West Africa's best kept secret- Ghana
In the last biweekly report, we had just entered Ghana. Ghana is sometimes described as West Africa's best kept secret, and we agree - the country has so much to offer, and yet very few people know about it. Before we went we didn't really what to expect. Some countries have a very strong image. When people hear ‘Kenya’, most people immediately think ‘safaris’. Or when you think about 'Senegal', you think ‘music’. But for some reason, when you say 'Ghana' most people (including us) don't really have a strong association with it. And that's strange, because Ghana really has a lot to offer! There are lots of things to do and see, and it has a great climate, interesting history, rich traditions and absolutely wonderful people. So in this bi-weekly, we will tell you more about our first experiences in Ghana.
Tamale
After crossing the border, we drove on to Tamale, the biggest town in the North. Just before we arrive at our guesthouse, it happens… we haven't seen this since we were in Morocco... big drops of rain falling from the sky. In the five minutes that remain to get to the guesthouse, the streets have turned into rivers. At first we decide to wait in the car to see if the rain might stop, but after 5 minutes the rain has gotten worse, rather than less, so we decide to make a run for it. The 10 meters from the car to the reception of the guesthouse completely drench us. The rain is warm though, so we don’t really care. Besides, about 30 minutes later, we having lunch in the blistering sun again. I guess we didn’t just enter Ghana today, we also entered rainy season.
The next day we spend exploring the town, going to the bank, and buying some 
badly needed new clothes. During many of our walks, we are accompanied by students who come over for a chat, want to learn a little about the countries we’re from, and tell us about the region and their life. It’s really great to see how proud these kids are of their heritage, and to see the smiles on their faces when they explain the customs and traditions of their region. After our day of ‘shopping and admin’, it’s time to take off for Mole National Park. We have really been looking forward to this. You can stay in a hotel at the edge of the park, and from there take a walking tour into the park to see hundreds of elephants, warthogs, waterbuck and more. How cool is that?
Mole National Park
The first part of the road, which is the main road between Tamale and Kumasi, is great, but when we turn off for Mole, we are in for 80 km, or 2 ½ hours of corrugations that shake loose just about every screw and bolt that we have in the car--a stereo speaker falls down, the head rest comes loose. Not too comfortable a drive in Tiny, but it’s definitively worth it!
From the veranda of our room in the park, we overlook a wide forested valley. Not bad... even without animals this would be a great place to stay. But there are a lot of animals... warthogs are scurrying around near the car, the chirps of hundreds of birds fill the sky, and baboons and monkeys parade around, waiting for a chance to snatch away someone’s lunch. Later that day, we spot elephants in the distance, making their way to the watering hole.
If we can see all this from just outside our room, imagine what we’ll see on our walking tour. We can’t wait! But even so, the next morning we decide to postpone the tour. It has been raining heavily from 3am to 7am, which usually means you’ll see fewer animals, so we decide to leave it until the next morning. Instead we decide to spend that day working and editing some of the videos – trust me, the coolest ‘office’ we ever worked in (check out the photo- the view from our room).
The next morning, we wake up early for our walking tour. Still a bit sleepy, we are sitting outside the Park Rangers office, 
waiting for our guide, when the sound of a branch breaking makes us look up. What, what, what? Five huge elephants are standing less than 10 meters away from us. Slowly flapping their ears, their trunks moving like long picky fingers, carefully selecting the juiciest leaves.
Not a bad start of our day. During the next two hours, we see more animals than you would in a zoo: more elephants, waterbucks, kobs, crocodiles, bushbucks, egrets. What a fantastic morning! If you want to know more about the animals we saw, read the Nature and Wildlife section below.
Heading into the center of Ghana - Techiman
Next on the Ghana agenda is the small town of Techiman, to visit some of Patrick’s friends from Holland. They had moved to Ghana about 10 months ago, to work for a company called Ghana Nuts, the largest exporter of nuts in West Africa. 
This company is one of the fastest growing companies in Ghana, and we loved seeing the new factory they are building. You can read more about Ghana Nuts, and how the local community benefits in the Trade, Travel and Economy section.
Kumasi
Next stop: Kumasi. Capital of the old Ashanti Kingdom, and probably one of the 
most interesting cities in West Africa. Kumasi overflows with history and culture. The proud people love talking about Ashanti traditions, and the rich history of Ghana. 
One of the first questions almost everyone asks us is how we like Ghana, and nothing makes them happier than to hear how much we like it here. As a city, Kumasi is also a very nice place to be. Grown to its present size from a collection of towns and villages, rather than an ever expanding city, the Kumasi area is very open and spacious, with lots of green.
