Last thoughts on my trip to Ghana
by typecat
So, we have almost come to the end of my posts about Ghana. All that remains is for me to just add a couple of things that I have previously omitted to mention. I have got some stories to tell about the children we met but I’m saving those up. For other things. Maybe. I don’t know. Anyway, here we go…
Music
The music in Ghana is marvellous. From a nice chap selling CDs on the side of the road in Accra we bought a hiplife compilation and a copy of the Ramblers Dance Band album Hits Sounds of the Ramblers which has the famous cover of Knock On Wood on it. This is called highlife.
Highlife is a kind of blend of big band, gospel, traditional Ghana beats and a bit of reggae. It’s recognisably African but give a nod to all the dominate aspects of Ghana’s music culture which are broader. Church music being particularly popular. Hip Life is the same but with American hip hop beats and rapping added to the music, with less big band. There is still the same reverence to God but it sits alongside more urbane sentiments such as requests for sexual favours and discussion about the size of one’s little fella. Dutty Wine is probably the most famous of these tracks. Or Dirty Wind (as in wind your body down) in proper English, which is not half so evocative of the dance hall as dutty wine.
To put one of these CDs on is to be transported directly to Ghana. Sadly, the number one single in Ghana right now is Born This Way by Lady Gaga. Oh, I’m sorry. I just rolled my eyes so hard they fell out of my head and I had to crawl under the table to retrieve them.
Kaneshie Market
Kaneshie Market is a big market in a building not dissimilar to a multi storey car park. We bought some great fabric there for not much money. They also have lots of seamstresses and tailors there who I suspect can transform said material into marvellous fashion items. Outside there are masses of people selling fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and animals. It’s a proper local market. There is another market which is a bit more tourist-y but we were the only white people at this one. It’s not at all like the Souks and all the people are really friendly. We bought some fabric from a woman who was really shy about her English so the woman from another stall helped her, and us, out. These are the people that Global Mamas helps to support so it’s really nice to buy from them direct. I recommend a visit to Kaneshie Market. I saw it from the bus on the way out of Accra and it thought it looked amazing enough to squeeze in a visit to. I was not disappointed. Get a taxi, it’s in the south west on the way out of town to Cape Coast.
New Haven Hotel
The New Haven Hotel is in a north western area of Accra just north of the ring road. This makes it very handy for the STC station. So, if you fly into Accra in the evening you can get a taxi there and then you are ready to get on the bus in the morning. The rooms are really cheap and not bad. Decent bed, fan. Unfortunately, we only had a little water when we were there which isn’t ideal when you’ve got off a flight via Togo, but was unusual in Ghana so I’ll assume this is a one off. I recommend for a short stay.
Anomabo Hotels
In Anomabo there is a beach resort which is a real treat to stay in, very smart huts virtually on the beach. But on top of a hill nearby is a marvellous place called Deva View, which has a very dismissive mention in the Bradt Guide which it doesn’t deserve. You get a 360 degree view of the cost and countryside as you are high above everything. The food is delicious. The rooms are amazing. They are enormous and decked out in a really quirky way. The guy who showed us round was delightful and it came as no surprise that the house was built by some eccentric who fell in love with the area and built it to his own specifications. After his death it was converted into a five room hotel. In short, it’s cheaper and better than the Beach Resort. In fact there are some pretty good places around Anomabo, we ate at teh Bikram Beach House which was being done up and rustles up a good meal. Always a treat.
St George Hotel
It was not a treat to stay at the St George. IAvoid, avoid. It gets quite a good write up in the Bradt Guide but it’s enough to make you weep, it really is.
The plane of doom
The only other thing I feel I must share is that on the flight from Brussels to Heathrow there was a gigantic bang and the plane dropped about 2 miles. No, not really it dropped about ten metres. Maybe. Its’ really hard to assess these matters. People screamed. Not me though, I was half asleep and thought it was part of a dream. Oh, and I am very brave.
Thanks Ghana, it was great, great trip to a fabulous country. Now, I want you to close this blog and go to a travel website and book yourself a trip too. Becuase I am pretty confident that you won’t ever, ever regret it.
Oh, and here are my photographs
