Africa Time

After exactly a week in Ghana I've lost it. There are tears rolling out of my eyes and I start laughing like a madman. The girls in the front row turn their heads and look at me as if they had just entered a mental institution. They look at Abena for an explanation, but she has now lost it as well. My uncontrollably laughter is spreading like a disease. One by one the girls are losing their composure, and the car is looking more and more like a patient transport between two mental institutions. I'm trying to explain, but laughter is choking my words, so I point to the back window. The guy outside keeps knocking on the window, trying to sell us super glue. Super glue! Why on earth is there a guy outside running alongside our car in the middle of Accra's busiest highway trying to sell me super glue? Drinks ok, bananas I understand, even the mobile phone top up cards the hawkers sell in the middle of every traffic jam on every street in Accra I am able to comprehend. But this guy has decided to make a living out of selling super glue to passing motorists. I know I shouldn't laugh. It's not funny. The guy is poor and most likely struggles daily to make enough money to buy food. But super glue is just too much for my brain to process and pity has given way to insanity.

It has been a long day. A day we had been looking forward to all week. Our hosts had offered to take us on a day trip to Cape Coast to visit the fortresses built on Ghana's beaches that the European's used in the past centuries to trade slaves. A dark chapter in Ghana's and Europe's history that has now turned into one of Ghana's main tourist attractions. We had to get up at half past five in the morning to beat the traffic on our way out of Accra, but quickly realise that it is impossible to beat traffic at any hour of the day in this city of four million people. We were told that the trip to Cape Coast would take approximately two hours, but at the end of our first two hours we have barely managed to escape the outer suburbs of the city. After three hours the driver pulls up on the side of the road to buy some supplies from the locals selling their produce by the road side. We're welcomed with a big smile as our hosts start haggling over pineapples, bananas and watermelons. I'm very excited by the prospect of eating my first Ghanaian banana and end up having three while Kath has quickly befriended the local kids and starts teaching them some new dance moves. The kids here are gorgeous. Their big smiles, curiosity and playfulness are a winning combination that enchants any visitor and their magic has certainly worked on us. We quickly take some photos and exchange our Cedi for some local produce before we pack up and continue our journey to Cape Coast. After a further two hours drive we finally reach our first destination and realise that the initial two hour estimate was just one more example of what locals refer to as 'Africa time'. Even though we're already hungry our host Annette decides to buy us the tickets for the first major attraction of the day, the Cape Coast canopy walk. After waiting for a couple of minutes the park ranger arrives to guide us through the jungle. It's very refreshing being out in the forest after a week of traffic, markets and millions of people, but the experience doesn't last long. After a few steps through the rainforest we end up at the end of the queue of people lining up for the canopy walk and it will take us another hour before we can finally start the tree top walk. Once we commence the walk the experience is truly spectacular. The walkway is a narrow plank of wood with ropes and mesh on either side for balance and safety. We are told that the walk way can support the weight of two elephants and since there is little else to comfort me 60 metres above the ground I am more than willing to accept the ranger's assurances. The view from up here is magnificent, with the dark green foliage below us, butterflies circling and the rainforest stretching out as far as the eye can see. After carefully putting one foot in front of the other for about 15 minutes we are all a little relieved as we step off the walkway and I wonder if the smiles in our photos will be able to hide the fear in our eyes. On the way back to the car Abena and I buy some fresh coconut, drink the watery milk inside and eagerly peel out the flesh inside after the guy skilfully parts the coconut with his machete. It's a fresh and delicious snack for two ravenous travellers and it doesn't take much to convince us to buy the dark thick syrupy local honey the guys are selling in re-used plastic bottles. I am already excited by the prospect of eating some bread with groundnut paste and honey on our return home. Groundnut paste is essentially the same as peanut butter minus the added oil, salt and sugar. On our return back to the car we are quickly driven to the nearest restaurant for some Ghana cuisine. We have tried lots of Ghana dishes over the last couple of days and the reviews have been mixed. My least favourite was the locals favourite, fufu. I knew I would struggle with this dish from the day my friend described it as a ball of snot in a soup when we were still back home in Melbourne. I tried as hard as I could to put this thought to the back of my mind as I was digging my hands into this big lump of white dough made of cassava. The gooey, dough like texture is hard to get used to even though it really doesn't taste like much at all. I had mine with groundnut soup in the hope that it would somewhat resemble penang curry. Unfortunately it is nothing like my old Thai favourite and I was happy to tick this one off my list of things to do in Ghana, never to look back. Though admittedly I was a little proud that I had finished my bowl as Ghanaians consider it rude to not finish your meal, which is quite a challenge considering most dishes are heavy, starchy and served in gynormous quantities. Some Ghanaian dishes are quite nice and our favourites include red red, a red bean stew served with chicken or fish and plantain, which is similar to an unripe banana fried in some spicy seasoning. I think the one thing I truly miss is chocolate. We may need to look a little harder, but considering that Ghana produces a substantial amount of the world's cocoa you would expect a lot more of the stuff to be available in some form or another. Hopefully we'll find something soon as we are fast running out of our chocolate supplies Barbara gave us before we left Canberra.

After lunch we were fast running out of time and to our disappointment our guides had decided to head back home without showing us the fortresses we were hoping to see. Africa time and Accra traffic had once again limited our ability to achieve the few things we had planned to do. So it was back in the car for another five hours squished into the back of our host's four wheel drive. Luckily a five hour drive in Ghana is nothing like the monotonous, uneventful driving through the Australian countryside. Driving in Ghana is more like playing a computer road racing game, with one life, your own, and handing over the controls to your local Ghanaian friend who you hope has acquired sufficient experience over the years. Luckily for us our Ghanaian driver, Kwame, is an accomplished driver who over many years has learnt the art of negotiation with street vendors running next to his cars while talking on his mobile and working out the exact amount of change, as well as circumventing potholes, goats and other obstacles while driving at 110 through the village. Most importantly though, Kwame is a really nice guy and an incredibly patient driver. How else would you be able to drive some volunteers around for ten hours when you know you're facing another two hour commute back home.

Ghanaians love to laugh out loud. The highlight of orientation week has been Twi language lessons and generally listening to WUSC (volunteer organisation) staff talk and laugh about their county. They speak with a mixture of pride and frustration. They love their culture, food and traditions but acknowledge injustices between the haves and have nots, corruption and drawbacks of their government. One of the WUSC staff summed it up beautifully by stating that Ghanaians, and perhaps African generally, survive on hope and hoping. Something that is broken today may be fixed tomorrow.

Everything functions on a shoestring here but people have an ingenious and cunning sense of survival. Whether attempting to keep your change or selling the most random assortment of goods by the side of the road. It's subsistence living but somehow they keep the smile on their faces. Ghanaians must be one of the most friendly people.

My intention was to recount the last week of events, but I haven't even managed to recount one full day! So all I can say for now is we're well and looking forward to more Accra action in the days to come. Hope you're all well and looking forward to hearing from you.

Kwame (Saturday born man) & Abena (Tuesday born lady)