Akwaaba!

I’ve put together some traveler survival tips for those of you planning a trip to Ghana in the future. The 50th Anniversary celebration of Ghana’s independence is March 6th, and our beautiful country will host thousands of well-wishers from all parts of the world. Those of you who are first time visitors, as well as those Ghanaians who are returning after a prolonged hiatus, may find this list a bit of help ease the transition to a life and culture so different from what you may be used to.

Travel Shots – The only immunization you are required to have is for Yellow Fever. All the others are optional, and at your discretion, so talk to your doctor or travel medicine clinician about it. While I won’t say they are not necessary, it does depend on how long you intend to stay, and whether or not you plan to stray from the cities off the beaten path.

Malaria – The decision to take malaria medications is totally up to you. But there is no getting around the fact that malaria exists in Sub-Saharan Africa. From the States you will likely be prescribed Lariam, which you start taking in advance of your trip, then during your trip and then for a few weeks after your trip. You’ll have to do your research to decide if Lariam is right for you, given the side effects and other issues. For sure, do bring a good mosquito repellent, such as Sawyer or one you’d buy in a sporting goods store. The mosquitoes that bite are always female, and not all bites will result in malaria; wear long sleeve shirts and long pants, rub or spray repellent at your ankles. When sleeping, keep your ceiling fan turned on. These mosquitoes are tiny, not like the big suckers I know from New Jersey, and you’d be surprised that one tiny bug could create such havoc. If you decide not to take malaria medicine, for whatever reason, know that you can buy short term (about 3 days) malarial treatments such as artesunate, over the counter here. It wouldn’t hurt for you to purchase these inexpensive treatments before you leave to bring back with you; in the event you begin to display malarial symptoms, your treatment is at hand. Symptoms include fever, chills, aches and pains, lack of appetite, lethargy… similar symptoms to flu or cold, but not all doctors will look for malaria first, unless you specifically tell them you’ve just returned from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Medicines – Bring your prescription medicines with you. You can get basic medicines here at licensed chemists (drug stores), though the formulations may be different. Paracetamol (like Tylenol), ibuprofen are sold in 10 pack blister packs for about .10 and .20, respectively. You can also get some brands that are well known in the US, like Tylenol, Advil, Maalox, Milk of Magnesia, Benadryl, etc., but you will pay dearly for them. Some items that are prescription only in the US are readily available here without prescription; I’ve been able to purchase an albuterol inhaler, and allergy medicine like Allegra (called Telefast here) over the counter. Go to a reputable licensed chemist such as the those in MaxMart or at A&C Shopping Mall in East Legon.

Hospitals/Doctors and Dentists – The better hospitals are 37 Military Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital; for a good GP, Dr. Jane Ansafo-Mensah at Philips Clinic, Tel 021 76 86 81 or 0244 32 75 20, located at 12 Adembra Road, East Cantonments. She has an on-site laboratory as well. An excellent UK trained dentist is Dr. Dennis Ilogu at Beaver Dental Clinic at Airport Residential Clinic, tel 021 771 785.

Toiletries – Bring your own. If you are black, you can find basic (Soft Sheen Carson products) hair care and beauty products anywhere. But if you are white, you will find these items only in the big “supermarkets” such as Koala and MaxMart, and they are very expensive.

Supermarket shopping – The big two “supermarkets” are Koala in Osu-RE and MaxMart, which has locations near 37 Military Hospital/Liberation Road and their newer store at A&C Shopping Mall in East Legon. These stores stock many US and UK products, at a premium price. Other stores that may be worth shopping at are Sotrec (in Osu) and Evergreen (Tema, Comm. 4). If you’ve got room in your luggage, bring your favorites with you.

Phones – Check with your cellular carrier to see if you can roam while here in Ghana. Alternatively, you can get a cheap cell phone here and SIM card for about $35 (Nokia) which will include about 15 minutes of airtime, and you can buy scratch-off phone cards for about $7. You can also purchase GT cards to use in payphones or from land line phones. Phone cards are sold pretty much everywhere, including gas station shops, chemists, and at kiosks on the roadside.

Taxis – Accra has thousands of taxis, and sadly, not all of the taxi

drivers are licensed to drive. Use your good judgment when hailing a taxi; does the car appear to be in good condition and clean inside and out, is the driver neatly dressed, does the driver speak English? Negotiate the price before you get in. There is no place within Accra that is very far from any other place in Accra. The issue is traffic. Accra’s infrastructure cannot support the number of cars, so traffic jams are not uncommon at any time of the day or night. Still, the cost of a taxi is very reasonable. Bear in mind that if a taxi driver believes you are a tourist, he’ll automatically assume you are rich. Whatever price he quotes, offer half of that and then find a happy medium. If you’re not happy with the price, wait for the next guy, remember, there’s thousands of taxis around.

Driving – Considering the heavy traffic, the road conditions, the nameless streets, the reckless drivers, the lack of street and traffic lights, the open gutters, etc., etc., think twice before you drive yourself around Accra.

