Tailors, fufu, and lies that the Lion King taught me

Above: warthogs, a misunderstood hyena, and a nice baboon (with baby! so cute!)

As my time in Ghana draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about things I still want to do before I fly home. Sure, 3 weeks may seem like a lot of time, but put in working, packing up, and many good-byes, and the time will fly by.

Today was one first for me- the first time I’ve ordered a custom tailored outfit. Here is Ghana it’s common to choose your own fabulous fabric and bring it to a tailor. Getting a dress made, not including the fabric, will cost me 10 cedi (less than $8). And luckily, there is a tailor right outside the gate to my house…and two more across the street, should I ever feel like branching out. There is one first encounter I’ve been dreading, and that’s with fufu, a doughy-looking food eaten with stew or soup. I’ve tried a similar food- banku- and wasn’t a big fan. But fried plantains- oh man, I’ll miss those when I go home!

So, onto my beef with the Lion King. First, the movie misrepresents baboons- see my post about Mole National Park. I assumed that all baboons would be jovial creatures who at the worst would hit me playfully on the head with a stick- WRONG- the baboon who stole food was not Rafiki, that’s for sure.

Next, Lion Kings makes it seem like hyenas are despicable creatures- WRONG. I went to Achimoto forest this weekend and saw a spotted hyena that’s part of Ghana’s ongoing animal education/conservation efforts (Accra’s zoo was moved to make room for the new presidential palace, and some animals are still in Accra, while others are in a town a few hours away). This hyena was adorable- his eyes said “please love me- I am so cute”. As my friend said- “how could Disney make a villain out of him!” In Disney’s defense, warthogs do seems like they could be sorta loveable, so they didn’t miss the mark too badly on that I suppose.

Mole National Park: Elephants and those Sneaky Baboons

This past weekend I went up north to Mole National Park, hoping to see enough wildlife to make the incredibly long journey there and back worth it- and I’m happy to say it was a trip well worth taking, and that’s saying a lot, considering just how difficult it was to get there…

I left Accra around 3:30 pm on Thursday, and got to Tamale, a town up north, at around 6 or 7 am Friday morning, after a very long bus ride complete with traffic, road blocks, and cops on board the bus (I guess just in case anything happened along the road). And these cops- like most in Ghana- didn’t have little handguns- they had guns maybe two feet long. Luckily, the bus was comfortable and the road not too bumpy.

The bus from Tamale to Mole, however, was a different matter entirely. I waited in Tamale for the 2 pm bus, which left late, and didn’t get to Mole until maybe around 8 9pm on Friday night! The bus wasn’t as nice as the one from Accra for starters, and much of the journey was on really really bumpy dirt road- so bumpy I wondered how the bus could drive without falling to pieces. There was an exit door towards the back, and I could see it sorta rattling back and forth, looking as though it would fly open at any second!

Next, there weren’t enough seats for everyone, so lots of people had to stand. By the time we were near the end of the journey, they bus was crammed full, with people in the aisle and in the stairwell of the rear door of the bus.

Mole was quite a paradise after such a journey. The place was beautiful, with the park’s hotel set
up on a hill so you could look out and see the landscape below, including elephants near the watering hole. There was a pool and an outdoor restaurant. My room was huge- three beds, and a big bathroom.
Luckily we had two buckets for water that could be filled from a pump or something, because the water wasn’t always on in the room.

Saturday morning I went on a walking safari, reporting time at 6:30 am. Before we actually departed, elephants came up to near where we were meeting, and it was awesome. And then around the corner from the info center, we saw more elephants, maybe 40 or 50 feet away!

The nature walk was great. The guide was armed- Mole has never had any incidents of somebody getting hurt by an animal, and they want that record to stay the way it is. We asked him if he’d even fired his gun before (we were thinking maybe at an animal), and his answer was “Yes. In training.” Fair enough.

