Ghana: The People

One thing that has struck me about Ghanaians is how incredibly friendly and relaxed (ok two things)  they are.  My experience at the airport was one of ease as most of the airport staff either cracked a joke or gave me a friendly smile. My host had been late to pick me up and I was at the airport for over two hours. Lucky for me, I met a very friendly gentleman (he later asked me out on a date which I kindly declined J)  who tried to help me find a way to contact my host. He said he felt bad leaving me by myself as he had also just landed in the country but was about to leave. He was from Equatorial Guinea but was living in Ghana for a few months on a business trip. He waited with me at the airport for nearly three hours, even helping me get change for my money as well as a new sim card (this was how he got my number).

Some would call me crazy for trusting a random African man in an unknown country but to be honest, my spirit just told me he was ok.

We ended up going to a hotel (clear your filthy mind) and waiting at the lobby so I can charge my phone and sit down as I got tired of waiting at the airport when my host came to meet me.

Everywhere I went I always ended up meeting people who were willing to help me, some even took my number and called me to hang out which I did (yes I’m insane, anything could have happened!).  The girl in the MAC store ended up telling me about her boyfriend in London and that’s how we became friends, we had that London connection. It’s always been a problem of mine trusting people too easily. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but obviously, I’m in Africa so anything can happen but remember I’m trying to break the myth of Africa being a bad place here. I just went with the flow.

Me with a random man I met on the tour

During my visit to the Black Star Square, as I was taking pictures, I noticed a group of young boys hanging around and looking at me. At home in London, this would give me cause to be concerned but here I didn’t know what to expect until one of them shyly asked if he can take a picture with me. I was taken aback but agreed anyway partly because I didn’t know how to say no. Then his friends joined and took pictures with me on their phone. As strange as I found it, they were pleasant and said than you to me before walking off giggling like school boys. Actually, they were schoolboys lol.

One crazy time in Cape Coast, I met a man from Denmark who was staying at the same hotel as me. We got talking and from having a really good conversation, he gave me his driver to take me to the sites at a really cheap price. On top of that as he was heading back to Accra the same day as me to catch his flight back to Denmark, he offered me a lift free of charge. I took the risk and said yes to the ride all the way back to my front door in Accra and the driver only ask I pay £8 towards his fuel! Bargain!

Myself with my tour guide who spent 20 minutes after  the tour pulling silly selfie pictures with me

Another time, I had no money for my taxi fare as I had run out of cedis and my taxi driver offered to take me to my destination and come back the next day to my place to collect the money when I exchanged my pounds. That would never happen in London!

I know not everyone has good intentions or motive and I'm not disputing that something bad could have happened, however I really believe if you give positivity into the world, it will come back to you but the Ghanaians? Thank you for your hospitality!

The Journey Begins

'The journey to self is a solitary one'

As the Royal Air Maroc plane began to descend upon Kotoko Airport, I felt a rush of nerves flow through me. After a whole year of talking about and preparing for this trip, the moment was finally here. For the next seven months, Africa would be my home and Ghana for the next five weeks would kick start this experience. I began to question myself, why was I really here?  What was the purpose of this trip? What if I didn’t learn anything from it? What if I didn’t return home changed at all and most importantly was it all worth it? All these questions were buzzing through my head as I felt the familiar African heat begin to hit me whilst my nose became blocked because of the stuffy air.

I took a deep breath and assured myself that whatever happened I was in a better place than I was last year. I looked out the window and the first thing I noticed was that it was more lit up than when I had landed in Kinshasa’s Ndjili Airport in DR Congo which was where I was from. ‘The time is now 4:30am local time and the weather is 25 degrees’ the air hostess was announcing, ’25 degrees?!’ I thought to myself ‘At 4:30am in the morning? What will it be like at 12pm?’ I mused. ‘Welcome to Ghana’ the steward said to me as I walked down the stairs from the plane. I thought to myself ‘You better get used to it and put up with it!’. After all seven months was not tomorrow.