Once Upon a Bicycle

For those of you who do not know me well, I recently rediscovered the joy of peddling a bike. This summer, I began riding back and forth to work, and it rather quickly grew on me. Almost every day this fall, I rode back and forth to work as it took me at most 15-18 minutes while the bus would take at least twice that long, if it was running on time. It appeals to me as one has control over one’s destination unlike buses.

Thus, I put purchasing a bike on my “to do list.” Five weeks in, I finally got around to purchasing one Friday. Bikes are not overwhelmingly popular in Ghana but people do ride them and there are half a dozen parked on the ground floor of ISH. Why get a bike? I enjoy riding around as it is the most efficient self-propelled transportation available. I can save time navigating campus as the twenty minute walk to the fabled Jones Quarterly Building, the New End Block and the End Block are now a less than 10 minute ride. It will also encourage me to explore off campus a bit more.

Finding a place to buy a bike was an event all in itself as I did not know exactly where to go. Thus, I thought that I would try Makola market, one of the largest in Ghana, as a decent starting point. I hopped onto a tro-tro (It only took me three tries, a personal record!) to Circle, the hub of tro-tros and then walked to downtown Accra. I later figured out that if I had hopped onto a tro-tro going to Accra, I would have been spared the walk but it was good to see the city.

Upon reaching the market, I wandered around in search of bikes. I found none but luckily, Ghana is not only an English speaking country but a friendly one at that. I asked a nice lady, she passed the question on to her neighboring stall owners, and I got an answer. Across the street from a nearby police station, there are several bicycle shops. I asked several more people onto the way as I ended up going past it but finally a policeman gave me perfect directions. And it was not just any police station but the national police headquarters which spanned an entire block.

I finally found the place which was more or less a wide alley with half a dozen bike shops. When I say bike shops, I mean shipping containers containing little workshops, spare parts and old bikes that will be stripped for parts. I saw a blue Mongoose but was quickly distracted by a silver German road bike with skinny tires. I had wanted one at home as my Giant mountain bike was not exactly suited for the UAlbany-99 Pine Street commute and I harbored a now vain hope that I could find a perfect one cheaply here. I loved going fast and a road bike would let me go even faster. In hindsight, the condition of the bikes for sale should have clued me in as none were new nor were there many for sale. I almost bought the silver racing bike but after an extended test run, I concluded that it was too small as my feet kept scraping the ground and that it would not be suited for Ghana’s status as a developing nation.

Therefore, I settled on the blue Mongoose that originally caught my eye as it was a cross between a skinny tired road bike and a mountain bike. It was 230 cedis ($160) but I will sell it back before I leave. I hopped on and began to ride back, checking the map frequently as I had never had to navigate Accra on a bike. I had to race back for 3:30p Twi class. Unfortunately, I had not eaten much that day and the heat was a killer. After passing the Accra Mall, I hopped a curb in order to leave the craziness of the main road. Much to my dismay, this resulted in a flat tire which will be the source of my troubles for the next few days.

What to do? Well, Twi class took importance so I flagged a cab. He put my bike into the back and off we went to ISH. I dumped the bike with the others and raced up to my room to get my Twi stuff. My roommate gave me his homework to hand in too so I had to retrieve that. In the end, I walked into an empty classroom. Others had thought it was for 2p. I had heard 3:30p so I was relieved that I not missed anything.

As the flat tire would not fix itself, I took out the tube and went to Madina market where there was a full-fledged bike shop or at least it was by Ghanaian standards. I was going to bring the whole wheel but for convenience’s sake, I brought only the deflated tube. For a mere 10 cedis, I got two new tubes and a bike lock.

Returning back to ISH, I immediately got to work replacing the tube. Quickly, I discovered that the value was not long enough. Being on occasion handy with my hands, I made a slightly larger hole using my multi-tool (Thanks Gram and Grandpa!) instead of racing back to get another tire. The value was able to fit and be closed. I went over to the Night Market to pump up the tire as I declined to bring my own mini-pump. The stall owner, a University policeman, and I all tried to get the tire to fit over the tube as every time we pumped it up, the tire would stick out in one part and be more liable to flatten out. The policeman concluded that tube was too big for the tire. I felt a bit of annoyance arising as I had given the bike shop my old tube so there should be no issue with size as it is written right on the tube.

