I used to hate Accra. I had several reasons for this intense loathing:
1. Accra is a 16 hour busride away from Bolga.
2. It costs me almost Ghc 27 to get there.
3. Everything in Accra is expensive – taxis, food, lodging.
4. The labyrinthine tangle of Accra’s streets and mishmash of neighbourhoods are arcane and unintelligible.
These four reasons have kept me away for a very long time; I only came here when absolutely necessary. I am, however, happy to report that I now feel differently. I’ve spent about two weeks total here in Accra and am really enjoying it. Getting here was still gross (14 hours of straight nausea, from Tamale) but, since getting here, I’ve figured out how to get around cheaply. I’ve only taken one (one!) taxi; the rest of the time I’ve taken trotros, which are much, much less expensive. Once you figure out where you can pick tros to where you want to go – which bus stops to wait at – it’s really very easy. Now I know how to move between the PC Office, various hotels, various delish restaurants, the mall and the bus station, for the cheapest amount possible. It’s easy! You just have to 1. figure out which road to wait on and on which side of the road and 2. listen to what the mate (the driver’s sidekick, who collects money from the passengers and says the tro’s various destinations out the window when pulling up to a bus stop) is hollering. It’s not always easy to understand, as they tend to mumble in really nasal voices (“Sirksirksirkkanishkanishkanish”), but you learn what to listen for. Also, some places have hand signals that they mates do out the window. If the tro is going to (Kwame Nkrumah) Circle, the mate will flop his wrist in a circular motion out the window. For some reason, the signal for 37 Station is a poking motion. It’s convenient. Mates and people waiting on the side of the road can communicate without speaking. Sign Language??? I think so.
When it comes to food and lodging being expensive, you just have to know where to look. Koala, one of the grocery stores that sells ridiculous things at ridiculous prices (sundried tomatoes, Ghc 50 for one kilo??? pass.) has a really nice bakery where you can get a pizza for Ghc ,and Pizza Inn has a two for one deal on Tuesdays. Yesterday I had a delicious White Russian-ish cocktail for the special happy hour price of 4 cedis! (The cocktail they called a White Russian had Coke in it??? pass.) For sleeping, there’s always the Salvation Army, or the woman who lives next door and rents out beds; both are at least half the price of normal hotel rooms. Scorezilla.
So, while it will be extremely nice to get back to my school and students (I haven’t seen them in so long! ), I finally have come to peace with Accra and, actually, secretly, kind of like it. Don’t tell!