We were also very excited about coming to Kumasi, since we finally were able to visit some of the schools we have been working with since we started the program. We had a great time talking to all the kids here, and getting a better idea of what it is like to live and go to school in Ghana. We’ll tell you all about that in the next bi-weekly (the last one for this school year), which will be a Special Report about going to school and daily life in Ghana.
Want to read more about Ghana? Click on one of these:
Nature & Wildlife
Animal Spotting in Mole National Park ...what did we see?
One of our first stops in Ghana was at Mole National Park, Ghana's largest
national park, in the northeast of the country. Mole (pronounced as 'mol-eh') was established in 1958 and re-designated a National Park in 1971. The park was originally used by British colonials for hunting safaris.
Mole is a large park covering 1.2m acres (almost 500,000 ha). The park is part of the Guinea savannah woodland ecosystem, which means there is a combination of green forest, grassland, rivers and streams.
The park is home to over 90 mammal species including over 600 elephants, as well as many antelope, hartebeest, buffalo, bushbuck, oribi, waterbuck, monkey, baboon, roan, kob, and warthog. There are also liosn, leopards and hyenas, but they are mostly in the north of the park, a place that is not normally designated for tourists. More than 300 species of birds have also been recorded in Mole, and there also also many reptiles like crocs.
Our Tour of the Park
We were able to take a 2-hour walking tour through the park with Francis, our guide who carried an old style rifle (just in case we encountered danger!). There aren't too many protected wildlife parks where you can walk through the park (usually you have to be in a car or boat), and see many large animals just 5 minutes from your hotel (many times you have to go searching for long periods of time animals in safari parks, but not here!)
We hoped to see many animals during our 7am walking tour, but our guide had reminded us that rainy season had just started in the North of Ghana. This meant that some animal herds that usually used the nearby watering holes and lakes could now stay deeper into the park, so we might not see tem.
But we saw many different animals! Take a look at some animals we spotted...warthog, baboon, crocodile, waterbuck, kob, elephants. We also added some odds and ends on bird nests, the home of a mystery animal and something interesting about a lion. Read on!
| * Official Name | * Phacochoerus africanus | |
| * Color | * Gray, with white cheek whiskers | |
| * Habitat | * Moist and arid savannas, floodplains | |
| * # we spotted | * About 5 families of 4-6. | |
| * Place spotted | * Wandering around the hotel each day, and during our forest walk. | |
| * What they were doing | * Usually eating the grass, taking care/cleaning of the Kids or males play-fighting. | |
| * What they usually eat | High-protein grass seeds from the end of grass stems,as well as culms and rhizomes of grasses. | |
| * Fun Fact | They make the best of scarce food sources which makes them one of the most abundant herbivores in Africa! | |
| * Check this out | * Do you notice how they position themselves to eat? | |
| * Official Name | * Papio cynocephalus | |
| * Color | * Reddish-brown or olive-brown | |
| * Habitat | * Savannas, semi-desert grasslands, forest edges. | |
| * # we spotted | * 2 | |
| * Place spotted | * Five feet from our hotel patio. | |
| * What they were doing | * Running around looking for food-especially wanting to grab a mango, banana or any unattended food. | |
| * What they usually eat | * Fruit, foliage, ground plants, ants, termites, nuts. | |
| * Fun Fact | * Savanna Baboons are the largest baboons. | |
| * Check this out | * Notice that the baboon is running on the ground, not in the trees. Baboons spend most of their days on the ground and roost in trees or cliffs at night. | |
| * Official Name | * Crocodylus niloticus | |
| * Color | * Gray or gray-olive, yellowish belly | |
| * Habitat | * Large freshwater lakes, swamps, estuaries | |
| * # we spotted | * 1 outside water, many inside | |
| * Place spotted | * During our forest walk, on the banks of the lake the elephants were cooling off in | |
| * What they were doing | * Nothing...just bathing in the sun, not moving (thank goodness-we were really close). | |
| * What they usually eat | * When it is young, it eats insects on land. As the croc gets older it eats fish, frogs, birds and other small mammals. When it is around 12-15 years old, when it is sexually mature, it mostly eats large fish but will catch animals like antelope and buffalo that come to drink the water. | |
| * Fun Fact | * Crocodiles were thought to live with dinosaurs about 150 million years ago! | |
| * Check this out | * Do you know how crocs swim? It is not with their webbed claws or toes, but their tail. They use it to propel through the water--something like a boat engine. | |
| * Official Name | * Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa | |
| * Color | * Reddish brown. Solid white buttocks. | |
