NYE

Ephious and I walked out of the automatic sliding doors into the huge crowd people. There seemed to be people standing in every direction creating and impenetrable wall. Ephious dove into the sea of people and began walking at a pace I was finding it hard to keep up with as I tried to navigate the luggage cart.

There were people everywhere and the faster he walked the farther behind I became as I struggled to get through with the luggage. He looked back to see me struggling and took the cart from me saying “You just have to push you way through.” And that is just what he did with me right behind him as we headed toward the street.

Once we were on the street E began trying to hail a cab. One pulled up and E said something that I couldn’t quite make out. I didn’t know if it was the way he said it or because the destination sounded so foreign to me I just couldn’t understand it. The driver said something to E that I couldn’t quite understand but the look of shock on his face let me know he didn’t like it. He responded with a number “2 that’s how much it cost me to get here.” I realized they were discussing the price for the ride. This time I heard the driver say 20 cedis. I thought it was reasonable because in Seattle a cab ride costs $28 into downtown from the airport.

The driver wouldn’t budge on the price so E said “Thank you very much but I am not a tourist so you have a nice night.” This happened with pretty much every cab that pulled up to us in front of the airport. Each time I got closer and closer to understanding the word he was saying as he described our destination. But I couldn’t quite get it yet.

Ephious looked at me after a few more cabs and suggested we walk up the hill a little way and find a cab there. Just then another driver pulled up and E offered him 2 cedis to take us to Accra mall. He looked at me and said “From there we can get another taxi to take us to the hotel.” We were going to stay in a hotel for the night since all the buses to Cape Coast were done running at this point. We would have to leave either the next day or the day after.

We got in the taxi after he loaded the bags into the trunk. The taxi sped off at a speed I had never known a taxi to go. I spent the ride trying to find a way to hold on as well as see everything whizzing past my window at lightning speed. Cars speeding in every direction honking their horns, the radio was blaring music sung in a language I didn’t understand, and there were people on the streets selling all types of things I couldn’t quite make out as we flew by.

In the first few minutes Ghana and it’s capital Accra were giving me a sensory overload. If my head had been any closer to the open window it would have been hanging out like a dog. My eyes were so wide and I had a huge smile on my face. I just kept wondering what it all was about. Every little piece. What was that? What was THAT? I wonder what that smell was? What was that sound? What did she say just there? I wasn’t sure how to take it all in. I just kept thinking I was going to miss something.

The taxi came to an abrupt stop in front of Accra Mall. Ephious paid him and we took my bags out. We walked across the street to a group of men standing in front of a bunch of taxis shouting things I didn’t understand. E told me these were taxis where you share the ride with a bunch of people but you don’t leave until the car is full. Every seat must be filled before you can. I would soon find this is a regular practice in Ghana with not just taxis but also buses.

We found a taxi going in our direction. We loaded my bags and shortly after we were seated people got in taking the last two seats. We were on our way once again speeding through Accra. Cars were flying by my window as we entered a highway.
The other passengers were dropped off before us. Once they got out Ephious again called out the strange destination I couldn’t quite understand. “Did he say Spend Tax on the run?” I still couldn’t figure out what he was saying. That was for another time because there was still so much happening outside this cab.

I later found out that we were going to Spintex Road, a major street in Accra. “On the Run” is a gas station on Spintex that most taxi drivers know. The hotel where we were staying was near “On the Run” so it gave the driver a point of reference.
We took a right turn off the main road onto a much darker side street. We pulled up to a gate with a sign that read “Sir John Hotel.” The sign was in front of a large brown gate that enclosed one two story white building to the right of the sign.

As we pulled up the gate began to open and a man stepped out beckoning the taxi to enter the gate. The open gate revealed there were two buildings. A small white one story building on the left and the two story building I could see from the street on the right. In the middle the two buildings were connected by a brown awning covering a driveway/parking lot. The man who opened the gate tried to help us with the bags but Ephious let him know we could get them. We grabbed them and walked to the larger building on the right.

