I went out walking in the streets paved in gold

August 5: Day 1 in Kumasi

More than any other day, today felt like we were in Ghana. We were scheduled to leave Legon for Kumasi at 6 AM GMT “Real Time.” As expected, we were on Ghanaian time and left just before 7:30.

The trek from Legon starts with us going through Dome (do-may) Market. A much less intimidating market than the previously attended Makola, I think I’ll be spending a lot of time at Dome.

There is only one road, a two lane “highway,” that connects Legon/Accra to Kumasi, a 300 kilometer (180 mile) distance. Some of the road is paved, but with massive potholes and bumps; some of the road is just packed down dirt. All of it is pretty scary. This was the first time during my stay that I have been legitimately scared. Although the roadside was filled with loving faces and children eager to have their pictures taken, the two outstanding moments in my mind are a bus and a truck flipped over within miles of each other. Desmond, one of our guides, casually stated that “accidents are a part of life in Ghana.” This didn’t go over well with the crowd.

No more than a few minutes later, a van comes rolling down a hill in the middle of the road coming right us. Our driver laid on the horn and the van didn’t move. Most of us braced ourselves for a collision. The van narrowly missed us. Ghanaian drivers are crazy.

Finally and amazingly, we arrived in Kumasi. Our first stop was a kente cloth village. Kumasi is the center of the Asante kingdom, the largest (49.1% of the population), wealthiest (due to large gold reserves) and most powerful kingdom in Ghana. Along with its spectacular gold, the Asantes are known for kente cloth—it is made today just as it was made centuries ago and the products are just beautiful. The colors of the threads just bounce off of each other.

Like any other tourist city, everybody wants to sell you something. Even if you say “no thanks,” people still talk. But if you say “dabi medaase”—“no thanks” in Twi, they will let you go. We got a brief demonstration on how the kente cloth is made, and like any good tourist, I bought some for the low, low price of 140,000 cedis (15 dollars) and an old shirt.

Our next stop was an adinkra stamp shop. This was by far the highlight of my day. I didn’t really care about the stamps. But I absolutely fell in love with this little boy. And I think he felt the same way about me. Every time I let go of him, he would cry, and every time I’d grab him, he would smile. As I had no interest in the stamps (you can see what they look like if you Google “Adinkra stamps”), some others and I joined some boys for a game of football—soccer. I have been waiting for this for some time. Even at a young age—and with no training—these kids were amazing. A great time was had by all.

Our final stop of the day was a wood-crafting village. This, like the kente village, was unreal. There were some incredibly complex. The best piece, in my opinion, was a three-person, interlinked statue. It’s hard to explain. I’ll take a picture when I can. The amazing part is that it was made with just one piece of wood. You will appreciate it when you see it. “My friend,” Richmond, brought me into his store, and it blew me away. I brought him lots of business, so he gave me some pretty good deals.

All in all, a successful day.

August 6: Day 2 in Kumasi

Today was much tamer. Nothing really to speak of. Everything was put back a couple hours so people could go to church. Ghana is a very religious country—about 60% of the nation is Christian, and the Christian/Jesus/God signs are everywhere. It’s not that bothersome.

We dropped into a bead-making village, which was pretty sweet. Lots of beautiful children. I want to take one home.

Many of us were filled with energy at the end of the day, so we got a little game of ultimate Frisbee going—on some gravel. We definitely provided the entertainment for some of the natives—they thought we were crazy. Only 4 people got bloodied. Out of 8.

August 7: Day 3 in Kumasi

Today was slower than yesterday. We spent a couple hours in the Asante Palace, which was okay. We couldn’t take pictures, which was kind of a bust. It wasn’t as cool as I was expected.

Then the long drive back. We survived.

Looking forward to sitting down and having a drink tonight.

Bye for now.

LDG