| * Habitat | * Grasslands, near woodlands. Close to water | |
| * # we spotted | * Many running in herds. | |
| * Place spotted | * During our forest walk. Once they hear you, they usually run away quickly. | |
| * What they were doing | * Male herds grazing near female herds. | |
| * What they usually eat | * Mostly green grasses | |
| * Fun Fact | * Their coat becomes darker as they get older. |
|
| * Check this out | * Is this a photo of a male or female? Hint: Only the males have horns. | |
| * Official Name | * Kobus kob kob | |
| * Color | * Bright yellow-brown | |
| * Habitat | * Areas with lots of water | |
| * # we spotted | * Lots and lots: 30 or so in a herd. Usually there is 1 male amongst a herd of females. | |
| * Place spotted | * During our forest walk, usually in the short grasses. There were many so they took up a large grazing area. | |
| * What they were doing | * Running through the grasses. When we came close, they ran so fast it looked like they were hopping. | |
| * What they usually eat | * Grazes on grasses and other plants. | |
| * Fun Fact | * Kobs are mostly active during the day. |
|
| * Check this out | * Kobs can have a baby anytime during the year. Pregnancy lasts 8 months and they usually have 1 baby at a time. | |
| * Official Name | * Loxodonta africana cyclotis | |
| * Color | * Dark gray | |
| * Habitat | * Rainforests, forests, seashores, sub-deserts and swamps. | |
| * # we spotted | * Over 30 | |
| * Place spotted | * Near our car, but mostly during our forest walk--in the watering holes or lakes, and in the mud pits. | |
| * What they were doing | * Near our car, eating leaves of trees and bushes. In the watering holes and lakes, almost submerged in water, spraying water to cool off. In the mud pits, cooling off by spraying mud and dirt. | |
| * What they usually eat | * Leaves, fruit, bark of trees and bushes, and grasses. | |
| * Fun Fact | * Elephants can reach food or branches that are up to 6 meters (20 feet) high, and they usually spend about 16-19 hours a day eating all that food! (You can read more about elephants in the previous bi-weekly on Burkina Faso.) | |
| * Check this out | * We didn't spot any female elephants during our forest walk-why not? Since it was rainy season, most females were off having their babies in another area. | |
Some last bits...
A Big Home-- guess what animals lives in this? Hint: It has a long snout and eats ants.... |
Lions We didn't spot any during our forest walk but we did learn an interesting fact from our guide about the lions they had seen in the park: When a lion kills their prey, the usually only eat the intestines, liver, tongue and sometimes the eyes. They leave the rest for other animals... |
Bird Nests  A huge nest--spot the opening? Bird holes/nests in a dry pond that fills up in rainy season. |
Egret  * These egrets are smart birds--Many times you see them near large mammals like elephants. Why? When the elephants walk and eat, they turn up the grasshoppers and insects which these birds eat. Smart or lazy? |
Want to see lots more photos of the animals we saw in Mole National Park? Go to the Photo galleries, and click on Ghana- Mole National Park.
Life & Society - Life in Ghana
One of the things we knew almost straightaway when we entered Ghana was that we were going to love this country. The country has a great climate, amazing wildlife, and beautiful scenery (the waterfalls near Kintampo, where we had a quick lunch break on our way to Techiman, were far more impressive than Burkina’s most famous ones at Karfiguela). But the most fantastic part of Ghana is its people--always smiling, friendly and polite, and with a great sense of humour. In Ghana, people like to talk. More than in any of the other West African countries we have been in so far, people come over for a chat. Not meaningless chitchat, but a real conversation. They genuinely like to know more about who you are, and are proud to tell you more about who they are.
Ghana has a rich culture and history (You can read more about the history of the Ashanti later in the report), and Ghanaians are proud of that. Greetings are accompanied by many handshakes that end with a snap of the fingers. Goodbyes are not goodbyes without many embraces and pats on the shoulders. When you meet people, they will not only tell you their name, but they will tell you what town or region they are from, where they studied, and usually one or two facts about why his or her region is so interesting. Many people have markings on their face, in the form of (sets of) small scar lines made just after birth with hot charcoal, that signify which region and family or clan you belong to.
Another thing that Ghanaians take very seriously is religion. In Ghana, you’ll see more churches than in Rome. 
But religion is more than church on Sunday (or in the North, mosque on Friday). In Ghana, religion is a part of life... every day life. One of the things you see that in is the names if businesses. More often than not, you’ll see signs like “God is Love Supermarket”, “Jesus Saves hardware store” or “God in Heaven restaurant”.
