Tema, Ghana

December 16^th, 2024

Whilst we traveled in luxury from Takoradi to Tema overnight, our guide Samuel and our driver make the 6-hour journey on the bumpy dusty road.

We arrived in the early morning, with a trusty tug escorting us to the dock.

Tema is another cargo port, so we had to take the shuttle bus to the port gate where Samuel met us again.

It was about an hour’s drive to Accra from Tema. Again, the road was not well kept and although it was mostly a dual carriage way, at any one moment in time only one carriageway was being used for both directions, and it seemed to be totally random. I have no idea how drivers work this out.

Our first stop was at the W.E.B Du Bois Center.

We visited the house where Dr Du Bois and his wife lived. Dr DU Bois had been invited to Ghana to work on the Encyclopedia Africana and we saw his library

And his bedroom which had a display of his university graduation gowns from the University of Ghana where he was awarded a doctorate in literature, and Harvard University where he was the first African American to receive a PhD.

He and his wife are buried in the grounds of the center.

He sounded like an amazing man, and I was sorry that I knew so little about him and his achievements.

Known for its restaurants, clubs, street food, casinos, clubs, and lounges, Osu is said to be one of the most exciting areas in Accra. So, our next stop was to walk down Oxford Steet in Osu. This is nothing like it’s namesake except it is very crowded and noisy. Too many people and too much traffic, but it did make for a change. So far, we had seen Accra from the van, now we were getting more of a feel of the city.

I was intrigued by the lady carrying a tray of watermelon slices on her head. Samuel stopped her and bought a slice.

We wandered down the street for a while until the heat and fumes got to be uncomfortable, and it was good to get back in the van again.

Our next stop was the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum. Although the fountains in the park had seen better days, the mausoleum was very impressive.

The mausoleum building is meant to represent an upside-down sword, which in Akan culture is a symbol of peace. The mausoleum is clad from top to bottom with Italian marble, with a black star at its apex to symbolize unity. A skylight at the top in the mausoleum illuminates the grave. The mausoleum is surrounded by water, a symbol of life.

There is a very interesting museum in the park, and although I had vague memories of Nkrumah it was fascinating to learn more about the man and his influence not only in Africa, but the world. There were photos with him with all of the world leaders with whom he had interacted.. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take any photos.

During the military coup in 1966 a statue of Nkrumah was damaged, and now it stands in 2 pieces outside the museum.

The park is well worth a visit, although I wish they would clean up the fountains.

We drove to Independence Square also known as Black Star Square. In Independence Square are large stands with a total seating capacity of 30,000 surrounding the edges of the square.

The square hosts the annual independence celebrations as well as other national events, and is the site for all civic and military parades and other national gatherings. Our guide said that Independence Square is one of the largest city squares in the world. It is certainly much larger than Horse Guards Parade in London.

The Independence Arch is to the south of the square, the Gulf of Guinea behind it.

On the opposite side of the square facing the arch is the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier, which honors the Ghanaian soldiers who died fighting for their country.

Just to the north of the main square is a roundabout, in the center of which stands the Black Star Gate, an imposing monument topped by the Black Star of Africa, the five-pointed star that symbolizes Africa in general and Ghana in particular.

Our sightseeing done; it was time to go for lunch. The restaurant was certainly a very local establishment.

I just had ground nut soup, which was spicy but delicious. Samuel had fufu and goat in his soup.

We had watched the cook make the fufu, which is made from boiled cassava and/or other tubers such as plantain or cocoyam. It is pounded together in a locally made wooden mortar (woduro) using a wooden pestle (woma). I decided not to try fufu, but Samuel said it was very tasty.

My main focus was trying to make sure my chair didn’t end up in the drain behind where I was sitting.

Lunch over we drove back to Tema taking a detour along the shore.

Finally the port was in sight.

It had been a fascinating day, and Samuel had been a wonderful guide. Yes, I really liked Ghana.

We decided it was time for a pre-dinner snack of caviar and champagne whilst watching the sail away from our balcony. It didn’t work out that way in the end. Due to the heat we waved goodbye to our tug and had our snack indoors.

By dinner time it had cooled down quite a bit so we ventured outdoors again and ate dinner by the pool at Earth and Ocean.

The bread is delicious. By the time I got my phone out to take a photo half of it had disappeared.

The meal was very good, and I especially enjoyed the baked camembert.

No chocolates on our bed tonight. There was some nasty Fry’s Turkish Delight looking things on a plate. I hope this was a mistake, and that the chocolates will reappear tomorrow. This is not good.

On a brighter note, there was an invitation to an exclusive Grand Africa Cocktail Party tomorrow night. That sounds like fun!