In an interesting Ghanaian cultural experience, we decided to go for a short hike this Saturday up a mountain about 45 minutes away. The mountains here are odd-looking, rising up suddenly from the flat planes without so much as a bump in the ground to call a foothill (you also can't see much from the top because of the seasonal Saharan dust cloud I've mentioned before - called the Harmattan). We were dropped off by the tro-tro by the side of the road and, ignoring the advice of the local loiterers, headed straight for the mountain without a guide or a clue as to where the alleged path was. Being American, Canadian (wannabe American), and British, we decided to make our own path by climbing straight up what turned out to be the sheerest slope of the mountain.
Halfway up, we turned to see two local men following us. Naturally, we sped up, suspicious of their motives (they probably want to rob us, yes, that's it) and not interested in being accosted on our pleasant weekend hike. We went around a ledge and didn't see them anymore, so we assumed they had given up and felt comfortable enough to sit down and have a drink. Much to our discontent, they came around the bend a few minutes later, huffing and puffing; interaction, we realized, was unavoidable.
It turned out that they had seen us going up the wrong side of the mountain and were concerned that we didn't know where the path was; they immediately set out to catch us and show us the correct path (only about 50 yards away from the route we took), but had trouble because we were going so fast - they had never seen anyone scale the mountain like that before. They didn't say it, but we could read it in their sweaty faces: 'Crazy Westerners.' They stayed with us to the summit, napped under a tree while we ate our lunch, and showed us the path all the way back down, leaving us near the road to flag down a crowded tro-tro back to Tema. I couldn't help but notice the ironic juxtaposition of our suspicions with their intentions...
Ghanaian hospitality is widely reknowned. We went to a church this Sunday and were invited by the pastor to stay several hours after the service to chat, and only left after promising to go on a hike with him and go to lunch at his wife's house (and drooling over his newborn twins - see picture...). Ghanaians are exceedingly proud of their country, and for the most part, go to great lengths to make foreigners feel welcomed. If you ask for directions around here, you will usually get a very helpful answer accompanied by a wide smile - even if the person has no clue where you are going, and has made up their answer on the spot. Some girls from the ship were in the market in Accra yesterday and described asking a group of three friendly people for directions, whereupon each person pointed a different way - none of them knew, but they were all more than happy to help out.
Crazy West Africans.
Halfway up, we turned to see two local men following us. Naturally, we sped up, suspicious of their motives (they probably want to rob us, yes, that's it) and not interested in being accosted on our pleasant weekend hike. We went around a ledge and didn't see them anymore, so we assumed they had given up and felt comfortable enough to sit down and have a drink. Much to our discontent, they came around the bend a few minutes later, huffing and puffing; interaction, we realized, was unavoidable.
It turned out that they had seen us going up the wrong side of the mountain and were concerned that we didn't know where the path was; they immediately set out to catch us and show us the correct path (only about 50 yards away from the route we took), but had trouble because we were going so fast - they had never seen anyone scale the mountain like that before. They didn't say it, but we could read it in their sweaty faces: 'Crazy Westerners.' They stayed with us to the summit, napped under a tree while we ate our lunch, and showed us the path all the way back down, leaving us near the road to flag down a crowded tro-tro back to Tema. I couldn't help but notice the ironic juxtaposition of our suspicions with their intentions...
Ghanaian hospitality is widely reknowned. We went to a church this Sunday and were invited by the pastor to stay several hours after the service to chat, and only left after promising to go on a hike with him and go to lunch at his wife's house (and drooling over his newborn twins - see picture...). Ghanaians are exceedingly proud of their country, and for the most part, go to great lengths to make foreigners feel welcomed. If you ask for directions around here, you will usually get a very helpful answer accompanied by a wide smile - even if the person has no clue where you are going, and has made up their answer on the spot. Some girls from the ship were in the market in Accra yesterday and described asking a group of three friendly people for directions, whereupon each person pointed a different way - none of them knew, but they were all more than happy to help out.
Crazy West Africans.
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