We drove from Accra up country on Wednesday and Thursday, taking a stop in Kumasi, the second major urban centre in Ghana. The drive from Accra, despite the traffic, was quite beautiful. A sort of tropical semi-rural greenscape dotted with villages made mostly of small huts. Bananas trees and corn planted apparently haphazardly along the side of the road, interspersed with apparently wild vegetation. Like some kind of giant permaculture experiment. No patch of ground left brown for very long. The larger villages had structures made mostly of concrete, but the smaller clusters of houses on the side of the road were mud, and circular. Several huts generally form one housing structure, organized around a central courtyard where most of the household work is done. As I understand it, there is traditionally one hut for the kitchen, one for the man of the house, and then one hut constructed for each wife. the huts are connected by a wall, also earth, that encloses the compound. The rooves are thatch, but I'm not sure what plant they use. Some kind of grass.
As you drive from Accra, the land rises, and Kumasi, at least at this time of year, is not ridiculously hot. It rained heavily in the evening when we arrived: they are now experiencing the shorter of the two rainy seasons, that acts as a kind of buffer against drought in case the long rainy season does not provide. It's the reason things are so green there, and a luxury not afforded to northerners. We had dinner with a consultant from my mother's project, a man named Tony, who trained as a political scientist, and when prompted explained the history of politics here in Ghana. A brief overview:
Freedom came with Nkrumah, in 1957. He ruled until 1966, when I believe he was displaced by a military coup (I was assured and have no doubt that the CIA had their fingers in that one, as Nkrumah was a socialist, and a pan-Africanist). This leadership lasted until January 1972, when there was another coup, this time followed by a leadership that robbed the country of any of the wealth it had gained. There were two coups following this, in 1979 and 1982, both led by Jerry Rawlings. The first was supposed to transition into democracy, but when this sort of got botched, Rawlings overthrew the government again. This government, the PNDC, and later the NDC party, lasted, in one form or another, until 2000, when I am told Ghana experienced its first really free elections. The current reigning party is the NPP, with the NDC (Rawlings' old party) as official opposition, kind of backed by CPP (Nkrumah's remnants). So there you go, Ghanaian politics as I understand it.
The next day we ventured into the largest market in West Africa, where absolutely everything is available. Some of the most beautiful textiles, beads, homemade soaps, music, mechanical tools, recycled tools, herbal remedies, candies, toys, Thai-made clothing, and a huge variety of local food: cassava, yam, maize, ginger, and yes, snail on a stick, collected in the wet season, and dried so it can be eaten year round. I did not venture to try it. The market stretches over a huge area, which we really only explored a small section of (even with the help of our guide). But it was certainly fascinating.
We then continued up north, to Tamale and the Northern Region. As we moved north from Tamale, the land grew dustier and drier. Around the town itself it's basically savannah. In town there are teak trees, and occasionally mohogany, but mostly is grassland interspered with shrubs and small trees. Beautiful, but in a harsh, almost desertlike kind of way. Life here is harder for people than the south. The land is less forgiving. There are two major rivers, though, the Black and White Voltas, which connect further south, and flow, I believe, into Lake Volta.
While this is not where I'll actually be working, it is, more or less, where I'll be based. My mother has a nice house, and my room has about the biggest bed I've ever seen, which is nice. So far I have not done a whole lot--ventured around the market, but town itself is not that big. I got a bike yesterday, which means I'm mobile. It has a basket on the front, which is something I'm quite excited about. The goal of this week is to make some connections here in town. I am in touch with a friend of a friend who lives here, but spent the weekend in Accra, and I have a list of about 10 Canadians in their twenties who are working and living in Tamale. My mother also works with a number of young Ghanaian interns, whom I hope to get to know. Also, I have been invited to go see a well being drilled later this week, by a friend of my mother's who works on a water and sanitation project. This will be in one of the villages outlying Tamale, and should be quite interesting.