The afternoon walk was great too. Our guide had been a guide for eleven years, and we’d be walking, and he’d stop, and you could tell he was looking closely for clues about where the animals were- fresh
droppings, footprints, broken branches. On the walks, I saw bushboks and waterboks and monkeys and warthogs. You could see animals looking right at you from far off, then they’d dart away, or sometimes not care and go about their business.

The animals were beautiful- except I a problem with one of them. It all started at dinner on Saturday- my friend and I were sitting outside, on the restaurant porch. I had ordered dinner, and she had brought some snacks, including a new package of onion-flavored crackers that she told me were a favorite snack of hers. It was dark out already, and the restaurant was quite busy- lots of people eating, including people sitting on the pool deck, which is closest to the forest.

We were sitting and talking when, in my friend’s words, she saw a “hairy little arm reach up to the table.” Turning to look, she sees a 50-70 pound baboon trying to steal the whole cartoon of crackers. Rather
than darting away once my friend noticed its presence, the baboon persisted in trying to grab the crackers. We jumped out of our seats, and she tried to scare it away, but that baboon did not care- it was huge, and it was taking her crackers no matter what.

A waitress rushed over, grabbing my friend’s chair, jabbing it in the direction of the thief to make it go away- it ran down a few steps to pool area, the waitress running after it with the chair, and it then ran away, went around to the other side of the pool and sat out there in the open (or that might have been a second baboon) and then ran away. Wow, talk about intense. After, we just sat there, kinda stunned.

Now I’m back in Accra, with less than a month until I’m back in the States. Goodness, how the time flies. At least in Accra I don’t have to worry about baboons stealing my food.

Let's Make a Deal

One exciting part of living in Ghana is negotiating prices- while some things like food from fruit vendors is pretty much not worth haggling about, in other situations negotiating is more acceptable.

For example, taxi fares should be negotiated before you get in the car, and I’ve found it’s really helpful to make sure you and the driver are 100% on the same page about the price. For example, you might suggest a price- maybe 5 cedi, he’ll say 6 cedi, you’ll say 5 again, and then he’ll say “let’s go.” To me, that would seem to mean “we’ve agreed on 5 cedi.” But not so fast- when I clarified with the driver that 5 cedi was indeed the agreed price, he then tried to say we should give him 6 cedi!

Unfortunately, unless you have a good bearing on what is a fair price or the usual price, or pay close attention to financial exchanges, there’s the potential to pay too much for things, perhaps because you don’t know any better. Luckily, there are plenty of situations where Ghanaians have your back, and want to make sure you are treated fairly. For example, sometimes on the tro-tro you might not receive the correct change, and while you might not notice, others passengers will step in and make sure you get the correct amount.

Just this past week, I stopped at a stall to buy a container of Q-tips, and when I asked how much it was, the man seemed to at first say 1 cedi, then say 1.5 cedi. Suddenly, a woman who also works there comes over and clarifies that 1 cedi is the correct price, in a tone that somewhat suggested that he knew what the right price was all along. I certainly appreciated her stepping in, and it’s nice to know that in situations like that, people have got my back!

Gardens, Independence, and Lost Soccer Dreams

Okay, so I’ve got to acknowledge the obvious- my beloved Black Stars are out of the World Cup. Not only that, we lost on penalty kicks, after extended play. AND perhaps the Uruguay team could benefit from a lesson that only goalies can use their hands to block goals. Do I sound bitter? Maybe a little, but I think that’s allowed at this stage in the World Cup.

But life goes on in Ghana, despite hopes of winning the Cup having been destroyed. And there’s good reason to be happy regardless- it’s a (U.S.) holiday weekend! Well, about that…I didn’t really do anything to celebrate Independence Day. Word on the street is that the U.S. Embassy hosted a 4^th of July Party, but nobody picked up when I called (perhaps they were all outside enjoying a Budweiser?).

So instead, as I write this, I am enjoying a bowl of soup. And yes, I did realize that it’s weird to make soup when it’s so hot out.

