Only 2 days after we arrived in Accra, we packed up for Donkorkrom - our home away from home for the next 4 weeks. In order to get there, we had to take a tro-tro (which is more like a large passenger van), a bus, a ferry, then get back on the bus. The ensuing is a short description of how it all went down.
We arrived at the bus station in Accra to board the tro-tro. In short, it was madness. There were people everywhere, calling us to get on their bus or another. Luckily Sefa was with us and was able to direct us, because if you don't know where you're going, you might get swallowed whole. We boarded the tro-tro and waited for it to fill up - that's the custom here: buses don't leave unless they're full. As we waited, we watched as dozens of men and women swarmed the bus, trying to sell us various things: water, juice, meat pies, candy, ice cream, mints, hand towels, and even panties. We were mostly mesmerized by the way they carried these items on their heads. The good thing is, when we said no, they would leave us alone and move on to the next potential customer.
As the bus left the station, a man got on and since there was no room for him to sit, he squatted toward the front and faced the back. Then he started talking to us in a lively fashion about the "journey" and our "performance" and we quickly realized he had a message. He was an evangelist, and he talked for about 15 minutes before some passengers handed him some cash and he got off. My guess is he used the money to take a cab back to Accra.
We drove until we arrived in Nkawkaw, and got on another bus. This one was a small version of a bus, and it has about 7 rows of seats. Seats come down in the centre aisle as well, so it makes for a tight squeeze. We drove through the lush hills until we reached a lake, and got off the bus and onto a ferry. It was really nice to stretch our legs and get some fresh air at that point. The ferry took about 30 minutes, then we all squeezed back onto the bus for the final leg of the trip.
The area is called the Afram Plains, and it's considered an under-developed part of the country, since it's quite remote. We started to get a better idea of what rural Ghana looked like. We drove by several villages with thatch-roofed huts, and the bus felt like it was on an obstacle course as it dashed between giant potholes. If you think the potholes are bad in Quebec, you have no idea how lucky you are. The drive was bumpy and slow, and at one point we got stuck. So we all piled off the bus and some people gathered around to push. It only took a few attempts before we finally got out of the mud, and got back on. In between, some people got on and some people got off, with some degree of difficulty, but I could see that they're used to it here. One guy even dropped off a letter to a lady in a town as we drove by.
We arrived in Donkokrom just as it was getting dark, about 7pm, and discovered that the room that had been reserved for us at the hostel was no longer available (reservations don't mean much here). We found out there was no room at the other guesthouse in town, so we walked down to the orphanage, where they had a room set aside for me. When we walked in the door, with our packs on our backs, sweating bullets and tired, we were greeted by 15 tiny children who ran up to us. Half went to Jon and the other half came to me. They were so cute and precious we wanted to settle in and play with them all night. Alas, we had to leave them for the time being, since my room there had also been given away. Apparently, it was a busy night in Donkorkrom. We made our way to the hospital in search of a solution, and there we met a lovely lady named Gladys who took us in and invited us to spend the night. Her house consists of three rooms, one leading to another: a living room then a bedroom and another. The kitchen and bathroom are in separate buildings. She showed us all her photos from her various trips to Germany before going to bed. We slept really well at Gladys'.
That sums up the trip to Donkorkrom. Soon (and we're on Ghanaian time now) we'll have more about our new home.
Love to all,
J&S
