I know where I'm going

How Life Works In Ghana, Part 1: Transportation

When I was planning for fall break, one of the things I had to make sure to look up and understand about each place I was going was how to get around. How to get from the airport to the center of town, and then whatever public transportation system was available. So for my first explanation of how daily life works in Ghana, I'll tackle transportation.

First of all, Accra is divided into distinct neighborhoods. The Jamestown/New Town area, which is where I work, is what people will refer to, directionally, as being "Accra", but all of these neighboorhoods are located in Accra, which is located in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. We live in Labone, which is near Cantonments and Osu. The University of Ghana is in Legon, which is not to be confused with East Legon. (University of Ghana's real name is the University of Ghana, Legon, and is sometimes just referred to as "Legon".) Nima is a traditionally Muslim neighborhood and center of a lot of artists in Ghana. Tudu is a good place to buy paint. One of my roommates works in La, the other works in North Dzorwulu. Everything is referred to by its neighborhood.

It's extraordinarily easy to get from the airport to Accra, because, unlike most airports, the airport is IN Accra. In a neighborhood called "Airport", which is near East Legon. Property near the airport is of very high value, so if you are rich in Accra you probably live in a place where you occasionally can't hear your family talk because a plane is passing right over your head. (And as I typed that sentence, a plane flew overhead. Eerie.) So, from the airport, you take a taxi anywhere you need to go. There are taxis in a parking lot at the airport, but they're always more expensive... if you want a cheaper rate, just walk out to the main road and hail a taxi. (I recently drove past the airport and saw horses grazing in a small field outside. Yes. Horses grazing in a field outside an airport located in the middle of a city. Welcome to Accra.)

Taxis are the quickest way to get around the city. You can spot taxis by looking for cars that are painted more than one color. Generally, some of the panels of metal on the outside are orange, and the others are red, blue, purple, white, green, etc. Also, they have taxi signs on top, and their license plates are yellow. Usually they're slightly beat-up, often with cracks in the windows, rarely with seatbelts (I haven't worn a seatbelt since August). They almost always have some kind of religious saying on the back window. There's a specific hand motion you can use for hailing a taxi, or you can use the opening-and-closing hand gesture that means "come" (both of these gestures should only be done with your right hand for politeness reasons)... but generally how I get a taxi is by being white. Seriously. Taxis will honk at me, they'll drive past and then see me and reverse, sometimes they'll pull up to me and ask me where I'm going. Once I was walking back from school, and a taxi driver drove past the road I was on, then saw me and reversed. I shook my head, the taxi driver stayed there, and imitated me shaking my head. I got to the road, turned, and it followed me slowly as I walked.

Me: No, I don't need a taxi.

Driver: Where you going?

Me: I'm just going somewhere in this area.

Driver: Where? Only one cedi!

Me: No, I don't need a taxi.

Driver: Are you going to Ashesi? I'll take you there, only one cedi.

Me: No, I'm coming from Ashesi, I'm going home.

Driver: Where do you live?

Me: Just around the corner, it's not worth 50 peshwas.

He let out a sound of frustration and drove off.

Once you've hailed a taxi, DO NOT GET IN. You stand outside and tell the driver where you're going. He'll then tell you how much it will cost. He will always, always, ALWAYS overcharge you. Look shocked and offer him at least five cedi less. He will look shocked and tell you it's ridiculous because of traffic. Eventually he will come down a bit and you will come up a bit and you'll have bargained your cab ride. Example conversation taking a cab from Legon to Labone:

Me: Hello, how are you? [always ask how people are. always.]

Driver: I'm fine, and you?

Me: I'm well. I'm going to Labone.

Driver: Labone, which side?

Me: North, near the coffeeshop.

Driver: Aah, coffeeshop. You pay ten cedi.

Me: Ten cedi?! I'll give you five.

Driver: Eh! Five is no good! This time of day, too much traffic. Give me nine.

Me: Seven is the highest I'll go.

Driver: No good. 8.

Me: Nope, I'll only do seven. Thank you, though.

I then start to walk away.

Driver: Okay, come in.

I get in. (Seven is the fair price for this ride. If you're lucky you can get it for six.)

The starting to walk away trick is a very useful one because often there are a ton of other cabs you can take. If a cab insists on overcharging me I will not take it unless I'm desperate. If you know the price of the ride and don't want to go through the hassle of bargaining, you can do something like this:

Me: Hello, how are you?

Driver: I'm fine, and you?

Me: I'm well. I'm going to Osu, Koala.

Driver nods.

Me: Two cedi?

Sometimes, the driver will say, "Okay," right off the bat because you clearly know the correct price. Sometimes:

Driver: Please, make it three.

Me: I'm not paying more than two cedi, I pay two cedi every day.

Driver: Okay, come in.

Sometimes the hassle of bargaining for a cab can get tedious, but it's a blessing when you are inevitably stuck in traffic (as you are at all hours of the day, this is the worst traffic I've ever experienced and I experience DC traffic on a semi-regular basis) not to have the "New York City Cab Anxiety" where you watch the meter go up and up and up.

You get in the cab. If I'm alone I'll often ride in the front seat, that's pretty normal. You ride along, maybe having a conversation with the driver if the two of you are so inclined. Then, you start to get close to your destination and things start to get tricky. Cab drivers here generally do not know where things are. Also, the streets have street names, but no one uses them or even knows them and often they aren't labeled. There are some signs pointing in the general direction of places, but you have to know where you're going and you have to be able to direct the driver there. So if you're trying to find something, you're pretty much out of luck, unless it's something well-known. Labone Coffee Shop is, for some reason, known by all cab drivers, and is pretty close to my dorm, so that's the landmark I'll give them to go towards, then tell them where to turn as we get closer.

