First impressions

I arrived at Kotoka airport, Accra late on Saturday night. The journey itself was uneventful, although I was slightly disconcerted when my fellow passengers applauded our safe landing in Ghana. I can only hope this was out of politeness and not because landing without incident is worthy of note.


I am staying in the family home of HHJ Barbara Mensah. When I arrived at the house, I was immediately made to feel at home - not only because of the very kind welcome given to me by my host, Odette, but also because Wimbledon was on the television. I stayed up to watch Murray secure his place in the next round, then went to bed.

On Sunday I settled myself into my new surroundings and had a little walk around the neighbourhood. Although suburbs are not usually the most fruitful place for wildlife watching, almost all the birds, butterflies, and plants that I saw were new to me. I won't name them, mainly because I can't, but even the crows look different.

Today (Monday) is a public holiday so I went into the centre of Accra with Ben, the house manager. We had intended just to visit the Arts Centre but - unfortunately for Ben - I couldn't help wanting to stop and look at almost everything we passed and by mid-afternoon we had visited many of Accra's sights.

These included Independence Square, a huge space with Soviet-style monuments:

It is used for parades on the anniversary of Ghanaian independence, but today was peopled only by groups heading for the beach beyond it. We soon followed them:

Afterwards, we headed (via Parliament Building) to Jamestown, an area of Accra full of small markets and colonial-style houses.  It also has a lighthouse which it is possible to climb. Despite having no head for heights, I was keen to do this: my enthusiasm, however, palled at about the same time as the spiral staircase gave way to a rather rickety ladder. Despite this, we carried on and were rewarded by fantastic views from the top:

Safely at the bottom again, we visited the harbour and its environs. This was a fascinating, bustling area: we passed stalls selling shark, men building new boats out of single tree trunks, children swimming in the harbour, and a boat named after a certain Portuguese footballer:

It was great to have the opportunity to look round Accra before starting my internship, especially with such a friendly guide as Ben, but I'm really looking forward to getting started tomorrow. Wish me luck on the commute!