Spilling out onto endless blocks of downtown Accra, Makola is less a "marketplace", than a general way of life. You don't really "go to Makoka Market" ... you just walk down a street and it slowly starts happening around you, until reaching such a pitch that you can't even take a step without knocking over a plate of snails, or stepping into some poor woman's fufu bowl.
The American scholar and author William Edward Burghardt DuBois spent the last two years of his life in Ghana, having been invited to return to Africa by Kwame Nkrumah, to work on the Encyclopedia Africana. We visited the house in which he lived, and which now serves as his mausoleum.
Life in Accra can be stressful, I think most would agree. But regardless of how difficult the day had been, how unbearable the heat, or how aggravating the traffic, we always managed to go to bed in a fairly relaxed state of mind. Why? I think it had to do mostly with our post-sundown ritual, of finding a bar in Adabraka, and rinsing out the negativity build-up with a nice, cold beer.
Maybe it's because we come from such industrial societies, but Jürgen and I are always interested in seeing craftsmen ply their trade. The only hand-crafted products back home are the friendship bracelets your nieces force upon you. So when we're in a place like Ghana and we see people producing actual goods, it's exciting. What are those, coal pots? Sure, we'll watch you make coal pots! The lucky subjects of our attention were a couple guys holed…
The small town of Aburi is best known for its sprawling Botanical Garden, developed by the British as a sanatorium, and opened as a public garden in 1890. It's become a point of pride with locals, popular with those seeking a break from the hectic daily life in Accra. We spent a couple hours enjoying the garden's serenity, during our trip to Aburi.
Set high in the hills about an hour north of Accra, above and away from the capital's sweltering heat, the town of Aburi has long been a favorite retreat for the country's ruling classes. When the British controlled Ghana, Aburi was home to a sanatorium, and many officers kept chalets here. We visited over the weekend, and enjoyed a taste of the good life at the wonderful Hillburi Resort, just outside town.
The main enemy to our appetite in Accra hasn't been the threat of food-poisoning or diarrhea, but the oppressive heat. When it's so hot outside, and you're drinking gallons water to stay hydrated, hunger is a rare sensation. But we are brave heroes, who will let nothing hinder our mission to try all of Ghana's cuisine! If we're feeling full, well that's just too bad, because here's another big glop of fufu on its way down the…
It's a common conceit that God is everywhere, but Ghana seems to have taken the idea to a very literal level. In the streets of Accra, you simply can't escape the Almighty spirit... or at least a reference to him, whether it's in the gospel singing starting daily at 5am, the fiery preachers pacing the bus aisles, or the billboards advertising the next astonishing spiritual event. But our favorite manifestation of Ghana's overt Christianity is in the…
Jamestown was the first neighborhood we explored in Accra, and upon the conclusion of that stressful but successful day, we thought, "Good! Done and dusted, and that's the last time we visit Jamestown!" Wrong, wrong, and wrong. During our time in Accra, we returned frequently. Somehow, our path always seem to lead back here to this neighborhood by the sea.
When moving to a city which you've never visited, choosing the right neighborhood is a tricky task. You can do all the research you want, ask online forums, and scour Google Street View, but if you've not actually visited the place, you're never going to know for sure. It's a major gamble, and a wrong choice can really ruin an otherwise perfectly-planned trip. But sometimes luck runs in your favor. And we couldn't have hoped for a better spot to land in Accra, than Adabraka.
