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.

POTUS in Ghana

As some of you might have heard, President Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Ghana last week. The visit was part of a 5-nation tour of Africa. Ghana was the fourth of the five countries visited. While here, the President discussed AIDS and malaria initiatives, viewed projects funded by US programs, attended a state dinner, and watched kids playing t-ball (no kidding).

Both Dan and I, as well as many of our colleagues, played a role in the visit. Neither of us interacted with the bigwigs, and I didn't even catch sight of them. Nor did we see last year's American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, who was part of the entourage.



Dan, however, at least saw the Bushes boarding Air Force One when they were leaving.



Air Force One is gigantic! Unfortunately, they did not give us a tour.



Dan's duties were at the airport. See how much he enjoyed them?



The amount of time, resources and people that go into a visit like this is truly unbelievable. Hundreds of people (no exaggeration) spent hundreds of hours putting it together. Some of those coming from Washington appeared to be about 12 years old, but surely they must be at least 21. Some were nice, others not so much.



Wheels up! Hear the collective sigh of relief?

Visiting Kwame

Kwame Nkrumah was Ghana's first president. He died in 1972 and is now entombed in a mausoleum and memorial dedicated to him. Now the memorial site is one of Ghana's major tourist attractions. We visited there when our friend Mark came over from the US in October.



Above you can see the top of the mausoleum and a statue of Nkrumah.



In front of the mausoleum is a fountain with a line of horn-playing statues.



Due to water shortages, the fountain was not operating on the day of our visit. Mark and I are on the right.

Street food

On the way back from Cape Coast going toward Accra, enterprising young men sell treats along the roadside.



This gentleman displays a cut-open roasted grasscutter, sort of a giant rat-type creature.



Close-up, it looks like something you dissected in science class.



Mmm, mmm. Hungry now?

Cape Coast Castle

Shortly after we returned from South Africa, our friend Mark came to visit from the US. We showed him a little bit of Ghana, including Cape Coast Castle, one of the biggest tourist sites here.



This site was once a slave trading hub, where people kidnapped and sold from various parts of West Africa were held in horrible conditions before being shipped across the ocean to live and labor as slaves.



The slave dungeons were damp and dark, while the governor's quarters above were well-ventilated with plenty of windows.



The cannons protected the castle from invaders approaching by sea.

Slaves would board the ships after passing through the Door of No Return. Today, fishermen are right outside that door, repairing their nets.



Cape Coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea. The sky is beautiful although a storm is rolling in.



Here's a view of the street next to the castle.