ACCRA
Off to the University of Ghana Legon campus some 10 miles out or so from central Accra, and after that to Madina, a teeming town bordering Legon and sprawling over the sides. For the two weeks I’m staying in Ghana, I hired a rental car with a chauffeur (in Ghana you have the option of self-drive or chauffeur-driven) by name of Newton, who told me he was available at “any time of day or night, even 2 o’clock in the morning you can call me and I’ll be there.” Newton, of gentle disposition and unflappable nerves, has one major food dislike: fufu, which is yam or plantain pounded with small amounts of water until it becomes a soft, tenacious mass. Newton swears he has never eaten the stuff (despite persuasive attempts by his parents when he was a kid) and never will.
On the way out of town, we ran slap bang into impossible traffic. As people become more affluent in Ghana, this promises to become even worse.
BUMPER TO BUMPER ON RING ROAD
The only thing that can save Accra is some kind of rail system. The Chinese will probably provide the money for that if it ever gets built, because the Chinese are after Africa’s rich resources in a big way. They are already building Ghana’s gargantuan new Ministry of Defense. Ministry of Defense? Uh-oh, I don’t much like the sound of that.
THE NEW CHINESE, UH, GHANAIAN, MINISTRY OF DEFENSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
We finally got out onto the open road. As we headed out, we took a route that was to be one of many pleasant surprises I was to get in my travels. The highway we took was most definitely not in existence when I was a boy. It was a single-lane, bumpy, often crumbling road in permanent disrepair.
SILKY SMOOTH HIGHWAY
The University of Ghana was founded in 1948. It’s architecture is distinctive for its orange-tiled roofs. My mother and late father were both professors here. Here are a series of photos of the place.
PARTLY BUILT ON A HILL, ONE SECTION OF THE CAMPUS IS CALLED “LEGON HILL”. THIS VIEW LOOKS DOWN FROM
ABOUT HALFWAY UP TO THE TOP TO THE FRONT GATE SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND
MOM WALKING PAST NO. 26, LEGON HILL, OUR OLD HOUSE. THE BOUGAINVILLEA IS STILL THERE!
PAPAYA - OR “PAWPAW” AS IT’S CALLED HERE - GROWING RIGHT INSIDE THE PATIO
THE HOUSE OPPOSITE # 26
MY FAVORITE MANGO TREE - YOU HAVE TO GET TO THE MANGOES BEFORE THE RED FIRE-ANTS GET TO YOU
SOME HOUSES ARE FRAYING A LITTLE AT THE EDGES, BUT NOT THE VICE-CHANCELLOR’S AT THE VERY TOP
OF THE HILL! IT’S IN PERFECT SHAPE
THE WOMEN’S HALL, VOLTA HALL, WHICH HAS A SCENE IN MY NOVEL WIFE OF THE GODS, TAKES THE PRIZE
FOR MOST ATTRACTIVE COURTYARD
FASHIONABLE VOLTA HALL RESIDENTS IN SUNDAY BEST
BALME LIBRARY CLOCK TOWER THAT STILL CHIMES LIKE LONDON’S BIG BEN
GROUNDS BEHIND THE BALME LIBRARY
UBIQUITOUS ATM’S
HIV AWARENESS ON CAMPUS
JONES-QUARTEY BUILDING, NAMED AFTER MY LATE FATHER, PART OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
MY PRIMARY SCHOOL
And that was it for our visit to the U of G campus. Then it was off to the wilds of Madina - a very different world from this!