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Published: January 20th 2005
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We arrived in Accra on Tues 4 January after an arduous journey from Cape Coast...they're resurfacing the road and the traffic jams were a nightmare most of the way. We then hit Accra and more or less stood still for a couple of hours! We eventually made our way to Osu - 'Accra's most happening area' - and found a hotel with a garden, where the Manager agreed to let us camp for a reasonable sum (we had also chosen Accra's most expensive area!). The Comforts Hotel is accustomed to hosting the Peace Corps, and we had access to a shared bathroom. We were also really centrally located, with the main Cantonments Rd a 2 minute walk away. With fast food joints on every corner, western supermarkets, super fast cyber cafes, bars, restaurants...it was rather a shock to the system, but it wasn't long before we started feeling right at home.
We'd been trying to keep up-to-date on the situation in Congo via the world service...and had therefore developed real concerns about the viability of travelling through the country...so we hit the internet cafes and did some more research...it wasn't looking good at all...civil war in full swing. So, after
much research, debate and discussion, including looking at the option of shipping the vehicle to South Africa (too costly and too long), we made the decision to end the trip in Ghana, and ship the vehicle back to the UK at the end of January.
While Neil set about getting the jammed landrover diff lock sorted out, I finally managed to update the travelblog and upload some photos (sorry you've had to wait so long folks!).
I visited the Museum which was really unimpressive (most of it was being refurbished by the Peace Corps)...and seemed in a sorry state of disrepair...layers of dust on most of the exhibits. One of the most interesting sections was the textile one, where I discovered that most of the traditional screenprint patterns had names and meanings. These were two of my favourite: PAPA NNKO EKYIR 'Good deeds do not travel far' and WOSEN WO NYONKO A OTAN WO 'If you are better off than your neighbour he hates you'.
If there's been one thing that all the countries we've travelled through have had in common, it has been their unbridled passion for football....from little kids kicking half deflated balls about in
the street to teenage boys running up and down dirt pitches in the blazing heat...to grown men crowded round TV sets in restaurants, bars and street sidewalks. It seems fitting then that we end up in Ghana for the final of the 2004 Confederation Cup, as both finalists are Ghanian teams; Hearts of Oak (Accra) and Asante Kotoko (Kumasi). The Confederation Cup we learn is a competition for the national cup winners in national leagues from 12 African countries. For some reason the double-leg final has been postponed from the original dates of 28 Nov and 11 Dec to 2 and 9 Jan...so it ends up that we are in Ghana for both. We witnessed the locals going slightly mad when we were in Elmina (score 1-1 after first leg)...but we aint seen nothing yet...the second leg was played in Kumasi and the score was again 1-1 (2-2 on aggregate)...so it went to penalties...and Hearts of Oak won 8-7, which meant that the locals went even madder...the streets of Osu were jam packed with jubilant fans, all waving flags of red, yellow and blue...it was quite a spectacle and the party went on for some days.
There are hundreds
of palm trees throughout Accra and with Coconuts being in season every one is fair game...we watched the guys in our own hotel having fun and games collecting their harvest. The coconuts here are green though and when you buy one from a street stall they take a huge knife and hack the top off, give you a straw to drink the coconut milk - which is absolutely delicious and so refreshing - and then cut the nut in half to reveal a quite soft milky coconut, more like the consistency of avocado, which they scoop out and you eat. Again, absolutely delicious...it's become my new daily treat.
When we arrived in Accra we said goodbye to blue skies...the Harmattan was at its very worst and it wasn't long before the newly cleaned and polished landrover had a thick layer of dust all over it again...but more importantly my tan was fading fast! So, with Neil now sidetracked with his new anglo/ghana business plans, I decide to head for the coast again for my final few weeks.
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