are. So we settled as best we could into our temporary home which rapidly took on all the characteristics of a gold fish bowl. I must remember to ask Kwame if Obruni is a greeting or an insult.

Bye for now.

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Photos

on the beach
the closest one and very nice too

My Sunday Pint
Not quite the Railway or Murphy's but it will do!

Comments

[Janina]

So my question about what does Obruni mean wasn't so stupid! then
How come there aren't any replies to the public comments/questions??

[christy]

Hi honey
If Dave isn't going to respond then we can just talk amongst ourselves......how are you Doris? I'm off to Switzerland in the morning. Happy Easter. All my favourite people on two of the five continents of the world.

[Gandhi]

First email
This is earthshattering news. Gandhi has just written (all by himself) his first email and sent it to Massa I know it sound's unbelievable but it is true.

[Mad Macs]

Ghandi
Crikey, well I never. Perhaps he can comment on the blog. I am trying to catch up but have been travelling. regards Dave

[Mad Macs]

replies
because I have not yet worked out how to use this yet. If you get this you will know that I have now. If not I am talking to myself. No change there then.