Akwaaba
Today was a historic day for Ghana. The national football team, making its World Cup debut, won 2-0 against the Czech Republic - number two in the global rankings. As the plane landed, I could hear people frantically switching on their mobile phones, calling friends to find out the result. When the news came through to an aircraft full of Ghanaians, the reaction was sheer joy tinged with minor disbelief at the stature of the upset. Ghana would be alive tonight with celebrations.
My journey took place in two stages. The first, from London Gatwick to Tripoli (capital of Libya) passed pretty uneventfully - I slept for most of the flight. As predicted, last night was indeed a sleepless one; that always seems to be the case with me, I can't relax from excitement (as well as trying not to forget things I need to pack). At any rate, it was good to catch up a couple of hours.
As the plane descended towards Tripoli, I stared down out of the small window at barren desert landscape. Occasional single-storey buildings became more frequently seen as we approached the airport. Patterns of crops in fields below looked like a perfectly manufactured patchwork quilt, such was the precision with which they'd been designed. A barrage of heat was waiting to greet me stepping off the plane and I knew I'd have to get used to it.
Then it was time for a two-hour wait before the connecting flight to Accra. Afriqiyah Airways operate many routes to African capitals via Tripoli - today they were going to Lagos and Abidjan among others. The first thing which struck me was the Arabic lettering everywhere: strange, beautiful and undecipherable at the same time. Of course I'd seen it before, but in a true, real context there is always a different impact. My senses longed to escape the confines of the waiting room and go outside to explore. That wasn't going to happen today, however - and before it does, I would do well to learn a few more Arabic words other than 'Salaam' (equivalent of hello) and 'Shokram' (thank you).
It was then that I started talking with Jude, a Nigerian student at the University of Ghana. He'd been on the same flight from London as me, after spending a few weeks on holiday there, and was now reluctantly returning to Accra to resume geology studies. We discussed a lot of different topics, from culture to religion to football, and before long it was time to board the plane.
Fortunately enough, we were sitting next to each other on the flight - in row 20 near a large posse of Ghanaians babbling excitedly in a native language. One man was jokingly demanding to be served two meals from the stewardess, who then threatened to give him no food at all! The man then made some other witty comments in his language and for some reason I laughed as well. I guess you can innately pick up the inflections of a comic personality, even if you don't understand any words.
On my other side sat another very interesting person, an international businessman also from London. He was born in Jamaica but moved to the UK aged five and has also lived in Zambia. His mission in Ghana was a weekend of meetings about a new holiday resort he's opening, which will be constructed as a self-sustainable town. We exchanged stories and talked about lots of different things, with occasional interventions from Jude. Time really does pass a lot quicker when you're having good conversation.
It grew dark outside and we were treated to a spectacular view of Accra's white and orange lights, shimmering like a swarm of fireflies in the evening heat. I was there. After weeks of planning and preparation, it suddenly hit me that what had started out as a random, dreamy idea somewhere inside my head was now becoming reality. Fresh waves of excitement took hold and I almost ran out of the plane after landing, impatient to form my first impressions of the country.
"This has never happened to me before," my friend Emmanuel said as we sat in the back of a taxi, watching its driver grapple with mechanics in the engine of the vehicle. Yes, the car had broken down, barely five minutes after leaving the airport! Emmanuel was quite annoyed, but I found the whole situation hilarious. Another taxi soon arrived and we continued the journey, briefly watching our previous driver start pushing his car down the road as we sped past. "We don't have services to pick you up from the roadsite here," explained Emmanuel, "so you have to get out and push to the nearest garage." (He also told me told me not to write about the incident in my blog... ha!)
Our destination was the Paloma Hotel, a popular tourist spot in central Accra which Emmanuel had decided would be appropriate for my first night. Tomorrow I will move to cheaper accomodation, which probably won't offer the same air conditioning or TV facilities of the room I'm in now. But it's a quarter of the price and, as always with youth activities or projects, things are on a budget. When the cab arrived here, it was a bit of a shock to see children surrounding the car, wanting to 'help' us out in hope of getting money.
Once things were sorted out at the hotel, we went on a walk of the local area and stopped at an internet cafe. "In Accra you can live the same as you live in London, if you have the money," Emmanuel told me. "It's one of the most Westernised African capitals." As we strolled down one of the main streets, I could see what he was talking about. However, even in the dark I could perceive many dissimilarities - as would be expected - and that will be fascinating to explore in daylight over the coming weeks.