If all this makes you think that life in Ghana is all serious and no fun, you’re wrong. People make sure they have as much fun as they can. Whether it’s a casual conversation on the streets or bargaining over the price of cucumbers, everything comes with a laugh and a joke. Ghanaians are very open-minded, and people are always making fun of each other without offending each other. People like their food and their drinks, and love hanging out together on a Saturday or Sunday night...Seems like they have it all figured out pretty well in Ghana.
Our next biweekly will be focused on growing up and going to school in Ghana, so look out for that one later.
Highlight on Fufu
|
Local Food
Building a hospital...
At lot of kids have asked us ‘what do you do when you get sick?’ Although we did bring a load of medical supplies that could stock a small hospital, the real answer is, that if we get really sick, we do what we would do at home... go to the hospital. And that’s exactly what people here do as well. All larger towns have hospitals, and most larger villages at least have a health centre. When we were in Kumasi, we visited the construction site of a new hospital. A huge building project for what is planned to be one of the most modern and well-equipped hospitals in Ghana and possibly even the southern part of West Africa.
About 10km from the centre of Kumasi, on a compound of the Catholic Church near the village of Apire, the huge skeleton of the hospital-to-be rises in front 
of us. All walls and part of the roof of the three-story building are up, so we can really see what the place will look like when it’s finished. We are guided around the site as if we were patients. Enter through the main entrance to check in at the reception, move to the right to collect your hospital file from the filing area and sit down in the waiting room. On the left there’s a row of 10 consultation rooms as well as changing rooms. Lifts (not yet installed) can bring patients to the second floor where the two theatres (operating rooms) and the patient wards are. We are led through what will be scrub rooms, recovery wards, pre-op chambers, laboratories, administration offices, the cafeteria, conference rooms, bathrooms, the morgue, the ambulance garage, restrooms for the night doctor on call, and all other kinds of rooms that inexperienced hospital visitors like us never even knew existed.
Construction is hopefully finished by the end of the year. After that, it will still take some time before it is operational, because all the equipment will still have to be bought and installed (the project is sponsored by a religious and non-profit organisation so fundraising is always a part as well!). While that happens, staff housing will be built on the hospital grounds, and the last part of the road leading to the hospital will be improved (right now it’s still a bit of a bumpy ride to get there – not ideal for a speeding ambulance with a sick person). For the people in and around Kumasi, this is great. Right now the only big, well equipped hospital is in central Kumasi. Waiting lists are often long and not everyone can be treated.
The people in Apire are extra happy. Not only are they now really close to one of the best hospitals in the region (the photo on the left is a photo of the village taken from the hospital construction site), it also creates a lot of job opportunities for them. Doctors and nurses may be recruited from the Medical school in Kumasi, but the hospital also needs a lot of people to cook, clean, do laundry, etc. And most of them will come from the nearby villages. I guess the Chief of Apire made the right decision when he decided to offer the land on which the hospital is built as a gift from the village.
Who pays for the doctor? What about Ghana? Many hospitals are (partly) funded by government or various Aid organisations. But like in many countries, hospital bills can still be very high for many people. Recently the Ghanaian government has introduced National Health Insurance (health insurance paid almost entirely by the government). It’s still very new for most people, so it will probably take a while before the majority has insurance, but hopefully in the next few years people will stay away from the hospital because they’re healthy, not because the can’t afford it. |
Trade, Travel & Economy - Highlight on Ghana Nuts
In 2002, a Ghanaian businessman, Mr. Obed Asante, contracted with farmers in Ghana, and put together an import structure with neighbouring countries to become the biggest supplier and export of nuts in West Africa. He knew that quality and reliability would be key to his success. He realised that selling one bag of bad cashew nuts could cost him a customer. He also knew that if he would lose a customer, it would be hard to get him back, and even harder to find new customers to replace him.
If he would set up long term contracts with farmers, and build good relationships with suppliers in neighbouring countries, he would be able to get better quality nuts than his competitors. 
But that was not enough for the Mr. Asante! By sorting and taking out bad nuts before repackaging (see the photo on right with the local ladies sorting through the nuts), he could make sure that only the highest quality nuts would be shipped to his customers. And in the same way, his customers would know that a ‘Ghana Nuts bag’ was carefully screened and quality checked.
Three and a half years later, this dream has come more than true. 