Water – Don’t drink water from the tap. You can purchase bottled water from most any shop, or pure water sachets from hawkers on the street. A bottle of war is about .50 a liter, and a sachet is about .3 a bag. Don’t buy water called “ice water” which is just chilled tap water in a tied plastic bag; the pure water sachets have undergone a filtration treatment and are produced in a heat sealed sachet. Good bottled water would be Dasani (a Coke product), Voltic and Aqua-In; good sachet water producers would be Ice Cool, Aqua-In, Voltic and Little Drops.

Food – Fresh fruits abound in Accra, and you will see and hear hawkers selling bananas (with peanuts), pineapple, oranges (though usually at night), apples (imported from South Africa), pawpaw (papaya) and mango. There’s an excellent green grocer across from MaxMart, right near Golden Tulip Hotel.

Local Restaurants – The big hotels offer local and continental dishes, at hotel prices naturally. A couple of local restaurants you might want to consider are Home Touch on the Burma Camp Road, and Asanka Local Chop Bar in Osu is also worth a try. Remember, Ghanaian foods are typically spicy, so most everything you buy will be hot. Nice foods to try are light soup with fufu, which is a tomato based soup, typically served with some sort of meat like goat meat, or fish such as red fish or cassava fish (both nice) or sometimes tilapia (which is an expensive fish). Groundnut soup is also very good, and is served in the same manner. If you are into gumbo, consider trying okro (okra) stew. An alternative to soups and stews is red-red, which is fried sweet plantains with red beans, over which is poured a bit of palm oil (hence the red). Other interesting foods to try are fried crispy plantain chips (sold by hawkers in plastic bags), kenkey (fermented corn dough) with fried fish and served wtih shitor (hot pepper, ginger and dried shrimps fried in tomato paste with additional spices), keta school boys or one man thousand, which are small (and smaller) fried fish, grilled tilapia and banku. Be brave, try it all!

Other Restaurants – There are lots of other choices, if the local food is not your speed. Good Chinese restaurants are Imperial Peking, near the Tetteh Quarshie Circle, Noble House, Regal and Dynasty in Osu RE for nicer (i.e., expensive) dining or Dragon 88 for good food at cheaper prices. With the exception of Dragon 88, these restaurants open for lunch and dinner, and close in between. Fast food restaurants to consider are Papaye which has 2 locations (great chicken, ask for broasted), Southern Fried Chicken (in Accra and Tema), Mr. Bigg’s, Pizza Inn which has about 4-5 locations around town (kind of like Pizza Hut), Chicken Inn and Nando’s (Peruvian style grilled chicken which is very nice). Looking for a GOOD hamburger, go to Frankies at Osu RE; no one can touch it (they also have excellent ice cream). There's also Italian, Indian, Lebanese and French restaurants around.

ATMs and Banking – Many UK-based banks are here, including Barclays and Standard Chartered; local banks are Ghana Commercial Bank, Zenith Bank (from Nigeria) and other commercial banks. Most of the big banks have ATMs which give only local currency. Before you leave home, contact your bank or credit card company, regarding your ATM card to be sure it will work overseas and in case you need a special PIN number.

Credit Cards – Don’t use them. Sad to say, credit card fraud abounds in Ghana. I’ve had it happen to me after a single credit card usage at a reputable travel agency; it took me weeks to fix the problem. Not even in the big hotels should you consider using your credit card. Bring cash or traveler’s checks to pay for your purchases. Only use your credit card at an ATM or a POS terminal, which are few and far between, anyway.

Cash, Traveler’s Checks and Foreign Exchange – Bring only cash or traveler’s checks to exchange into cedis. There are forex bureaus everywhere, and many of the big hotels have forex bureaus as well. Don’t allow an individual on the street to exchange money for you, even if he quotes you good rates… there’s a strong likelihood the money is counterfeit.

Ghanaian Cedis – Currently, the exchange rate for $1 is about 9,300 Ghanaian cedis. The cedi is denominated into ¢20,000, ¢10,000, ¢5,000, ¢2,000, and ¢1,000 notes and 500, 200, 100 and 50 coins. In July 2007, the money will be re-denominated, but until then, this is what you will find in Ghana.

Voltage – Ghana uses 220V power, so if you are bringing a blow dryer, electric shaver, laptop or any other electrical appliance, you may need to purchase a “step down” transformer. Some appliances have a 110/220 switch, which will work fine, all you need then is a small plug-in adapter that will accept your plug type. A “step-down” transformer can be purchased locally for about $10-12; and a plug in adapter will cost about $1.

Power Issues - Ghana is currently undergoing a "Load Shedding" program, whereby, on a rotating basis, all of Ghana suffers from "lights off" for 12 hours at a time, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. The current schedule is every 5 days you will lost electricity. The schedule is printed in the local newspapers usually around mid-month and then again at the end of the month. This load shedding is because the majority of Ghana's power comes from the Akosombo Dam, and the water levels in the dam are at a critical level. Unfortunately there is no relief in sight, as the rainy season doesn't begin in earnest until June. Most of the big hotels will have generators, but if you can bring a battery powered good quality flashflight with you, just in case.

If there’s anything I haven’t addressed here, feel free to post your question and I’ll answer it if I can.

Enjoy your visit!

Barb