Morning Walks

My friend Marina and I have been walking early in the mornings 3 days a week for a little exercise over the past few weeks. We walk from about 6-7am which is great because it is a little cooler outside and we get to watch Accra get started in the mornings. We have a few different routes but all of them wind up being a little like an obstacle course and cultural lesson mixed together. I thought I'd share some of the challenges along the way as it gives a view into the streets of Accra.

1) The gutter system, which is a canal alongside the road that is covered by cement blocks that are most often cracked and loose so at any point a mis-step could lead to falling inside the nastiness that lies below, serves as a pedestrian sidewalk. Recently workman unloaded piles of dirt and filth from the gutters onto the road next to them so that created another little obstacle as we had to sidestep piles of gross mud and avoid falling in. It only took them about a week to clear the mud so finally today we had a little more room to walk.
2) The constant horn blowing of taxis eventually just blends in to the cacophany of other sounds around us. Taxis see white people and must think that we don't like walking because each taxi honks multiple times and slows down each time they pass us despite the fact we are clearly happy to be on our walk and don't look the slightest bit like we are looking for a taxi. They even do it when we turn the corner into our apartment complex's driveway. Why someone would want a taxi when they are walking into their building's driveway is still a mystery to me. I was imagining what NYC would be like if all the taxi's honked at every pedestrian in an attempt to get a passenger.
3) Tro tro's seem to have little regard for pedestrians. Tro tro's are old beat up vans that act as the public transport system here in and in many places in Africa. Today on our walk, a tro tro pulled into a a driveway right as we were walking in front of the driveway almost knocking us over. We stopped to let it go but then it quickly swerved in towards us almost running over our feet. We screamed and knocked on the van to let them know what they did but the driver just laughed. Oh well!
4) Yummm....Car exhaust - Marina and I often find ourselves holding our breath and covering our mouths as black exhaust pours out of cars and tro tro's. Not so refreshing to breath that in while exercising but we'll survive.
5) Goats and chickens wander around here like the land is theirs and so often we walk alongside them or slow down to let them cross in front or almost trip over them. They're not so much a threat but just a curious part of street life that I'm still getting used to I suppose. Alan is also still getting used to the goats. The other day he pointed out our window in the kitchen and said, "Look! Is that a lion?" I guess to him the goat looked like a lion but no, we don't have lions in Accra.
6) But, today, a monkey crossed our path or more like we crossed his path. Monkeys are not common in Ghana, especially in Accra. In fact, we've never seen one around. But today, as we passed a big truck that was unloading on the side of the road, I saw some movement on the top of the truck and figured maybe it was a dog. But when I looked up, I saw a monkey tied up and hissing at us. I screamed and almost pushed Marina into an oncoming tro tro. That was the last thing I expected to see but I'll just add it to my list of curious things to see while on our morning walk.

The more pleasant part of our walk includes admiring some of the mansion-like homes on our path and wondering what diplomat or business person lives in them. Also bringing smiles to our faces are the little children that sometimes scream "Obruni Obruni!" which is the Twi word for white person. And then of course there is the occasional old man who walks along saying "good morning" to everyone he passes. And the ladies setting up shop alongside the road (or on their heads) selling everything from piles of boiled eggs to big white rolls spread with margarine for breakfast.

The walks are really enjoyable...both the good and the bad so hopefully we keep it up!