One truck full of cashews, peanuts, groundnuts and sesame, after the other leaves the factory, that now employs 
over 300 people, and many more temporary employees in busy times (Local labor: Much of the current process requires manual labour, as you can see the men here loading 80kg bags onto a truck). They have made such a name for themselves that their biggest problem is finding enough (high quality) nuts to fill customer demand. And when we were there, they were building a new plant to be able to handle all demand.
Ghana Nuts - Taking the Next Step
But it didn’t stop there. They were now successful enough to take the next step. Ghana Nuts sells commodity products 
(unrefined, undifferentiated products). Their customers use this to manufacture oils, pastes and all other kinds of consumer products. Generally the profit margins on more specialised products (such as oil) are higher than on commodities (think about the difference in profit margins on cocoa beans versus the margins in a bar of 
chocolate).
And that is exactly the reason why Ghana Nuts is now building an oil pressing plant. Originally they intended to focus on peanut oil (and possibly sesame oil), but recently they decided to shift soybeans. Margins are better and the demand is high.
How much money do people make? These incomes may sound incredibly low, but don’t forget that cost of living in Ghana is also a lot lower than in many places. A bread, for instance, costs about 25 US cents, a kilo of beef about $2, and a coke in a restaurant about 30 US cents. As in anywhere in the world, the big cities are more expensive, but usually wages are higher in cities as well. |
Managers and professionals usually make about $300 a month, and on top of that, usually receive additional allowances for housing and representation (e.g. suits, travel). Some companies have paid holidays (apart from national holidays), but this is not very widespread. Some companies also contribute to cost of health care, or the recently introduced national health insurance. Value-added tax (VAT) is 15% and the highest tax bracket is about 30%.So what does this do for the local economy?
Right now Ghana Nuts employs about 300 people and many more contract workers during busy times. There are also about 50 people working on the construction of the new plant, warehouse and offices. And many more people will be working for Ghana Nuts, once the new plant becomes operational (planned for August this year).
But the effects on the economy are far further stretching than this. Many farmers in Ghana live off of subsistence farming and sometimes are able to sell a small surplus. This usually makes farming very labour intensive and not very effective. Those farmers who plant ‘cash crops’ (crops that you grow with the intention to sell), are usually more effective, but usually suffer from fluctuating prices and are not always certain they can sell their crops. Moreover, most cash crops (e.g. peanuts, soybeans (pictured in photo), cotton or coffee) have the disadvantage that if you can’t sell your crops, they becomes pretty useless. If a farmer can’t sell his vegetables and potatoes, he won’t have any money, but he’ll still have something to eat. If on the other hand a cotton farmer can’t sell his crops, he won’t have an income but also nothing to eat (cotton may be filling, but not very nutritious).
By setting up long term contracts with farmers (with agreed prices and quantities), Ghana Nuts does not only ensure that they have a steady supply of nuts or soybeans, but also provides farmers with the insurance that they will be able to sell their crops. This will make it easier for farmers to make a (partial) transition to growing cash crops, and mass production and ultimately a more prosperous life.
Who wants to be a Millionaire?
|
may not be the case, it is definitively true that it’s a lot easier to become a millionaire in Ghana than in most places in the world. The currency, the cedi, exchanges at about 9,000 to the dollar (May 2006), so you would only need a bit over $100 to be a millionaire in Ghana. Even though we’ve been here for a while now, that’s still a bit confusing for us. It just sounds like a ridiculous amount when someone charges you 10,000 for a big bag of tomatoes... until you realise, of course, that that’s about a dollar.
In Ghana, it’s not just easy to be a millionaire, you feel like a millionaire. The biggest note available is 20,000 cedis. Indeed a large amount, but also ‘only’ $2. So if we go to an ATM and take out the maximum amount of 800,000 cedis (a maximum imposed by the fact that that is the thickest stack of money the slot in the machine can hold--see photo above), about $90, unfortunately not even enough for a full tank of petrol, we get a stack of about 1 ½ cm thick. Needless to say that a wallet is no use here...
Within the next couple of years, this may come to an end though. There are advanced plans to introduce a central currency, Eco, for the English speaking West African countries (much like the CFA for most French speaking West African countries). Although many Ghanaians would loose their ‘millionaire status’, this would probably provide a more stable currency for most of the joining countries and make any trade between these countries a lot easier and cheaper as well. And for Ghana, of course, it would save people a lot of counting...archive of bi-weekly reports
28 05 06, Ghana14 05 06, Burkina Faso
20 04 06, Mali
26 03 06, Senegal
13 03 06, Senegal
24 02 06, Mauritania
13 02 06, Morocco
29 01 06, Morocco
16 01 06, United Kingdom
bi-weekly reports of the preparation
