Welcome to Accra, Boys & Girls

A wall of heat hit me when I got off the plane in Accra at 9:00pm. An angry, humid, treacherous heat, which was hell bent on showing me who was boss. Our driver met us just out of customs, and we were quickly whisked off to the hotel. A good thing too, as I almost fell asleep on the bus; who knew sitting in a plane seat for 6 hours watching ‘How I Met Your Mother’ could be so tiring?

Our first full day in Accra involved a moderate amount of walking and an excessive amount of sweating. I did get to try tiny boned Guineafowl for lunch.

The following day was a little less of a temperature shock, with a visit to the Textiles Market. The market had a good mix of textiles, paintings, carvings and handmade drums. Just like all markets in the developing world, the stallholders vigorously peddled their wears, and I was luckily saved a couple of times by our lovely guide, Francis. When you get the price from the vendor, you divide it by four, and then you start negotiating.

Accra is a beautifully chaotic city on the coastline. The spaghetti roads, the old stone buildings, the MTN booths on every corner. New buildings are going up everywhere; there’s a lot of development, but you can still walk down the street and see somebody carrying a chicken in a plastic bag.