View of the town of Elmina from Elmina Castle.

Ghana

by Eve Andersson


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Ghana's warm people, safety, good infrastructure, and widely-spoken English make this a very nice country to visit. Located in West Africa, just barely north of the equator, Ghana is a peaceful country — and the first African state to achieve independence, in 1957.

Accra

Accra, the capital of Ghana, has many modern buildings and roads, in addition to the more modest buildings and dirt roads. I've seen more goats living in Accra than in probably any other urban locale.

A store called Abotere, and the back of a woman. Africa Motors, Ring Road. Goat among signs advertising businesses. Sign for an advertising company called Ads Ltd. Taxi with Don't Rush sticker, and a sign for God is Great Beauty Salon. Cantonments Road, Osu district. Sign for a Cocoa Clinic and Endoscopy / Mammogram Scans.  One of these has 24 hour service. Ghana Commercial Bank, High Street branch. Girl wearing orange, and an orange building reading WC / Public Toilet. Ring Road. Two girls walking down the street. Houses. Independence Square. Man walking past orange houses. Marketing Made Simple and Convenient.  Also sells grass cutters, rabbits and mushrooms. Presidential Palace. Provident Towers, Ring Road. A typical Ghanain lunch. Sunset over Cape Coast road. Agama Lizard. Spices. Makolo market. Bronze figures copulating. Centre For National Culture textiles market. Lion. Centre For National Culture textiles market. PC Direct billboard, Cantonments Road, Osu district. Men carrying suitcases on their heads. Polyhedron and a sign advertising Chinese and Indian restaurants, Cantonments Road, Osu district. Boat-shaped building housing a radio station.

Barack Obama

U.S. President Obama, who visited in Ghana in 2009, is immensely popular there. His image is even printed on textiles available in corner shops.

Barack Obama's image printed onto a textile. Billboard reading Partnership for Change / Akwaaba, with photos of the president of Ghana, John Atta Mills, and the president of the United States, Barack Obama. Barack Obama on an American flag, hanging from a taxi driver's rear view mirror.

Religion

Religion — a mixture of Christianity, Islam and other beliefs — is very important in Ghana, and many shops are given religious names even if the products sold or services provided are considered secular. Examples include God's Time Enterprise (food), God's Will Enterprise (refrigerator and air conditioner parts), God Is Great (beauty salon), Praise Beauty (motto: Finger of God), Divine Business Ventures (cleaning and pest control), The Lord is my Provider (food), and Have Faith (accommodation agents; not the most reassuring name, in my opinion).

Sign advertising Divine Business Ventures which provides cleaning and pest control services. Billboard advertising Prophet Eric Kwesi Amponsah, a.k.a. Computer Man. Billboard reading Repent! Jesus is Coming Soon. Two roadside shops Black Root Fast Food and Don't Give Up Hair Cut.  The latter is plastered with American flags. Family Love Internet Cafe. Eden Family Entertainment Arcade. God is Great Beauty Salon. God's Time Enterprise, which sells food products. God's Will Enterprise, which sells refrigerator and air conditioner parts. Have Faith Accommodation Agents. Honesty & Trust Co., Ltd., which sells wholesale aluminium. Praise Beauty / Fingers of God. Psalm 91:8 Fast Food. Sly Pentago Day and Night Drinking Spot. The Lord is my Provider food shop.

Street Vendors

Traffic is horrible in Accra, and vendors take advantage of the congestion by selling goods to idling motorists. You can buy almost everything you could possibly want without ever unbuckling your seatbelt. Examples: bathroom scales, clocks, phone cards, belts, shirts, nuts, fruit, beer, water, bread, model airplanes, balls, end tables, magazines & newspapers, maps, art, toilet paper, sunglasses, phone chargers, vacuum cleaners, sandals, binoculars, tissues, CD cases, wallets, Jesus & Virgin Mary stickers, mirrors, cups, Rubik's Cubes, and candy.

Women with baskets on their heads. Woman selling bottles of water on the road. Road with vendors. Road with vendors. Woman with peanuts for sale, resting. Bag of filtered drinking water, purchased roadside in Accra.

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

Kwame Nkrumah was instrumental in securing Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom and served as the country's first president. There's a very interesting museum devoted to his life at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Nkrumah was well-traveled; he met with leaders across the world and lived for years in the United States and United Kingdom. He was a strong advocate of Pan-Africanism, and one of his axioms was: "It has often been said that Africa is poor. What nonsense! It is not Africa that is poor. It is the Africans, who are impoverished by centuries of exploitation and domination."

The axioms of Kwame Nkrumah, for example: "A revolutionary fails only if he surrenders." Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Mausoleum and flags. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Mausoleum. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.

Jamestown

Jamestown is a coastal part of Accra, with nice views from the top of the lighthouse.

Stairs in the lighthouse. View of the beach from the lighthouse. Lighthouse. View of the harbor from the lighthouse. View of Jamestown from the lighthouse. View of Jamestown from the lighthouse.

Elmina

Elmina is a city in Cape Coast, about 160km west of Accra. It has beautiful beaches and a quaint town center and harbor. The most dominant feature of the town is the castle.

Beach in Elmina. View of the coast from Elmina Castle. View of the town of Elmina from Elmina Castle. View of the town of Elmina from Elmina Castle. Dirt road. Methodist Church in the Elmina town center. Woman balancing a bowl on her head.

Elmina Castle

Elmina Castle. This beautiful yet sombre castle was a hub for transatlantic slave trade. People lived here in crowded and squalid conditions while waiting to be shipped off as slaves.

Door with a skull over it, Elmina Castle. View of the coast through a window in Elmina Castle. Bridge leading to entrance of Elmina Castle. Boats and remains of a dock, Elmina Castle. Courtyard, Elmina Castle. Holding area for women, Elmina Castle. View of the coast from Elmina Castle.





More photos: View all photos in the directory /photos/ghana/.
Eve Andersson (eve@eveandersson.com)
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