We made it safe to Ghana

March 16, 2018 3 By Alan Evans

We made it to Ghana yesterday after a long trip from Dubai. Our flight was delayed by two hours and then was diverted to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire before finally arriving in Accra, Ghana much later than planned.

(Sahara desert)

We took a taxi ride across Accra to the Achimota part of the the city where our AirBnb is. Our ride across the city was a good intro to Ghana as we passed through both business and residential parts of the city.

It is amazing that all along the roads there are little roadside "stalls" selling everything from snacks, to furniture, to construction supplies and even live animals. There are also people walking along the highway and roads when traffic slows to sell water and food to the cars.

We arrived to our house after dark, and were greeted by the nicest host. David had waited 4 hours for us to arrive and let us in! He was kind enough to put cold waters in our fridge and guide us to a nice restaurant to get some food. But we were so pooped from our long travel day we could hardly eat. Also we ordered a fried fish dish that we expected to be more like fish sticks but was in fact a whole fish, skin bones, eyes and all.

While I was worried that the heat and humidity might hinder sleep, I was so tired from our long day I found no trouble quickly passing out on our first night in Africa. I was glad to have made it here safe and have a nice place to rest for a couple nights before we head to Tamale and Mole (places in northern Ghana, not Mexican dishes) tomorrow morning after spending today visiting the University where Alena studied abroad in college.

(Alena at her old dorm)

It was a great day walking around the school and eating lots of different local dishes. We met up with Aunty Rose who is the director of the UC exchange program with the University of Ghana. She was so sweet and helpful and gave us the nicest gifts when we arrived. Along with some much needed advice for our travels to Mole.

We spent the evening dinking Ghana beers and eating chicken and jollof rice at a local restaurant a short walk from our house.

(Local brewskis)

It has been a great first night and day in Ghana and I am so excited for the rest of our time here. Next up the Northern Region and elephants!

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3 Comments

  • Carolyn Orcutt says:
    March 25, 2018 at 3:11 am

    Hi Alan and Alena, this is Grandma Carolyn. I am so glad you are taking time out from careers to travel. The tro tro sounds similar to the tuk tuk that one can ride for short distances in parts of Asia.

    Northern Ghana looks interesting. Did the Mole hotel have air conditioning? Have you seen many tourists from other countries? And anyone else from America? In many of our travels, we see no other Americans, and only a few Europeans.

    Did you arrange your safaris before leaving home? Is it easy to find a place to stay without booking ahead?

    Are you using a guide book such as one published by Lonely Planet? Do most people speak some English?

    Alena, how long were you an exchange student studying in Ghana? I believe you said you were studying African literature. Do you speak other languages? Is it hot all year in Ghana?

    We may be going to Italy toward the end of April. We aren’t sure yet. Skiing has been very good this winter.

    I look forward to reading more of your travel news.

    What camera (s) are you using? Your pictures are excellent.

    Be safe and stay well.

    Love from G. carolyn

    Reply
    • alanevans says:
      March 25, 2018 at 10:14 am

      Thanks so much for reading my blog! I am very excited to be fortunate enough to be able to pause my career to take this trip.
      I like all your questions, I will try to answer them all:
      Our rooms in mole had AC but not all rooms did. You can usually pay for a room with a fan or AC.

      There were many tourists from abroad at the mole hotel but in general we do not see many other tourists. Most of the tourists in Mole were European with many from Germany.

      I don’t recall meeting any other American tourists yet. We have met some Ghanaians who have lived in the US.

      The safaris in Mole were not your typical African safari you think of, which are usually in Southern or Eastern Africa. The safaris we did were very cheap, in the $5 to $25 usd per person range. Including the Jeep and a tip. I know safaris in other countries can be thousands of dollars. Mole does not have the large predators or migrations other places have that demand the high prices. To take the Mole safaris you just show up at the ranger station at set times and who ever is there gets to go on the safari.

      We booked most of our nights in Ghana ahead of time. But when we have made changes or have found lodging more last minute we have yet to have any issues.

      We used no guide book. Mostly used Alena’s knowledge from her experiences here as well as recommendations from connections in Ghana. Otherwise we just google where we are going and look at online reviews, with a grain of salt always.

      Almost every person we have talked to has spoken English with us, and usually quite well.

      Alena studied here for about 6 months about 6 years ago.

      She speaks a handful of local words.

      I think it’s relatively hot here year round. We are fairly close to the equator, with the Sahara desert to the north.

      All of my pictures are taken using my iPhone 9. Almost all are unedited.

      Glad to hear from you and I hope this answers some of your, and I’m sure others’, questions!

      Reply
  • Susan says:
    March 17, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    So glad to hear you made it safely to your Ghana destination. It must be amazing to be there! More photos, I hope?
    Thanks Alan for keeping us all posted back home!!!! Love hearing about your trip!!! 😊

    Reply

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