GHANA TRANSPORTATION 101

I had written this transporation guide for future int'l grad students that come to work here in Ghana, but since i've been hearing that more and more fletcherites are planning on visiting later on this summer, i'd thought i'd post it as a guide...its also quite funny...at least i had quite a laugh writing it all down...

Tro-tros
Ghanians either walk from place to place or take these large minivans called tro-tros around. Tro-tros are old school private large mini-vans that are packed to the gills with bodies and babies...even if one is not yours you tend to have one on your lap. They are super cheap, but if you take them you end up leaving with more sweat and on you than when you got in (and not necessarily your own!). Imagine nothing more than a gutted van outfitted with bench seats for maximum occupancy…it is not abnormal during rush hours to have over 25 people in a tro-tro. ‘Twenty-five people in a five row mini-van – is that possible?’ you might ask yourself. Well estimate four people sitting per row (and in the aisle) and then there’s the infants that people dole out. Many women travel with 3+ toddlers at a time and therefore hand out their children to neighboring riders to hold and play with until they arrive at their destination of choice.

Furthermore, each tro-tro goes to a distinct location. This would be ok if there were some kind of signage on the outside of each van to identify exactly where it goes, or at least a map of the key routes would be ideal…but alas, no dice. Oh yeah, and there are also no bus stops. Tro-tros basically tell people where they are going not by having formal bus stops or signs (these types of things dont exist in Ghana). Rather, the front passenger-side guy called a ‘mate’ hangs the upper half of his torso out the window and makes different waving signs with his hands – pointing strait up means the tro-tro is going to Accra, waving around in downward-pointing circles means Burma Camp (the military part of town), beckoning aggressively towards themselves means another key main part of town. Were you not to know this important hand-signal code you would think that every passing tro-tro is harassing you as they stare and wave at every passer-by just in case they should be wanting to hop aboard (while the tro-tro is still moving of course – they do not stop).

Taxis
Most expats and people working at jobs take taxis or have cars and/or drivers in Accra. This is a normal thing if you are a white collar worker as a decent taxi ride only costs a dollar or two...this of course is a lot more than the .30 or .40 cent tro-tros, but gets you to where you want to go in a timely fashion. When utilizing a taxi, prices here always need to be negotiated before one enters the vehicle, for if you wait till you get in, the drivers pretty much hold you hostage - where they want to go, who else gets in the vehicle, and what price they want to set. Be warned it is most likely that the original price anyone quotes you in Ghana is 2 to 4 times what is a normal price…most taxi rides are 2 or 3 cedi (2/3$). I think the most I have ever paid for a cab is 5 cedi and that was when there were 3 people in the car and we were travelling a long distance across town. A fail-proof, key negotiating (or rather ultimatum) tip that we learned early on is to state your price and if the taxi driver will not accept it say ‘It’s ok, we’ll just find another cab...’ this has never failed us! Now, should you find a cab, have negotiated an agreed-upon price, it is pretty common for the driver then once en route to turn around and ask you for directions! Therefore its always a good idea to make sure he knows where you are going before getting in as well as always being aware of a few notable landmarks in the general vicinity of your destination so that the driver can better identify your location.

Cars
Most of the vehicles on the road here are what western standards would consider scrap metal, threatening to sputter out and die at any given moment. Travel therefore utilizing public transportation almost always carries with it a high risk of getting stranded somewhere in the middle of the day or night (not so fun in the dark). Or, if you are so lucky enough not to break down, chances are almost 100% that someone else along your road will, and being that roads are at most always two lanes in one direction, the chances that you will be stuck in the impending traffic are almost 100-0.

Night travel in general is generally discouraged for visitors and tourists here because 1) not many people have cars and are normally dependent upon public transportation, 2) public transportation consists of the tro-tros I had discussed earlier which are VERY unreliable and unsafe (16 people were killed when one crashed into a river last week). 3) The reason I referred to above - the darkness factor - were one to break down is due to the fact that there are no street lights really *anywhere* in Ghana (ok, ok…there are one or two new roads that have been built this past year that have lights). 4) There are no signs anywhere (street signs, highway signs, traffic signals, etc) and 5) maps virtually do not exist. So the chances that one would get lost are also pretty high.

Roads
Now the distance between cities here is pretty small…many of the popular destinations in the south are 100-200km from one another. For an American or European car that trip would take somewhere around an hour to two hours to travel. However in Ghana well paved roads are non-existent outside of the big cities, and the more common unpaved roads are full of 1ft deep very wide potholes practically everywhere so that slows down travel time quite considerably. An exception to this rule is the road between Accra and Cape Coast which was paved this past year so not only is it paved, it is also well lit (gasp), as well as strait (virtually non-existent!).

Ghana’s Finest
So one night we were actually driving on a weekend evening to Cape Coast from Accra around 11:15pm, having made terrific time - 1hr45min for a 99km trip – we were held up for about twenty minutes because they had just erected a new toll booth (10cents) which virtually stopped all traffic because people have to hand their coins to individuals in the toll booths. However, here we come screaming around one of the last corners totally exhilarated that we were going more than 40mph, and were forced to screech to a halt because of an unexpected police checkpoint. Now, I should point out before I go any further that we were travelling with a Ghanian who was driving us in his own private (and legal) car. Immediately the police were furious that our friend hadn't known about the checkpoint (though there were no signs alluding to the fact that one had been set up) and had inadvertently had to kind of screech to a stop. So ten minutes, and a lot of high-toned talking and arm waving later, our friend Michael hops back in the car with a smile and a wink to continue the last few kms of our trip. BUT the car wouldn't start; the battery had died. Well-prepared Michael came to our rescue busting a very large toolbox out of the trunk which he had brought in case just such a breakdown were to occur. Another ten minutes (and a lot of banging) later, our battery had been decalcified, and we were on our way, with (I might add) the Chief of Police, who after ten minutes of chatting-while-decalcifying had gone from a virtual life enemy to very good friend status. In fact, he told us that he held us in such high regard that he was going to help us out by accompanying us to his favorite hotel in Cape Coast (yes, this was the same guy who twenty minutes earlier had seemed most likely to rip up Michael's license and throw him in jail). It wasn’t of course until the next morning when we were well rested, fed, and realizing how very far off we were from all the coastal attraction that it dawned on us that the hotel most likely had an agreement with the police where a certain commission was paid to the police guy for sending guests to the hotel!!