Today Connor, Bryce, and I arrived in Accra, the capital, at 9:00 a.m. Over the previous 48 hours we calculated that each of us had accumulated about 6 hours of sleep in the last 48. Needless to say we were exhausted and thrown into a culture completely different from our own.
Leaving the airport in Accra was chaos. There were three of us, carrying a ridiculous amount of camera equipment, three fifty pound oversized boxes of solar panels, and all of our personal items. In front of the airport people wait to help carry your bags for a small fee, this means there are about twenty people surrounding you vying for your attention while you try to shoo them away and keep a hand on your stuff. However, we made it out of the airport just fine and into the back of our driver’s truck. I, the only female in the group at the time, sat up with the driver while the boys piled into the open back of the truck with the luggage and our driver’s kids.
The drive to our hotel was an excellent way to see the city. As I’m assuming it is in all developing world cities, it was easy to see the poverty on the streets, malnourished children, beggars, a canal so dirty you could smell it about a mile before we drove by it. However, we were also greeted with smiles and waves. Maybe I’m completely wrong in this opinion, but the people don’t seem unhappy for the most part. In fact I was overcome with a sense of vitality.
The people are extremely active. Women carry amazing loads of goods on their heads while they walk down the streets chatting with others and selling their items. Children rove the streets in packs, playing soccer and rough housing. The men laugh and talk while they work. Everyone in the city seems to be busy.
Our hotel, Affia Beach, is owned by an Australian woman. It is a very nice place to be even by American hotel standards. After our first quick tour of the hotel we went back into the city to gather supplies for the next days bus ride. We purchased cell phones, a few other basics and Bus tickets. This took us nearly four hours. When you buy things in Accra you must go to all of the different booths along the street to find all the components you need as well as the best deal. We would go to one booth to get the phone (a used Nokia brick that says, “God is my shepherd” every time it is turned on), then on to another booth for the charger, then on to the booth of the charger guys brother to get minutes and the card that makes the phone work. It is a very long process.
After finally purchasing our bus tickets for the next morning we went to get some much needed sleep in the hotel. The air conditioning worked, a wonderful thing in a city that averages 100 degrees, with 80% humidity. Aaron and Jessica arrived in Accra safely around eleven at night, tired but otherwise doing well. The day was extremely successful and tomorrow our adventures really begin as we head to the north of the country.
-Kate Dorrell
No comments:
Post a Comment