Then you arrive, pay them (try to have small bills on you at all times in this country), wish them a good day, and leave. Don't slam the door too hard. They get angry when you do that.

Taxis are definitely the fastest way to get around, but the cheapest was, if you have the time, is by tro-tro.

I've mentioned tro-tros before. They're beat-up (always) minibuses, also usually with religious sayings on the back window. The original seats are usually taken out, more benches are fit in so that you can cram more people in. (There are some seats that can be collapsed so you can get to the seats behind.)

I should note that NYU does not recommend we take tro-tros. They're terribly unsafe vehicles. However, traffic is so bad that you're almost never going fast enough to be in a bad accident where you'd turn over, and while it costs 2 cedi ($1.40) to get to Osu via cab, it costs 20 peshwas to get there via tro-tro (15 cents). I take tro-tros to get to work, and it costs me less than 1 cedi each way, whereas it would cost me 4-5 cedi each way in a taxi. Of course, a 20 minute cab ride could take 45 minutes in a tro-tro. Or it could also take 2 hours. Don't take a tro-tro unless you're current on your tetanus shots.

You catch a tro-tro by first finding a station where tro-tros tend to stop. They have stops throughout neighborhoods and usually if you live there you'll know. The major stops can be found where there's an area of pavement for the tro-tros to pull over. There's a person who helps operate the tro-tro called the "mate". He works for the driver informing potential passengers as to where the tro-tro is going, informing the driver of when to stop, collecting money, and closing the door. (or, in some cases, holding the door closed as it moves. Or, in some cases, tying the door closed with a piece of rope.) As the tro-tro nears the stop, the mate will lean out the window yelling where the tro-tro is going (the final destination neighborhood, not all the stops. If it was the subway, the mate would be yelling, "Pelham Bay Park! Pelham Bay Park!"). The mate will also be making a hand gesture indicating where the tro-tro is going. To guarantee it stopping, you should also make that hand gesture. I take a tro-tro going to Accra as the first tro-tro on my way to work, and I have been completely unable to distinguish the gesture for Accra from the gesture for Keneshie. It's a problem. My co-worker and I have solved this problem by making friends with a woman who sells phone credit at our tro-tro stop who can always tell when a tro-tro coming to Accra is about to stop and will tell us.

The tro-tro stops, you get on. I always ask the mate if the tro-tro is going to the station I'm headed to. It's obvious enough that I'm not from the area so I'm totally allowed to be dumb and not be 100% sure that this tro-tro is going to Tema Station.

At some random moment when you're on the tro-tro, the mate will ask you for your money. If you give him any more than one cedi to make change, you're a jerk.

If your first tro-tro doesn't take you to your destination, you'll have to make a transfer. I transfer at Tema Station, the largest transportation hub in Accra. Tema Station is filled with brightly-colored tro-tros, people everywhere, and where there's transit, there's commerce, so a little bit of a market has sprouted up. Lots of colors, lots of smells, lots of people selling things off the top of their heads, some makeshift market stalls, women cooking things in the middle of the street, people urinating in open gutters. There are very small signs indicating where some of the tro-tros are going, but if you're navigating Tema Station for the first time, it's best to ask a tro-tro mate where to go. After navigating through many people and alleys and finding the next tro-tro, you sit and wait on it until it fills up. This could be five minutes or this could be half an hour, but venders will come up selling water sachets, ice cream, cookies, plantain chips, etc., so you'll be fine. Eventually the tro-tro leaves, you'll pay for the ride.

Getting to your destination is tricky. You have to know where your stop is, and when it's coming up - or else, the tro-tro might not stop there. When it's coming up, you get the mate's attention, either by saying, "Mate!" or by hissing at him (this is not rude, it's actually the standard way to get someone's attention). You then tell him, "Next stop," and the tro-tro will stop for you. You get off, and congratulations, you've just travelled via tro-tro. And people think navigating the subway is difficult.

You can split the difference and take a shared taxi. Operates much like tro-tros, but less crowded, faster, and a median price. I've never had reason to take a shared taxi, though.

For long-distance travel, you can either take a tro-tro or an STC bus. STC buses are nice, airconditioned, with assigned seats, and there are STC bus stations in most major cities. I took an STC bus to and from Takoradi when I visited my friend Miriam whose ship was docked there. It was 7.50 cedis ($5). A tro-tro could have been less, probably 3-5 cedi, but less pleasant and more likely to break down. STC buses have assigned times they leave, but they will always leave late. I actually wished I'd taken a tro-tro there, because my STC bus that was supposed to leave at 2:30 ended up leaving at 4:30, which, on a Friday in Accra, means the worst traffic imaginable, so I ended up arriving in a city I'd never been to before at 10:30 at night without a hotel reservation. That was lovely.

Many of the roads are paved, but not all. On journeys to villages, expect to be driving tilted sideways at at 40 degree angle for a bit. Also expect to get stuck in the mud (happened to us on an official NYU trip!). Once, we hit traffic so bad that a 2.5 hour journey turned into a 6 hour journey. Also, there are very few "rest areas" in Ghana, usually only just outside major cities like Kumasi (actually, that's the only bona fide "rest area" I know of), but luckily there are many deserted fields and forests that can be used for relieving oneself. Ladies, I suggest you travel in long skirts.

Here's a news segment of an obroni tro-tro mate! You can see a lot of how it works. That tro-tro is particularly nice. The seats, at least.