What to do now? Ride back to Madina, hoping that my tire would not fail and that the shop would still be open. The plan was brought to sudden stop with, surprise, a flat tire. Luckily, a kindly fellow selling hub caps suggested that I take my bike to a spot behind the police station where it could be fixed. After some searching, I found the gentleman. In no time at all, my existing tire was patched as the spare I had been sold was too small. Of course, I was sold two tubes, one bigger and one smaller, not one that actually fit! Tomorrow, I will attempt to get to Madina once more and get it fixed by the shop. While the gentleman who patched my tire said that the Madina shop would be open, I am sure that my luck will disappear as soon as I get to town then too as it is Sunday.

All of this is fueling by my desire to be independently mobile, allowing me to explore the countryside, the nearby hills, neighborhoods and even the beach. While the upfront costs are exorbitant, at least in terms of annoyance and dare I say anger, hopefully those benefits will be well worth it. After the tire was patched, I rode through the Botanical Gardens and stumbled across two watering holes, one for a beautiful flock of at least 150 white birds on an island in the middle of a pond, and another for people to eat, drink, dance, and be merry. This was only my first ride around campus!

Power

During my dance class, the power went out. It has happened several times since I have been here and my dance class continued without interruption. I took my Australian friend for a bite to eat at my new favorite breakfast place that serves iced coffee and pancakes with Nutella. Per yesterday, my first time eating there, it was so good!

I came back to my room, showered up and got ready for the day. I put water into my electric tea kettle and turned it on. Since it takes about a minute to boil water (a record beaten only by the JetBoil), I waited for it to heat up while I looked for my instant coffee. When I opened the bag to pour some into my mug, I realized the tea kettle was failing miserably at its job as in it was not on. I bought the thing barely two weeks ago after negotiating intensely for a one cedis price cut. Shortly after purchasing it, red paint marks indicated it was used and not new as I had expected. The anger boiled up as I checked that it was plugged all the way in, the outlet was turned on (all Ghanaian outlets have on/off switches to save power), and even moved it to the adjacent outlet in hopes of getting the kettle to work. I plugged in my computer and the little blue light failed to appear. Then, it dawned on me. The ceiling fan was off which meant that the power was still out and my anger vanished.

As I was about to post this, the power went out again. We are having a wicked storm, thunder, lightning, and driving rain.

Power

During my dance class, the power went out. It has happened several times since I have been here and my dance class continued without interruption. I took my Australian friend for a bite to eat at my new favorite breakfast place that serves iced coffee and pancakes with Nutella. Per yesterday, my first time eating there, it was so good!

I came back to my room, showered up and got ready for the day. I put water into my electric tea kettle and turned it on. Since it takes about a minute to boil water (a record beaten only by the JetBoil), I waited for it to heat up while I looked for my instant coffee. When I opened the bag to pour some into my mug, I realized the tea kettle was failing miserably at its job as in it was not on. I bought the thing barely two weeks ago after negotiating intensely for a one cedis price cut. Shortly after purchasing it, red paint marks indicated it was used and not new as I had expected. The anger boiled up as I checked that it was plugged all the way in, the outlet was turned on (all Ghanaian outlets have on/off switches to save power), and even moved it to the adjacent outlet in hopes of getting the kettle to work. I plugged in my computer and the little blue light failed to appear. Then, it dawned on me. The ceiling fan was off which meant that the power was still out and my anger vanished.

Wli Falls

Yesterday, we took a three hour bus ride to Wli Falls. One of the largest and more picture-esque waterfalls in all of Ghana, Wli Falls towers high over a small, shallow pool. Only a forty-five minute hike from the bus, we crossed eight bridges over the pool’s outlet. The forest was similar to the rain forest that we had seen in Kakum but a bit less well preserved as Wli is not yet a protected area or at least did not appear that way. The soil was the darkish black that characterizes the lack of nutrients in the rain forest dirt.

We came around a corner and up a small incline, and there Wli was in all of her glory. It was much larger than I had initially thought. My camera barely got the entire height of the falls into a single shot. The waterfall was much larger than I had been expecting.

