Where's the british tradition of politeness gone in Ghana?

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Oh well, I might have been expecting too much, or maybe my better grasp of English was to blame, and I expect all manner of reproachment for such sweeping cultural judgements, but hey, I can't deny that an unusual number od people were just plain rude to me in hotels, street outlets and transport booths in Ghana. The country is beautiful, to be sure, and as a greatly redeeming feature the kids were extra nice and sweet to me in the street, so I guess my cousin Lyndsay, who spent some weeks at an orphanage got the best of the country from their company.
It was right on my first day here, going through Ho, and after a terribly failed attempt at changing travellers checks, that I was looking arround at my surroundings, desparate to find some descent food at 14:00, and considering my options, wondering if I shouldn't just give up on the place -I do love to be a drama queen sometimes you know-, as you will soon discover, but it wasn't to be today. the sweetest little boy saw me in the midst of my darkest frustrations, and creached with the most excited Hello!!! Good afternoon!!! -maybe the first white man he ever saw- a beaming smile all over his face, wide wide big blqck eyes that could barely believe what he was seeing. Innocence personified, and the sweetest present I could ask for. Again after finally finding a stall to eat at, beans and rice, very nice, this kid was really sweet and happy to see me, AGAIN, when I stop to get a coconut, another 3 kids happy and extatic just to say hello and touch my hand. so sweet. So you see not all that bad in the end.
Accra, the capital, not as rich as I'd been let to expect it, but at it's heart, Osu neighbourhood, was a delight to find. Such a relaxed atmosphere, little cute shops, nice little restaurants, people having fun, a good bookshop, well, passable, but for Africa, it was great!!! as I picked up reading material for the beach. It reminded me of the energy one gets in Brazilian beach resorts, all sun drinks and food everywhere, sunglasses and coconuts, beer and sushi bars. And at almost 6 dollars for two Nigiri, I restrained myself valiently to one tiny little plate, and can at least testify that if you pay for it, you can gat descent sushi even in Ghana.
I didn't stick arround Accra for too long though, and despite meeting an owner of an art gallery, a group of fun travellers, and a lovely barman in a british style pub, that wasn't enough to keep me away from the beach after 3 months of semi-desertic Sahel.
Off I went to the Green Turtle Lodge, between Aquidaa and Dixcove, for the geographically inclined, in the centre west of the Ghanean coast. An absolutely majical place, where despite the many tours and excursions on offer, I became the perfect traditional holliday maker, enjoying the very good food (papaya and lemon salad, fish with peanut sauce, grilled banana with melted ghanean chocolate on top, or French toast with fried banana and honey... just as an example), reading and reading silly novels (star trek), and even managing to get through one in French. Senegalese Aminata Sow Fall's "la greve des Battu", so it was with great pain I left the lodge, and headed west, seeing a couple more coastal forts, and soaking up a little more of the slave commerce related history, including an excellent museum in Cape Coast, if rather expensive at 7USdollars (for Africa that is).
Well; a few beautiful beaches further west, and I headed to Cote D'Ivoire, though reaching the border I didn't like the sound of the state of things, and just decided to skip it for this time. So I headed to Kumasi, a lovely town, with a truly impressive market. a spectacle to be seen, teeming in a shallow valley, a sea of plastic and people, and colours and smells, and light and loud loud sounds. I also saw the largest bat colony I've seen so far in West Africa, and had great Chinese food.
So there you have it, a breif account of my stay in Ghana. Lots of love to all, Douglas.

Espanol, ya lo se, que mal que no hay ni ene je je.

Beno pes Ghana es la vistima de hoy, pero quien murrio de amores por ella, o mejor el, he sido yo. Mira que pais mas lindo, que playas, y que comida. Fue una estadia de vacaciones, mas que de ver la cultura. me pase una semanita en la socta, en playas leyendo romances y degustando la comida. Sentindo el mar, las olas, el viento, viendo los atardeceres, las sonrisas de gente maja, oyendo sus historias y opiniones.
Que naturaleza exhuberante!!! que arboles y flores y colores!!! hay que decirselo.
Fue raro de hecho, aver leido un romance escrito aqui logo antes de venir, no creo que nunca antes lo havia hecho. era algo escrito en los anos 70, muy cargado de prejuicios coloniales y de retorica y descripciones un poco demasiado graficas para mi gusto. Talves por eso, veia mucho mas racismo en los actos de las personas, las interacciones muy dificiles y costosas. No como los ninos, como dice en la version en Ingles, que los encontre adorables y preciosos, hasta mas que el normal!
Me quede con la impresion de un pais hundido en la corrupcion, aunque varios me han dicho que nos es para nada de los paises mas corruptos por los que pase, tengo que decir que aqui me parecio descarada. Vi un pais que tiene un mil de oportunidades de escapar de la pobreza, pero que resiste sin venguenza. Un pais lleno de carreteras y donde ya muchas necesitan de reparos. Era epoca de elecciones, y se veia la energia de la discusion en las calles. Un gran regalo, considerando que venia de la represora y represiva Togo. Encontre tambien muchos voluntarios, como de costumbre, pero aqui muchos mas positivos y optimistas sobre el pais. admitidamente muchos no conocian otros paises africanos, pero de todos los modos una senal positiva para el futuro de Ghana.
Yo, ahora me voy en direccion a Senegal, espero estar alli en una semana, a pasar un poco de tiempo en la costa y en los manglares, y ya luego, sin mucho retraso, direccion a mi casa, mi linda Bilbao que tanto hecho de menos.
Muchos besos de Ghana, Douglas.

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