Tro Tro 101

Date Written: 23 January 2011

Today, we went into Accra proper. Our first stop was Max Mart which is a relatively Westernized store similar to a super Walmart. In fact, Walmart almost bought the chain out a few months ago but pulled out at the last minute. It was interesting enough, prices were high and much of the clientele seemed to be affluent or from the ex-pat community. There was a nice coffee shop on the second floor so of course, I ordered an Americano. I have not resolved the coffee situation yet as a daily cup of joe is not guaranteed. Instant coffee seems to be all the rage so I may have to resort to that.

After lounging around Max Mart, we went to 37, a big tro tro station and were told to find a tro tro that would take us back to campus (Legon). My group quickly found one. I have determined that is it easiest to be very straight forward and ask exactly what you want to know rather than talking in circles first. Saying hello, how are you today and then asking the question is the best way to do things. Instead of going back to campus, we walked to another tro tro stop.

Along the way, we stopped at a stand selling fresh cocoanuts. The guy selling them opens them right in front of you with a machete. I drank out the juice and then handed it back. He then chopped it into pieces and I had fresh cocoanut to eat. What a treat, and right off the street too.

We then took a tro tro to Kwame Nkrumah Circle which is the main hub of transportation for buses and tro-tros in Accra. Ghanaians generally seem to like Kwame Nkrumah who was the first President of Ghana, and dear enough to many Ghanaians in that a plethora of buildings, institutes and circles are named after him. He was sort of a Loch Walesa character, in that he did an excellent job winning independence but his government was less than effective for Ghana.

We walked for quite a bit as Circle has plenty of market shops. Two of the guides purchased several shirts. There seem to be more cell phones for sale than there are people in the market. We also checked out the post office and I purchased some stamps and postcards. Walking to the long distance bus station, there was a guy selling large Ghanaian flags so I asked what he was asking for them. He replied 10 Cedis so I offered him 8 which he accepted. My guide said that was okay in terms of price. Thus, my first bit of bargaining went well as could be expected. Upon arriving at the bus station, we were told to ask the prices to various destinations and also acquired several bus schedules for future reference when traveling. Our program director strongly suggests we stick to the larger, STC (government run) buses instead of the long haul tro tros because they are safer as once the road is clear, tro tro drivers drive very fast in order to get to the next load.

We hopped into a taxi to get to Osu, a collection of market stalls, shops and restaurants close to downtown Accra. For lunch, we went into one of the most popular restaurants in Accra (whose name eludes me now) and had a decent lunch. Among the choices of meat were cow feet, gizzard, fish and other dishes that were beyond even my pallet. I had rice, chicken in a curry-ish sauce and a pasta salad. Ghanaian food is spicy but this particular dish was less so than I expected. I also determined that Star beer was not terribly good and might best be avoided.

Finally, we hopped a tro tro back to campus. I bought my first two water sachets (10 pesawas, $0.07) and was trying dearly to open them once I was seated in the tro tro. Apparently, one should tear a corner with one’s teeth but I was failing utterly at this. A girl in a nearby tro tro was laughing at me but the kind woman sitting next to me took pity on me and pulled a pair of scissors from her purse. I have noticed that Ghanaians are generally relatively friendly.

However, some Ghanaians are perhaps too friendly. While in ultimately fruitless searching for free wireless internet on campus, I was asked after a drawn out, heart throbbing tale by two separate men within a period of ten minutes for money. But upon finding the wireless internet zone, a student helped try to me log on with a password of his and then took me over to another building to try another password. Ultimately, he explained that all he does is register with Jones Quarterly for free wireless internet and that I could do so on Monday.

I took the camera this time since I had a bigger bag to hide it in so I will try to upload some photos.