Ghana. Pure colors, pure smiles, peace & love.

Last Christmas, during my Master’s break, while eating a delicious velvet soup -carrot soup it was- at the roof garden of a prestigious hotel in Aristotelous square, in the heart of Thessaloniki, the Ghana trip came up.

The next thing I remember was running up and down every street in London to find a clinic with the mandatory vaccines available, which you need to have done months before entering the country.

We landed in Accra, after an 8-hour trip from Istanbul with Turkish airlines.

When you enter the airport a huge line is lying ahead and is being divided into many sub-lines, one for diplomats or United Nations officials, one for locals, one for Africans and one for the rest incomers – i.e. us.

Prerequisite to even enter the line is to show a valid vaccination certificate for yellow fever. At the end of the line, several officials were happy to take your fingerprints, passport copies and your photograph – in case you decide to burn your return ticket and stay in their homeland as an illegal immigrant.

The first thing to catch your eye is the vast variety of colors and shapes. Black, yellow, red, blue, green, hazel, purple, pink. So many colors presented in a so strange harmony. They are so intense that make you feel either so colorless or so young, like that is the first time in your life when you come across real colors and your eyes are sparkling in front of such a joyful vision.

The next thing you notice is the heat. 28 degrees of Celsius paired with very high humidity, create an almost tropical climate. That is because Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea, only a few degrees north of the Equator. What you don’t know yet is that Ghana is geographically closer to the “centre” of the earth than any other country in the world.!

Some facts about this trip:

The safest way to wander around Ghana is via taxi, which you should reserve via your hotel. All taxi drivers in Ghana speak English fluently, since English is a mandatory module in their schools. You can pre-arrange your designated tour with your driver and agree for the payment from the very beginning, since the price can suddenly change if you «accidentally» spend some additional minutes or kilometers !

And that is why Ghana is the land of bargaining. I can tell you, bargain absolutely everything! Since most people in Ghana have no idea what taxes or receipts are, they ask for prices that pop out of their minds, the minute they see you. The safest way for them to calculate the price of the services or goods that they want to offer you is a quick scan of your outfit, sunglasses, watch or camera!

Yet again, bargaining is a joyful game for them as well! Trust me, they are happier to make a short conversation and give a discount rather then make more money without exchanging a couple of words and smiles!

And that brings us to smiles… In Ghana you will see the most genuine smiles. There, people smile with all of their being. You can actually witness simplicity and pure joy inside their eyes. They are always willing to make small talk, to tease you and to sing to you some reggae!

Apart from all this joyfulness, you have to bear in mind that Ghana is a developing country, with high rates of unemployment, lack of basic services and high rate of poverty. You can witness there the two extremes: Women walking barefoot, carrying huge baskets of cloth, fruits or any kind of product they have to sell and next to them huge limos carrying the Country’s Officials or foreign investors.

Try to arrange your tours and visits in the morning, so that you have plenty of time to wander around before the night comes out. The safest choice is to dine at trustworthy restaurants or hotels and remember to always drink bottled water.

Be prepared to have hordes of people following you and asking your name, literally begging you to buy something from the things that they have to sell you. Instead of being angry, just smile and play the game. And if you were planning to make some shopping, remember that your 1 dollar, has a whole different value for these people. And to be honest, their goods make the best souvenirs! You can even find a genuine leather bag- which if it was Burberry you would buy it for 700 euros at least- for only 5 euros. With less than 20 euros I was able to buy two leather bags, some amazing handmade African Canva drawings, magnets, ethnic bracelets and necklaces and some small staff that made a lot of my friends and loved ones happy!

Where we stayed:

Labadi Beach Hotel, a Malibu-style 5-star hotel, located on the most popular beach of Ghana, the La Pleasure Beach or alternatively, Labadi Beach. Being the busiest hence beautiful beach of Accra, Labadi often hosts performances of hipline, playback, cultural drumming, dancing and ,of course, reggae. You can view it here: http://www.legacyhotels.co.za/en/hotels/labadi.

An atmospheric tropical garden with plenty of palms trees, a large swimming pool and artificial small lakes and ponds comprise the route that you have to follow every morning when going to the breakfast lounge, while the first morning face you see is that of the dozens grey-orange iguanas, which are hanging around!

The food in Labadi hotel is simply amazing. The breakfast is more than generous, with unbelievable variety of styles, smells and rich tastes. As far as lunch or dinner are concerned, feel confident to try some genuine African tastes. This small gastronomic trip outside your comfort zone will be worth it!

Do not stop eating the tropical fruits, all of them. Taste every juice that you can – they are made instantly from the freshest fruits, just your you. And the highlight? The coffee. This coffee smells and tastes like heaven. I remember starting feeling embarrassed, when ordering the 5th cup in a row!

Things to do:

Unfortunately, since this was a Business Trip and we spent approximately 10hours a day for the Seminar inside the hotel, the action was limited, but not absent !

Take a Taxi Tour in the city centre, the street markets and the neighborhoods.
Try horse riding at Labadi Beach.
If you are feeling active, you should dare to try kite surfing at Labadi Beach. You can find small waves and wind really often.
Attent a Pure Reggae Live Concert by local groups in Labadi Beach.Since those small gigs are happening during the night, it would be advisable to go there as a big group. Have in mind that pot and beers are used freely by locals though..
Visit one of Ghana’s 24 National Parks, resource reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and ramsar sites. You will come across the Colobus monkey, great Savannah areas, waterfalls, lakes and maybe elephants, leopards, antelopes, crocodiles, birds, insects and butterflies.
Eat lots of tropical fruits and drink fresh juices!
Taste the coffee!
Visit Jamestown and Usshertown, the oldest districts in Accra, remnants of Accra’s colonial past.

Check them out below: (photos by iPhone 4).

Jamestown: