Accra, Ghana, April 30

The marketplace was certainly a colorful and interesting place to spend several sweaty (but wonderful) hours today!

Most of the stalls have no refrigeration, but they manage to sell such a variety of goods!


These cargo wagons are very popular with people who don't want to flatten their heads, or mess their hairstyles, or guarantee short stature by carrying heavy loads on their heads!


Men wearing "dresses" seemed almost normal by the end of the day!


Katalin had fun looking at all the beautiful Ghanaian fabrics for sale. Today she bought 4 yards of a gorgeous fabric (for a table cloth) that matches some native-patterned plates she'll take home to Merry Ole England in June.

Cassava is a main ingredient in a dish called FUFU which is a staple here. There's also KEKEY and BANKU but, because none of the ex-pats I've met here actually eat any of it, they can't keep it straight what's made out of what, but count on corn and cassava as important parts!

Another American woman who has lived here for a few years mentioned that the local food is strange, and soups can contain just about anything, including animal hide. When questioned further, she explained that she meant pork rinds and skins, like you see here. Dogs are also eaten.

Pigs feet are for sale in the background. I found that people started yelling if I took pictures directly of them or their stalls, so I had to stand in the background and just snap what appeared to be a random shot. Hence, sometimes the interesting material seems to get lost in all the surroundings!


This boy has a load of fish for sale, right from the huge bowl on his head.

Eggs are for sale, too!


There seems to be a convention going on of women with large bowls on their heads!


Chris in back, salad saleswoman in front!


It seems that just about anything can be carried on the head!

Chris in front, cargo-woman in back.

Can you carry this much on your head?


Everything you might need for your home is available somewhere in the marketplace!

Very few people own cars here. Katalin says that at church there are only usually 2 cars in the entire parking lot. Most people ride in Tro-Tro's, which are 15-passenger vans with NO air conditioning and are commonly overcrowded.


These people know how to move merchandise! They really use their heads!


I barely heard any words of English, even though it is the official language. Everyone was speaking languages that I couldn't even HOPE to decipher!


Katalin warned us to watch our feet and our heads (and especially our pocketbooks!). There are holes and gaps and uneven curbs everywhere, and people with cargo on their heads could easily knock into our heads!


The heat was tremendous and the crowds were omnipresent!


Today we went to the Makola Market, which is really just a million vendors spread out in stalls and in the streets covering MANY, MANY square blocks of Accra.



Hugh and Katalin brought their 4 children here to Accra in June 2004. Their children attend an International School and have made many friends from different countries.


Our friend, Hugh McKee, works for the LDS Church and his office overlooks the Temple. His assignment ends this June and his family will be returning to England, where we first met them in 2002.