Give me a sign

In Ghana, many hand-painted signs for businesses include pictures because there are a fair number of people who don't read. Here are some examples seen in Accra.

Need any rubber stamps?



This beauty salon lists its services. What do you suppose "tonging" is?



This barber shop shows an example of a haircut you might get.



I hope all those phones don't ring and wake this guy up.



Something to cool your drinks on a hot day (i.e. every day).



Drums for sale.



The following signs do not picture the products sold, but the mascots of the manufacturers. Looks like the Onga booth was supposed to have been removed.



Cowbell is a brand of milk and chocolate milk. I guess if you drink it, you will play soccer well.

Scenes of Osu

The most happening section of Accra is a neighborhood called Osu, a place full of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. Normally it's so full of people that one feels awkard snapping photos, but Sunday mornings there are fairly sleepy. These were taken at about 9am on a Sunday.

Frankie's is an Osu landmark. It's a hotel but is best known for its restaurant and bakery. They also sell decent gelato.



If one needed business services or passport photos, one might head to Hilarious Services. I wonder what makes them so hilarious?



Need a toothbrush? Just ask the guy with dozens of toothbrushes on his head.



Here's a typical Osu street corner, overrun with signs, and with a bit of trash and rubble along the ground. Notice that there is a street sign. Despite this, none of the taxi drivers know the names of the streets. They just know landmarks. So you can say "take me to the street just before Frankie's," and they'll know what you mean.



Here's a tailor shop off the main drag. It's housed in a former shipping container.

Dakar

After a few weeks of no new blog posts, I bring you old news -- pictures from my trip to Dakar, Senegal in late October/early November.

I was in Dakar for work, but I had a chance to look around one day. My colleague, Emily, and I went to Goree Island, a short ferry ride from Dakar. It's a pretty spot without cars, pleasant lanes to stroll along, and colonial-style buildings.



Sadly, Goree is also known as a spot from which slaves were sent across the Atlantic. Far fewer passed through here than through the slave forts of Ghana, however. (See previous blog post about Ghana's Cape Coast Castle.)



Back in the city of Dakar, it was nice to walk around. Unlike Accra, Dakar has lots of sidewalks, shops full of enticing merchandise, and French cafes and bakeries. It seems more urban than Accra, with taller buildings and wider avenues. Not wanting to appear too conspicuous, I didn't take photos while meandering the busy streets.

Instead, I took photos from the inside of a car, so many turned out fuzzy. Live and learn. Here is a shot of a streetside mural:



Dakar's beach is much nicer looking than Accra's. I didn't get that close, but from the road it looks pretty great. The water is turquoise blue, rather than the gray Atlantic off Accra, and I don't see a sea of plastic bags lying around. (There is actually a Club Med resort just outside of Dakar.)



Dakar is known for its lively music scene. Someone told us about an outdoor club/restaurant called Just 4 You, where live bands perform nightly. Lucky for us, Amadou and Mariam were performing during our visit. I already knew their music thanks to our friend Jules, who provided us with a plethora of African music CDs before we moved to Ghana. Little did I know I'd eventually be sitting 5 feet from the stage, watching these amazing musicians.



Amadou and Mariam are a blind married couple from Mali with an incredible band. They had most of the audience dancing, including old and young, African and European. One African man who must've been at least 60 was the most energetic booty-wiggler I've ever seen. Amadou and Mariam's two on-stage female dancers got a big kick out of him. They descended from the stage to dance with him. I tried to take a mini-video with a digital camera, but apparently I used the wrong setting, so you'll have to imagine the scene in your heads. Trust me, it was highly entertaining.