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 Arriving at the airport, immigration procedures went smoothly.
In contrast to some other West African countries there were NO shakedowns for
money and things. Inspections seemed to be more dependent the amount of
baggage and the possibility of contraband than how much
the official perceived the passenger might pay. Akwaba - Welcome to Ghana.
Outside of customs a few men approach offering taxis and when I declined they offered
to help me find my friend -- this was in fact a bit of a hustle because they
would later want "a little something" for what amounted to an unneeded offer of
assistance.
 Out
and about in Accra, most things are at least a little different than you
would expect something similar to be in the West. For starters, construction techniques are different: The support
posts holding the cement forms are bamboo. Around the city, small,
medium and large buildings were under constructions -- probably a reflection of
the general health of Ghana economy -- gold is at historic highs and they pump
their own oil. For the first decade of the century Ghana
annual economic growth rate has consistently been about 4% and sometimes about 7%.
Along with the healthy economy comes a lot of vehicle traffic, road
congestions and fumes. It doesn't quite inspire photography, so no
pictures. Because of the gridlock, bicycles have a nice advantage for many trips in Accra.
There are some alternative routes that work great for bicycles and escape the
fumes, but they
aren't terrible popular, yet.
A lot of the old downtown of Accra is official government buildings and commercial. On a
Sunday afternoon the streets and sidewalks are pretty empty. The
older sections of Accra have some street trees along the roads, which create a respite from the
intense midday sun. Generally there are not many parks, but there is a pocket park, which creates a nice oasis, near the bus station.
Hopefully, as the trees age there is a plan for replacing them and maintaining
the green leafy canopy. It could be a new meaning of "green roof."
  Old downtown is ringed by the low-rise commercial-residential
neighborhoods. It is a much better balance for finding activity seven days
a week. These neighborhoods are dotted with kiosks and sheds that house small
businesses. Often, the more main streets are lined with kiosks and
storefronts of a wide assortment of enterprises. One of the more common
categories is personal grooming (barber and beauty shops) but there are also
proprietors specializing in all kinds of specific products (i.e. shoes, purses,
clothes, beverages, dry goods, beauty products, household electronics, pastries,
etc.)
  The
biggest market district in Accra is Makola Market. On the Sunday is can be
an ash colored ghost town, but by Monday morning it is humming with multiple stories of
activity and color. If there is one of an item there is likely to be at
lease a thousand. In the bicycle sections there are what is most
reasonably described as mountains of bicycles parts -- often wheels and frames.
It is not obvious how fast the stock turns over, but from the casual observer it
would seem very, very slowly.
 
Even so new stock seems to arrive daily and after initially being stacked on the
streets it is eventually squirreled away in the bowels of the buildings.
 Away from Makola
Market the town generally has less vitality, but the is also more breathing
space. Modern commercial buildings frequently have a bank, mobile phone
store or retail and
the ground floor and "white collar" business and offices on the upper floors.
Some of these buildings could be plunked down along a urban-fringe arterial in Europe or
North America and not look out of place.
Accra doesn't highlight much of its old physical heritage. The colonizers
started building on some of the fort-sites in the 1600's. The best of
these is Osu Castle, which is out-of-bounds to the public. The oldest of
the modern buildings is the Methodist Book Depot, which dates back to 1881
(left). The
Central Police building, which is on the opposite of Makola Market is was built
in about 1905. Next on the list is the Old Parliament Building and the
Supreme Court Building (right) are dated as 1935. [Note: If anyone has more
information on heritage buildings in Ghana we would love to hear from you.]
 Conveniently located not far from the Supreme Court is the Ghana School of Law.
It has not been blessed with as distinguished architecture and the fence and
surrounding building make it harder to compose in a photo so we have to settle
for a picture of the roadside sign here.
 Independence Square, mostly a huge bare asphalt parade ground with viewing stands, was build
in the 1960's, after independence in 1957. The square is used for many
national celebrations, but is empty and lifeless most of the time.
Adjacent to the square is the Accra Sport Stadium, host to 1978 and 2008 World
Cup qualifying matches. In May, 2001, it was the site of a tragic stadium
stampede that killed 126 sports fans. It was renovated in 2007 to meet
FIFA standards.
 The
sign in front of the "Don't Mind Your Wife Chop Bar" (a restaurant) seemed
worthy of a picture, but no particular commentary. You can decide for
yourself the significance of the name. Feel free to send us the
conclusions of your deliberations.
The
somewhat pagoda-like National Theatre, built with the help of the Chinese was opened in 1992.
In addition to large interior spaces there is a FolksPlace outdoor theatre and a
Chinese Garden for receptions.
 Along
the coast, on the road to La Beach, is the Artists' Alliance Building. It
is three stories of traditional West Africa arts and crafts and contemporary
Ghanaian
arts and crafts. Perhaps the most unique items in the collection, and
associated only with a small section of the Ghana coast, is a display of
personalized coffins: If you are a runner you might want to be buried in a
running shoe. If you are a fisherman your might want to be buried in a
fish or a crab. Generally it would be someone who thought they were
powerful that would choose to be buried in a leopard. All of the caskets
open and are large enough to lay a body inside.
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