We entered into what I realized was the main lobby through glass doors. There was a man behind a large wooden counter who greeted us and handed Ephious a key. E explained to me he had checked in the day before but when you leave they keep your key so you don’t lose it. When you return they give it back to you.

I followed Ephious up a flight of tile stairs that opened up onto a balcony. To the right was the night air of Accra. I could see clothes lines just beneath the balcony. We walked through a wooden door on our left. The door opened up to a narrow hallway with more doors. I assumed each door was a room since they were numbered. We stopped just inside the hallway and Ephious turned to our immediate left and slid his key into the first door, #5.

The door opened to a room with a concrete floor. Directly in front of the doorway was the bathroom. To the immediate left of the door a small refrigerator next to a chair with a flower pattern on the upholstery. To the right was a bed under a window. On top of the window was an air conditioning unit that was obviously not turned on as I continue to drip wet with sweat while I found a place near the wall opposite the bed for my bags. In the corner opposite the bed was a 13 inch television mounted to the wall.

After I looked around a bit I sat on the bed. I was feeling exhausted yet too excited to stay in. Ephious asked me if I was hungry. I wasn’t really but I figured I should eat something. I told him about my stomach issues on my flights and he agreed I should try to eat something.

E suggested we change clothes and head to a restaurant for food followed by New Year’s Eve on the town in Accra.

Initially he did ask me if I wanted to go to church to which I immediately declined much to his amusement.

He then asked me what I was going to wear. I really didn’t know I had scaled back my wardrobe so much in anticipation for this trip that I really wasn’t ready. So I told him a t-shirt and some jeans with flip flops. He gave me a disapproving look. He informed me that would not work because Ghanaians really dress up. So he let me borrow a shirt I never would’ve chosen for myself and a pair of leather boots to wear. I thought I looked ridiculous as hot as it was but he assured me I was fine. He has lived here two years so I tend to believe what he tells me especially since at this point I hadn’t even been in Ghana for two hours.

Once we were dressed we headed out into the night. Another taxi ride later we were at a restaurant where I was immediately amazed by the people I saw in the restaurant. I’m not going to lie. I had some major stereotypes about how I thought people in Ghana would look. All of these assumptions were based on what I saw on television and could look up online. This restaurant had some of the most beautiful men and women I had ever seen. I didn’t feel like I was in Ghana I felt like I was in Atlanta. It wasn’t until I heard people talking that I snapped out of that notion.

We rang in the New Year enjoying a meal of fried chicken and chips (French fries) and a local Ghanaian brewed beer called Star. The food was amazing. I’m not much of a beer drinker so I didn’t care much for the Star. I really ordered it just for the experience.

We finished dinner and headed to an area of Accra called Osu which would turn out to be the greatest sensory overload of the evening.

Another taxi took us in the direction of Osu. We hit traffic before we could really get deep into neighborhood so we got out and walked the remainder of the way. There were people and cars everywhere. Music was blasting from every building and every vehicle. People were dancing on the streets and there were fireworks blasting everywhere. There were people selling food straight from grills on the street as well as people walking around carrying goods they were selling.

If you have ever been to Philadelphia and seen South Street then that is the closest comparison to Osu I can give. South Street has nothing on Osu though. In Seattle you would take Broadway in the middle of Capitol Hill and on top of the traffic and the shops and restaurants you put wall to wall people on either sidewalk and even into the street dancing to music coming from every direction. Then add the fireworks jumping from random groups in the crowd and sometimes coming right from the ground near you. That's Osu.

We stood back watching the celebrations in Osu and rocked to songs I had never heard and sometimes couldn’t understand.

I looked up and took a deep breath and smiled. I looked around with a great amount of thanks in my heard. I was really here finally. On my journey having experiences like nothing I had ever seen before.

Somewhere between 1 and 2 am my trip started to catch up with me and I became really tired. I let E know and we found a cab back to the hotel.
In the morning we would head to Accra Mall for a few groceries and then continue on to Cape Coast by bus.