K'DUA

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Wednesday, July 3, 13

            Today marked my last long haul day before I leave country.  I had another sleepless night in the $6 a night Sammo hotel, and at dawn, walked down to an egg sandwich stand.  I’ve taken a strong liking to the NesCafé coffee here; I’m no snob, and I’m sure its of poor quality, but with some Ideal Condensed Milk and sugar, it tastes incredible.  Talking to Keith and Dave, I learned why our cook had been tardy yesterday morning – her cousin was killed the previous night.  Apparently at The Oasis where I tried to avoid the cover charge, late at night our cooks cousin’s assailant had the same point of view I did.  After being turned away at the front gates, the man went home, grabbed a knife, and stabbed our cook’s cousin to death in front of everyone at the resturaunt.  The sour joke around my travels is that in Kumasi there are shootings, Cape Coast has stabbings, Kofodifua must only have a beating here or there.

From paved roads to no roads

            I met the group at the Koforidua bus stop, and after a long hour waiting to attract costumers, we headed out.  On the map I had of Ghana’s main highways, the route looked to be about a three hour drive down south then up north past Accra.  Our driver had other plans.  He took every back road imaginable to avoid bridge tolls, road maintenance fees, and police barriers.  We ended up on roads that were paved decades ago, and had since decayed into concrete bunches.  I had a good laugh to myself thinking “Only in Ghana do drivers avoid the concrete road and seek a dirt road beside it.

            Hours later, we arrived in Kofodifua, and I took the cheapest room possible which claimed to have a working fan.  I was unaware that “working” can mean “moves at the speed of a second hand on a clock.” Only 4 nights here, though!  I spend the rest of the short afternoon purchasing some fabric and clothing, taking time to find tailors and have clothes made as gifts.  The next few days are very calm; I hope to write an essay here, do some final interviews, and enjoy my last 6 days in Ghana.