Postcards from Ghana

March 25, 2023

Dire Poverty

When and Where: 03/2023 – Takorati, Sekondi

72^nd Country Visited; 9^th African Country Visited

Interesting Facts:

- Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence.

- Ghana is the largest producer of gold in Africa and the 7^th largest producer of gold in the world.

Today I witnessed dire poverty up close. In my travels around the world, I’ve seen people living below the poverty line in many countries. In Ghana, I saw no rich or working-class people, just poor people struggling to survive. Sometimes tours highlight the natural beauty or rich history of a country. And there are tours like today which are enlightening but depressing.

Our ship docked this morning in the in Takoradi, a harbor town along the southern coast of Ghana. I offboarded the ship along with a group of people on the Across Africa tour with me. As usual with Across Africa Tours, there was much confusion. Once on our way, we headed a short distance to the Bisa Aberwa Museum; a museum of African history. Along the way, we saw some awful housing; worse than what I had seen in Angola. A short time later, we arrived at the museum and disembarked. The museum is filled with sculptures made of wood, clay and cement as well as paintings and photographs. The art often depicted the slave trade and representations of what life was like for African Americans in the early days. There was one exhibit of clay figures featuring slaves hanging from trees and KKK members holding racist signs. The museum also featured the successes of Africans and African Americans. As sad as it is to read about or see depictions of slavery, it’s harder to look at shackles used for adults and children, and devices to torture slaves.

From the museum, we headed over a fish market in Sekondi, the twin city of Takoradi. Along the route, we witnessed more abject poverty. Upon arrival, the passengers had to sit in their vans until we had a police and military escort to walk through the fish market. We eventually offboarded and then were marched single file into the ice factory where large quantities of ice are made and stored in underground chambers. The ice is used to keep the fish cool and safe for consumption. Next we walked through the bustling fish market. We weren’t allowed to stray too far from the guide as there was a lot of activity going on and the market could be the perfect place for pickpockets. The market had a strong odor of old fish and feces. We saw many men offboarding their catches from the boats and many women walking around with fish and other foods on their heads. It was chaotic and dismal. During my visit, I received two nice compliments from Ghanian men on my beard. The first was a military officer who stopped me to tell me he thought my beard was nice. And as we were exiting the fish market, I heard a guy screaming. I turned around to see what the commotion was about, and he was yelling “Your beard, your beard” and putting his hands on the little facial hair he had.

From the fish market, we drove a short distance to Fort Orange, an old Dutch trading post dating back to 1642. We saw the tight quarters where slaves stayed before being shipped off to the Americas. There was also some random art in the fort. The fort offered vistas of the city. We were permitted to photograph from all sides of the fort except one, the sea view. A Turkish vessel sat in the harbor. It turns out the vessel called the Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan is the world’s biggest Powership, supplying electricity to one-third of Ghana. I snuck a quick picture when no one was around (see below).

Our final stop was Vienna City Beach, a small seaside resort adjacent to the beach. The club had an upscale restaurant and swimming pool. The beach was closed to tourists. We were supposed to stay and have lunch, but the majority of people on the tour, including myself, wanted to head back to the Zuiderdam.

Again, visiting Ghana was an eye-opening experience. I sense the next three ports (Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire, Banjul Gambia, and Dakar Senegal) will be the same.