Last week, Madam and I went to Accra, Ghana for a short business cum visit. Two weeks before depart, I managed to send an email and set contact with the Malaysian's in Accra. Khairy of Matrade office in Lagos (MATRADE - Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) also provided me with a few numbers of Malaysian residing in Accra. Short trip, 3D/2N only.
Day 1
We departed from Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos (LOS) to Accra's (ACC) Kotoka International Airport (KIA). It was a 40minutes flight on an Embraer ERJ 145LR and may I add, it was a little bit claustrophobic for me.
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| Aircraft safety card |
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| Landing time! (P.Ramlee fans will get this) |
40 minutes later, we arrived at the spanking modern terminal at the airport. Two weeks ago, the huge Emirates A380-800 landed here with much fanfare. It was in the Emirates IG feed.... btw, Akwaaba (welcome) Ghana!
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| Reduced mobility instead of disabled |
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| luggage conveyor |
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| pedestrian and motorcycle bridge |
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| market scene from a corner |
The afternoon was spent visiting local market around Accra and it was hot! Later we spent the remainder of the day with the First Secretary of the Malaysia High Comm in Ghana and his wife for 'tea'... Tea with Bihun Sup and bergedel (meat balls), pengat pisang (banana cooked in coconut milk) and to wash it all down, we had authentic Malaysia air sirap (syrup) and tea. Comfort food from home....sigh
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| new friends in Ghana! |
Day 2
The sky was blue and the hot weather was even noticeable. We went to the Independence Square and the traffic was light but the traffic lights are aplenty. Their minibus, tro-tros (Nigeria: danfo; Kenya: matatu) littered the road transporting all over the city. At the square, we followed a bunch of young visitors to the back fo the place and voila! A beach. It wasn't long before Madam pestered me to go to the famous Makola market. Info: Ghana gained independence on 6th March 1957, while Malaysia on the 31st August also in 1957.
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| The Black Star Gate |
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| Independence Square or the Black Star Square; and Arch |
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| Black Star Arch |
Walking along the road in that part of town reminds me of Ipoh city in the State of Perak, Malaysia. My late mother was from that state and the road there, even Mombasa reminds me of Ipoh. Old buildings, commercial and government building by the road and hardly any traffic congestion (ok..Ipoh in the 80s) and as usual, someone would doubt my skill in map reading.
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Kwame Nkrumah Memorial and Mausoleum
The first Prime Minister and then President of Ghana |
The Makola Market on the map was a bit misleading, in terms of its size. It showed just a building written Makola Market on it. In fact I saw no less than a handful of buildings with the same sign indicating it as the Makola Market. Locals come on cars, tro tros and by foot. There are ladies with basin on their head ready to follow you around to carry your purchase for a fee.
We were walking aimlessly and it was getting hotter with the crowd around us. So we stopped for a drink and Madam asked the waiter for direction to the fabrics part of the market and from that moment on we saw the shops or boutique selling the fabrics everywhere. My misery starts the moment she went into one. Without my intervention it would be a long and mind numbing experience and worse, no purchase at the end. I had to conjure my magic and assist her with the purchase.
Between the alley of shops, I saw some local 'kente' prints on cotton cloth. We had coconut drink by the roadside before taking a taxi back to the hotel. It was then we realised that 'hot' is really an understatement... roasting is the word.
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| me in my element |
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| Madam in her element...eat |
Day 3
We left the hotel around 10.30 to get to Kokrobrite Beach. We had to change transport halfway because it broke down. Just a nagging feeling that it won't be that smooth today. Anyway, the Malaysia High Comm in Accra, Ghana had organised a Go Kart race event. In fact, all Malaysia mission overseas organised some sort of sports event..its the Malaysia Sports Day! We met other Malaysian like Santokh, Samuel and family, Zaky . They had a few rounds of karting around the track and I entertained myself taking pictures of the event. We left about 1pm straight to the airport when disaster strikes!
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| Kaneshie market |
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| advert of the place |
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| Zaky |
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| Farhan |
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| The track |
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| The ladies |
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| right most: Samuel |
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| Santokh, man in pink |
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| view of the Kokrobite beach in the distance |
We had assumed the wrong timing of our flight. It was 1.37pm when we realised that our flight was at 2.40pm and not 4.40pm which we originally thought. Hurry Solomon (our Uber driver)! But as the road goes here in Accra... even the freeway has traffic lights. It was about 2 plus when we arrived. Rushed to get the check in counter to get our boarding passes, passed the immigration and customs counter..we ran to the last gate, 8A and there other passengers were waiting... a silent ahh..and some silent disapproval remark from a few of them.
We alighted the bus to the tarmac where the jet was waiting. I was sweating profusely in the plane..but all in all, it was a memorable trip. Next time will be more elaborate, maybe with a few family friends? What about a drive from Lagos to Accra?
p/s: apologies to friends which I did not mention or forgot to mention, unedited pictures..SOOC, dirty lens etc.. sorry.
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