The water was cold although not terribly off compared to the hostel shower water. Walking into the water, I was greeted by a stony bottom although as we got deeper, it became softer and a tad squishy. Approaching the falls, I surprised by the strong breeze although with the height that the water falls from, I suppose it was to be expected. Getting closer, the wind became infused with water droplets. Closer still, I could barely see as the wind and water were emanating such force. Finally, I was underneath the waterfall. Unlike some waterfalls, it did not hurt but one could certainly feel its power evaporate into one’s body, especially when a particularly power more or less chunk of water would hit an unsuspecting swimmer. I was surprised that even right at the base of the falls, the water was only waste deep. After the hike through the muggy heat, the swim was beyond refreshing.

All too soon, we had to trek back. Wli Fall is an attraction which I will certainly return to although early in the morning to enjoy some quiet. I would have also enjoyed making the three hour hike to the upper falls which I got a slight glimpse of as we drove in. I would appreciate it even more if I could camp there. I am surprised Wli Falls is not protected as Kakum or the castles were. It would certainly be a good idea.

Beads!

Please do not read too much into any grammatical errors. I wrote Beads! and Dam! on a bus while bouncing down some of Ghana's finest paved and unpaved roads.

After our dam tour, we dropped by the hotel to grab lunch. As there are only three men in our group, we got a special, larger room. Upon entering, there was only a small twin bed and a small bathroom with a shower. Looking to the right, a spiral staircase ascended to a second level. We were greeted by cathedral ceilings, large windows with river views and a small baloney. I fully looked forward to a hot shower, a good night’s sleep and air conditioning.

After a decent although expensive buffet lunch, we climbed back into the vans to go to Cedi Bead Factory under ominous skies. Driving through a small town just before our turn off, the sky opened up, dumping rain. Quickly, the streets became rivers of dark muddy water as the trenches were inadequate for the job. Shortly after turning off the paved main road onto a dirt secondary road, we dropped into a particularly deep hole. A loud bang complained of the indecency. Driving forward, a dragging sound of metal led to a quick stop. Our program director’s husband who was our driver got out in the pouring rain and muddy stream of a street to find the van’s spare tire had been dislodged from its usual position and was dragging under the rear axle. Throwing the tire onto the roof, we continue down the lane which was the worst road thus far in Ghana, compounding by its sudden conversion into a stream.

Shortly after arriving at the Cedi Bead factory, the rain stopped. We have seen beads all over Ghana although at for high prices. Our other driver had a yellow beaded bracelet. Ushered under a pavilion, we were given a talk about how the beads are made. They begin by first making molds. Since the molds must be able to survive 1,000 degree Celsius temperatures, old termite mounds are repurposed to become clay molds. These mounds are found all over Ghana including the UG campus and just one usually lasts the factory a decade or so. Termite saliva is the key ingredient.

For bead material, recycled glass bottles are ground into a powder. They had a bunch of old bottles that formerly contained alcoholic so there is a decent chance that that beautiful blue bead may have begun life holding Bailey’s Irish Cream ™. Once ground, one color is selected as a base while other colors are mixed and layered into the mold to get the intricate patterns. Then, the molds are inserted into a kiln for 30-40 minutes at about 1,000 degrees Celsius. The kiln used to be made out of the same clay as the molds but they would collapse after a few days of use and would have to be rebuilt. Today, kilns are made of cast iron and scrap metal. Once a bead is finished cooking, they are pulled out and a hole is poked into the middle. They are then left to sit out for several days. Finally, cleaning consists of fifteen minutes in water and sand.

Due to the storm, the power was knocked out and thus we had trouble viewing the final product inside the small show room initially. But as soon as power was restored, we cleaned that place out or at least gave our best effort towards doing so.

And about that good’s night sleep and air conditioning, it was not as to be expected. The Afrikiko Riverside Resort’s bed was a couch that unfolded to form a cushion. The sheets were dirty. The hot water took a while to get just right. Air conditioning was an utter mirage as the machine was not inclined to output cold air (and the quantity of dead flies in the output vent meant that it had not worked for some time). The pool looked inviting from a distance but upon closer inspection, needed to be cleaned thoroughly. The local frog population enjoyed the water all night though as indicated by their soon unwelcome calls.