Travel Reports
Ghana
Tucked between the Ivory Coast and Togo, Ghana provides a friendly gateway to West Africa’s pristine coastline.
“Lots of lights! Most African capitals are pitch black at night,” exclaimed the friendly bureaucrat sitting next to me as our plane approached Kotoka International Airport; this gave me hope that Ghana was the special place I’d heard it was and I hadn't blown my holiday budget on a dud.
If your first thoughts of Africa are mosquitoes, disease, poverty and crime, well then maybe you have been there before. In which case you’ll also be familiar with the concept of abundant smiles, excitement, and friendly strangers.
First things first, though: don't let the stench of open sewers put you off; Ghana is alive, not fetid! And in these times of social tensions across the West, it is refreshing to visit a place where people treat each other with civility and courtesy at all times and declare, “You’re welcome!” with heartfelt sincerity. Ghanaians, you see, consider it uncivilised to be rude. Unlike most large African cities, the capital, Accra, is a safe place to walk no matter what the colour of your skin is; the only harassment you’re likely to experience is from taxi drivers wondering why a foreigner is foolish enough to stroll under the heat and humidity of a West African sun.
However, since I come down with the symptoms of television hospital patients before the episode has even run its course, I had more than a little trepidation about contracting an exotic disease that would leave me at best cranky and ugly, or at worst…well, let’s just leave it at that. My greatest fear, malaria, is a threat and yet, by journey’s end, I’d not had one mosquito come to sample my blood. In fact I only saw about six of the things during my entire stay.
But why Ghana in the first place? For me, the answer’s one surprising, word: chocolate. Ghana's first cocoa farm was founded by Tetteh Quarshie, the man who revolutionised his country's economy by the simple act of transporting a seed and bringing cacao from the island of Fernando Po, just off the West African coast, back to his homeland. Within two decades, Ghana's perfect conditions for growing this sensitive crop made it the world's leading producer of cocoa. Quarshie's original farm, located about an hour's drive north of Accra, still produces it today.
Despite the appeal of theobroma cacao, Ghana’s bigger tourist draw is both more sombre and more fascinating than a food crop. Formerly called the Gold Coast thanks to its rich deposits and exploitation of this most sought-after metal, a far more lucrative trade eventually developed. Today we call it human trafficking, but then it was known more blatantly as the slave trade, bringing about the biggest forced migration in human history. While Ghana isn’t the only modern-day country that historically saw slave ships depart for Europe and the Americas, it is the only one where the forts and castles built by European powers of the time are still standing. Now classified as UNESCO World Heritage sites, these edifices provide an intriguing look back at the evolution of the trade, which, surprisingly, included such countries as Sweden and Denmark. The latter’s castle in Osu now serves as the presidential palace. Inexpensive public guided tours enhance your understanding of the violent, bloody exodus of human life.
The most notable sites, however, are found along the beautiful coast to the west of Accra in the towns of Cape Coast and Elmina. They aren’t sad repositories of past events, however, but vibrant towns, standing as living evidence of how the slave trade evolved, and how it affected both the men and women taken away and the people left behind, who had to cope with life in villages decimated by the removal of often their most robust residents.
Elmina is one of Africa's most fascinating towns, graced by a pristine coastline. Small, yet busy, the harbour provides a colourful display of fishing boats and their occupants, all hard at work and under the gaze of two old forts, Elmina Castle and St James.
The enigmatic city of Kumasi, by contrast, is a fashion victim's delight. The textile centre of Ghana, Kumasi is home to the immense Kejetia Market, purportedly the largest open-air market in West Africa, where the bolts of colourful cloth are piled metres high. Capital of the Ashanti Kingdom and still the country's cultural heart, Kumasi is home to the Ghana National Cultural Centre, where an assemblage of artisans and craftsmen still practice many of the country's wide variety of traditional handicrafts, like textile printing, pottery, and the weaving of kente cloth.
Accra, Ghana's capital is buzzy. Though not exactly bursting with must-see attractions, those it has are worthwhile. The W.E.B. DuBois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture is the legacy of African-American W.E.B. DuBois, who was regarded as persona non grata in the United States for his beliefs about social equality. In many countries, however, he remains a revered figure, and was bestowed honorary Ghanaian citizenship and lived out his life in the home-turned-museum on the grounds of the Centre.
You should be aware that food, especially Western food, is hard to come by. In Accra it’s easier to find, but expensive. The so-called supermarkets around the country offer an astonishing array of… nothing; if you’re a fussy eater, stock up in the capital before heading off elsewhere, and be sure to try the excellent Golden Tree chocolates, Ghana's own brand, infused with lemon, orange or coffee in milk variety or the earthy, rich uninfused dark chocolate.
If you have the bucks and the buttocks to charter a plane or handle an arduous bus journey respectively, a visit to >b>Mole National Park is a must. A remote area in the northwest of the country, it’s where Ghana's forest elephants can be seen at close range. The simple but well-positioned park lodge sits on a bluff overlooking a watering hole teeming with pachyderms. The whole experience is more relaxed and far less expensive than safari-type encounters offered in other African countries.
With regard to sexuality, male-to-male contact in Ghana isn’t a sign of homosexuality; men hold hands and link arms as friends, and the ease of striking up a conversation with a smiling stranger in no way hints at anything intimate. Sure, the nightlife can be busy if you like to socialise – Ghanaians love to have a good time – but watch yourself when you’re in cruise control. Gay sex is viewed as obscene (in the bad way) in most of sub-Saharan Africa, and Ghana is no exception. Even worse, handsome conmen who know the law may lead you on, then demand money not to turn you in. And the police will have no sympathy.
That said, gay life does exist, albeit with extreme discretion. In these days of chatrooms and on-line interaction, it's smarter to make contacts before you get there than to seek the comfort of strangers – remember what that did for Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson.
Surprisingly, this member of the British Commonwealth (they drive on the right) seems more closely aligned with the Netherlands than the UK. Many commercial vehicles imported from the Netherlands are still marked in their original livery, so don't be surprised to see delivery trucks from Gouda or butchers' vans from Utrecht. The Dutch sponsor many historic preservation projects, and KLM is by far the best-represented airline in the country; for this alone, I’d suggest using its services. British Airways flies there, but in the unlikely event you’ll need to modify your reservation from the far corners of the country, it’ll be easier to do it with KLM. Also, KLM’s long-haul service in all classes is exceptional, and those gin-filled porcelain houses they give as gifts in Business Class on every intercontinental flight make charming souvenirs…
Make sure to learn the snappy Ghana handshake that ends with a click of the fingers. It is used between good friends; you’re certain to need it by the time you leave.
Getting There:
KLM flies from London Heathrow or London City via Amsterdam daily. Log onto www.klm.com or call 08705 074 074 for details and reservations.
Accommodation:
Golden Tulip Accra: Liberation Road. PO Box 16033, Airport, Accra. Pretty grounds and wireless internet access make this the city’s most convenient and popular hotel. Tel: 00 233 (0)21 775360 or www.goldentulipaccra.com.
Coconut Grove Beach Resort: Primitive luxury loved by Hollywood in Elmina. Tel: 00 233 (42) 40100 or www.coconutgrovehotels.com.gh
Play On:
Ghana Tourist Board. Tel: 00 233 (21) 672 124 or log onto www.ghanatourism.gov.gh.
Also, try the African Travel and Tourism Association, www.atta.co.uk
Robert LaBua