My journey took place in two stages. The first, from London Gatwick to Tripoli (capital of Libya) passed pretty uneventfully - I slept for most of the flight. As predicted, last night was indeed a sleepless one; that always seems to be the case with me, I can't relax from excitement (as well as trying not to forget things I need to pack). At any rate, it was good to catch up a couple of hours.
As the plane descended towards Tripoli, I stared down out of the small window at barren desert landscape. Occasional single-storey buildings became more frequently seen as we approached the airport. Patterns of crops in fields below looked like a perfectly manufactured patchwork quilt, such was the precision with which they'd been designed. A barrage of heat was waiting to greet me stepping off the plane and I knew I'd have to get used to it.
Then it was time for a two-hour wait before the connecting flight to Accra. Afriqiyah Airways operate many routes to African capitals via Tripoli - today they were going to Lagos and Abidjan among others. The first thing which struck me was the Arabic lettering everywhere: strange, beautiful and undecipherable at the same time. Of course I'd seen it before, but in a true, real context there is always a different impact. My senses longed to escape the confines of the waiting room and go outside to explore. That wasn't going to happen today, however - and before it does, I would do well to learn a few more Arabic words other than 'Salaam' (equivalent of hello) and 'Shokram' (thank you).
It was then that I started talking with Jude, a Nigerian student at the University of Ghana. He'd been on the same flight from London as me, after spending a few weeks on holiday there, and was now reluctantly returning to Accra to resume geology studies. We discussed a lot of different topics, from culture to religion to football, and before long it was time to board the plane.
Fortunately enough, we were sitting next to each other on the flight - in row 20 near a large posse of Ghanaians babbling excitedly in a native language. One man was jokingly demanding to be served two meals from the stewardess, who then threatened to give him no food at all! The man then made some other witty comments in his language and for some reason I laughed as well. I guess you can innately pick up the inflections of a comic personality, even if you don't understand any words.
On my other side sat another very interesting person, an international businessman also from London. He was born in Jamaica but moved to the UK aged five and has also lived in Zambia. His mission in Ghana was a weekend of meetings about a new holiday resort he's opening, which will be constructed as a self-sustainable town. We exchanged stories and talked about lots of different things, with occasional interventions from Jude. Time really does pass a lot quicker when you're having good conversation.
It grew dark outside and we were treated to a spectacular view of Accra's white and orange lights, shimmering like a swarm of fireflies in the evening heat. I was there. After weeks of planning and preparation, it suddenly hit me that what had started out as a random, dreamy idea somewhere inside my head was now becoming reality. Fresh waves of excitement took hold and I almost ran out of the plane after landing, impatient to form my first impressions of the country.
"This has never happened to me before," my friend Emmanuel said as we sat in the back of a taxi, watching its driver grapple with mechanics in the engine of the vehicle. Yes, the car had broken down, barely five minutes after leaving the airport! Emmanuel was quite annoyed, but I found the whole situation hilarious. Another taxi soon arrived and we continued the journey, briefly watching our previous driver start pushing his car down the road as we sped past. "We don't have services to pick you up from the roadsite here," explained Emmanuel, "so you have to get out and push to the nearest garage." (He also told me told me not to write about the incident in my blog... ha!)
Our destination was the Paloma Hotel, a popular tourist spot in central Accra which Emmanuel had decided would be appropriate for my first night. Tomorrow I will move to cheaper accomodation, which probably won't offer the same air conditioning or TV facilities of the room I'm in now. But it's a quarter of the price and, as always with youth activities or projects, things are on a budget. When the cab arrived here, it was a bit of a shock to see children surrounding the car, wanting to 'help' us out in hope of getting money.
Once things were sorted out at the hotel, we went on a walk of the local area and stopped at an internet cafe. "In Accra you can live the same as you live in London, if you have the money," Emmanuel told me. "It's one of the most Westernised African capitals." As we strolled down one of the main streets, I could see what he was talking about. However, even in the dark I could perceive many dissimilarities - as would be expected - and that will be fascinating to explore in daylight over the coming weeks.
posted by Frederick at 03:45
1 Comments:
Freddie do you have a tannn yet?
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