On Saturday I took a visit to Aburi Botanical Gardens (see pictures above), home to some amazingly tall trees, beautiful flowers, an old helicopter (I don’t know why), and lizards. The drive there and back was memorable- at times on a bumpy dirt road littered with potholes, and at others on a winding road through the hills. Sometimes I got lost in the scenery- and other times felt like I should hold on for dear life! It was nice to get out of Accra for a bit, and enjoy some nature!

Parliament: No offices…but you have an internet café!

Today I visited Ghana’s Parliament. Sitting in on Parliament in session, one of the first things I noticed was how few Members of Parliament (MPs) were present- maybe around 10%. Granted, MPs were talking about projects/programs and responding to related questions from other MPs, and no voting took place while I watched- perhaps if there was voting, more would have been there.

Also, the “Madame Speaker” seemed to be the subject of great respect. Whenever she was about to sit in her chair up on a platform at the front of the chamber, a man would appear to not only help push in the chair, but also adjust a red pillow for her back. Microphone too far from her face? Not to fear- the same guy made sure to reappear and bend it slightly closer to her face for her. Also, I noticed the she would be bowed to sometimes, like if a person walked toward the center of the chamber.

After leaving the main chamber, we visited the library. Considering that this is the national legislative body, I was expecting something grander that what I saw- a single room with about 15 computers and a wall or two of books, maybe ten feet by 30 feet. However, Ghana’s MPs may be especially in need of a great library because- and here’s what really surprised me- they don’t have offices.

Yeah, that’s right, and lowly law student intern at an NGO can be given space in an office, but MPs aren’t given a place to call their own. Also, MPs aren’t given their own staff, or even a regional office. As anybody who’s been lost in an “office shuffle” and been desk-less can attest to, not having your own space can be downright challenging and frustrating. Call me crazy, but if these are the people representing a whole nation, they should at least have a space for themselves, or to put their cup of coffee. Oh wait, they DO have a place to put their coffee- there is an internet café within the building that MPs could use. But still, that’s not the same as a permanent desk.

Luckily, right behind one of the current Parliament buildings, a HUGE new building is being constructed- and word is this one will have offices for MPs.Today I visited Ghana’s Parliament. Sitting in on Parliament in session, one of the first things I noticed was how few Members of Parliament (MPs) were present- maybe around 10%. Granted, MPs were talking about projects/programs and responding to related questions from other MPs, and no voting took place while I watched- perhaps if there was voting, more would have been there.

Also, the “Madame Speaker” seemed to be the subject of great respect. Whenever she was about to sit in her chair up on a platform at the front of the chamber, a man would appear to not only help push in the chair, but also adjust a red pillow for her back. Microphone too far from her face? Not to fear- the same guy made sure to reappear and bend it slightly closer to her face for her. Also, I noticed the she would be bowed to sometimes, like if a person walked toward the center of the chamber.

After leaving the main chamber, we visited the library. Considering that this is the national legislative body, I was expecting something grander that what I saw- a single room with about 15 computers and a wall or two of books, maybe ten feet by 30 feet. However, Ghana’s MPs may be especially in need of a great library because- and here’s what really surprised me- they don’t have offices.

Yeah, that’s right, and lowly law student intern at an NGO can be given space in an office, but MPs aren’t given a place to call their own. Also, MPs aren’t given their own staff, or even a regional office. As anybody who’s been lost in an “office shuffle” and been desk-less can attest to, not having your own space can be downright challenging and frustrating. Call me crazy, but if these are the people representing a whole nation, they should at least have a space for themselves, or to put their cup of coffee. Oh wait, they DO have a place to put their coffee- there is an internet café within the building that MPs could use. But still, that’s not the same as a permanent desk.

Luckily, right behind one of the current Parliament buildings, a HUGE new building is being constructed- and word is this one will have offices for MPs.