Day 50… Sunday 21st May
Met a group of Americans over breakfast and we shared our experiences of Ghana. They had just visited Rome and shaken hands with the Pope! Insurance office opens tomorrow so our 15 minute drive to our next lodgings was a tentative ride as any Police stops without proof of insurance would have been a huge fine. For a Sunday morning with the roads quiet as most were at church, there were still plenty of Police around. No police stops, phew. We jumped in a taxi to visit Accra shopping mall to get supplies and enjoy the air-conditioning. The taxi ride was an edge of your seat experience with fast speeds, sudden braking and a couple of near misses. Just your average driving experience in Accra. The city is a huge urban sprawl. The business centre is very developed with company headquarters, expensive cars, and obvious wealth evident. We met up with relatives of Justice (Allen’s work buddy) and they drove us around the city for the afternoon visiting various sites including the family home, school, University of Ghana, Freedom and Justice monument, Parliament, and a local bar. A great afternoon spending time with local Ghanaians. At a traffic junction some kids became fascinated by Allen and me sitting in the back and the car was suddenly surrounded with friendly kids peering in through the open windows. Can you imagine Allen’s face?! Checked into our self catering apartment for a couple of nights. The manager was very friendly but we asked for a room upgrade as the first room shown to us was not as advertised. The matter was quickly resolved. A cunning plan or simply clever marketing tactics? Happily munched on cheese and crackers for dinner which seems to be a staple part of our diet at the moment. Tummy woes have blighted us both at various times given the changing diet but it was expected and difficult to avoid when sampling delicious local dishes. The usual precautions are in place with bottled / filtered drinking water but the weight loss has certainly be effective in several weeks.
