📍Sunday, August 15th, 2021, Thomas Sankara International Airport... My mother, my two little sisters, and I are on a plane of the Air Burkina company, destination: Accra, the capital of Ghana 🇬🇭 (officially Republic of Ghana). I'm really excited about this trip cause this time I was in charge of the planning and I've tried my best for everyone to have a great week.
Day 1: We took off at around 12 pm, stopover in Cote d'Ivoire and after about 3 hours of flight, we arrived at the Kotoka International Airport. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, we had to be tested on our arrival. After filling all the police stuff, we waited about 30 minutes for our Covid's results before exiting the airport. I was in contact with a friend of my dad who came to pick us up and took us to our residence. I've made a reservation on Booking for the Axis Suites (Osu). He left us there and propose to send a driver with his car the following day. We were so excited that we didn't pay attention to the close time of the restaurant. | Issues started there. | Our bank cards were not working with the ATM nearby, so my little sister and I and the (gatekeeper) took a taxi to other ATMs. Honestly, I wasn't reassured; I was in a taxi in Accra with my little sister and 2 unknowns. I imagined all kinds of scenarios and the way I and my sister could get off the car just in case of. Thank God everything went well. The guy at the reception desk helped us order food, and we gave him his money back after. It was about 10:00 pm when we got our food, eh! No need to say how tired and hungry we were lol. But it was an excellent lesson, anyway.
Day 2: The next morning, as planned, the driver came to pick us up. After having breakfast, we went to an ATM and then to MTN for a sim-card. The day's tour began at Black Star/ Independence Square. The square was completed in 1961, and hosts annual independence celebrations and other national events. A few meters further on, we stopped at the Black Star Gate, which is also part of the Independence Square. It is surmounted by the black star of Africa. The five-pointed star represents Africa in general and Ghana itself in particular. Kwame Nkrumah commissioned the monument to show the supreme power of the country to control its own affairs.
It was already lunchtime, so I looked on Maps for a restaurant near to where we were. After lunch, the tour continued at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum & Memorial Park. The Mausoleum is the last resting place of Ghana's first president and Africanist and of his wife, Fathia Nkrumah. As reminder, Kwame Nkrumah is the author of many quotes, such as
“It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided, we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.”
The park itself houses rare artifacts related to Ghana's independence and the life of Dr. Nkrumah himself. There is also a museum where the ex-president's belongings are displayed, such as his furniture, books, official clothing and photos. The day ended up at Marina Mall, where we bought a little stuff for the apartment.
Day 3: On the third day, we started the day at the W.E.B DuBois Center for Pan-African Culture. Located in the Cantonments area of Accra, the center opened its doors to the public on 22 June 1985 and is a memorial place, a research facility, and a tourist attraction. William Edward Burghardt DuBois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer, and editor. He has made a lot for Afro-American rights and African culture before finally settling himself in Accra. This center is his ancient home and his last resting place.
The next step would please the nature lovers: the Legon Botanical Garden. Since it was almost the end of the holidays, the park was not full and quite quiet. I could not take pictures with my camera unless I paid, so we just took some pictures with our phones.
We started with the canopy walking. Then one of my sisters and I went on a canoe ride. The park was under renovations so we had little choice. Then we went to the children's playground, where we had a swing contest with my two little sisters. It was cool even if I lost haha!
Short story: Be very careful with swindlers! They can be anyone and anywhere. So, after leaving the Botanical Garden, same as the day before, I looked on Maps to find a restaurant nearby. So after we finish, my mom checked the receipt as usual and find out there were many errors in it. The server doubled the quantities, so we find ourselves with a receipt twice as expensive. When we asked for an explanation, she started talking rubbish like the machine wasn't able to type certain numbers, so if the number was 3, the machine was "forced" to type 4. Then she switched her version. She said that because we said we don't want too much spice in our noodles, she asked the chief to put more mushrooms on it, and this was corresponding to one more plate. Non-sense! Then she started negotiating, telling my mom: "Oh mommy please, mommy please" puff... We calculated the normal price we had to pay, pay only this price, and left.
Anyway. After this episode, we went to Labadi Pleasure Beach. The beach was a bit dirty, and we could not swim, but it was still relaxing. We stayed on the shore, taking pictures, riding horses, and building sandcastles... A quick hello to -EasyJet- and his master. Thanks for the pleasant ride! After the beach, we went to a travel agency to make a reservation for the next day because we had to travel outside of Accra and since our car has a Burkina Faso registration plate, it could have caused us a lot of trouble with the cops on the road.
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So, how did you find part one of this 7-day trip? If you want to discover what happened in the next 4 days, just stay connected. You will be served soon :) Thank you for reading. May God bless you, stay safe.
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