Visits to Ghana and Benin

Accra, Ghana

“Nobody loves Accra. Much like family, it’s sometimes only best appreciated at a distance or after a long separation” (Lonely Planet 2006)

My good friend from high school, Steph, emailed me about two months ago mentioning that she was going to be in Ghana for a short period of time for work in mid-November. Would I like to meet up with her? It didn’t take me long to think about it. I already needed a break from Cote d’Ivoire and wanted to see a friendly face from home. Since I was going to be there for only 4 days, I ruled out the 8+ hour bus ride and took a short 45 minute plane ride over. Interestingly enough, Emirates Air still serves lunch during the flight, only to take away your lunch five minutes after having served it. “We’re landing shortly”, they say.

I waited for Steph at the baggage claim; her flight arrived 30 minutes after mine. We spent the weekend shopping, eating, catching up and hanging out at the pool side of the Labadi Hotel (random fact: visitors included the Queen of England and Tony Blair – we didn’t stay here). While Steph was at work on Monday, I spent my time at two markets buying cheap jewelry and a few pricier decorations for my apartment. And like Lonely Planet says, “Nobody loves Accra”, there’s really nothing special about it -- I don’t think. Of course, we didn’t explore as much, but even my Lonely Planet Guide didn’t recommend many Accra tourist destinations. I do plan, however, on revisiting Ghana. There’s the Cape Coast where the old slave castles still stand, the canopy walkway that expands over the forest, and Mole National park where elephants, baboons, warthogs and antelopes reside. And since it’s just next to Cote d’Ivoire, I shouldn’t have an excuse not to visit Ghana again.

Cotonou, Benin

“Spending a day in Cotonou… is like being locked in the car with a chain-smoking speed freak” (Lonely Planet 2006).

I spent a week in Cotonou, Benin to attend a training session for work in December. My two colleagues and I arrived Sunday afternoon and had a day to explore before the long training week. So we found a taxi to help us search for an open store selling SIM cards for our cell phones. We eventually found one, but not before stopping for gas. Our taxi stopped along the side of a road, next to a table that had glass bottles and jugs filled with gasoline. At our taxi driver’s request, a young boy chose a jug, grabbed a funnel and filled the taxi’s gas tank. Quick and easy, we were on our way.

After the taxi dropped us off, we lunched on grilled chicken and ignames-frites (fried yams). The chicken was definitely not the same. It barely had any meat on it and was hard to eat. “Poulet bicyclette!” my colleague exclaimed (bicycle chicken!). She explained that poulet bicyclette are skinny chickens because they run so fast, as though they were on a bicycle, thus not putting on any weight. Ivorian chickens are plump and much tastier.

I found our area in Cotonou to be calmer than Abidjan. We took a stroll on the beach and then headed back to the hotel. Taxis were nowhere to be seen, and it seemed to be luck that we had stumbled upon one earlier. Zems, or motor-taxis, were everywhere. Drivers usually wear a yellow vest with their Zem ID numbers printed on the back. We hailed down three Zems and had them take us back to the hotel. It was my first time ever on a scooter, so I was excited and nervous, especially since no one wore helmets. Holding on tightly, my Zem driver whizzed us back to the hotel.

I later understood the meaning to my guidebook’s phrase. Lonely Planet compared Zems to kamikaze pilots, and I must agree. It appeared at times, Zems were racing with each other, including mine. I would have protested, but I took it in and enjoyed the rush of speeding down the street -- despite being subjected to the heavy fumes of vehicles and the dust streaming into my eyes and lungs.

The week days were dedicated to our work training on social marketing. But by Saturday, I had a whole free day to explore Cotonou before flying back home that evening. My colleague (based in DC) and I checked out an artisan market – aimed for tourists – and bought a few trinkets. I bought a few cloths from one woman. She had the most adorable one-year old daughter who kept hugging me, so of course, I had to buy! Best ploy ever. My colleague and I cracked up over one painting that she just had to buy. Is he contemplating on going to the bathroom? Is he on the toilet? What is he thinking?