Accra off the beaten track, way off....

For the first time since being in Accra I've actually seen (part of) the city center today, for what it's worth. In the trotro to town (which again was quite adventurous - or a hassle, whichever word you prefer) I met Eric, a police ofiicer off-duty. Apart from getting me in the right trotro's, he also showed me around today. A tour that included both more touristic and pretty off-the-beaten-track stuff. It ranged from the most filthy beach I've seen in my life (that's the beach where the locals swim - quite something to remember the next time your lying on the white beach with a cold beer) including the adjacent neighbourhood, to the somewhat touristic crafts market (touristic being, they would like a lot of tourists there, but I've seen only two others), to the National Museum, to the more up-market beach, which actually is good for swimming. It ended jumping from a wall crossing the policemen's living areas to the police station. But rest assured, I wasn't arrested.

The Museum was somewhat outdated and boring in places, but interesting in others. It told about Ghanaian culture as well as the quite shameful history of the European slave trade, in which the Dutch had a less than admirable part, although their commercial minds (not their moral) made that the slave-trade under Dutch times was not very active; the Dutch thought it would undermine the gold trade.

I picked this pic for today's blip, because it shows a foto of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, probably the most important and influential person of post-colonialism Ghana. There is much to say about him (also less positive), but fact is that he is a national hero who every Ghanaian adores. Eric (seen from the back) told me a lot about him, while going through the small but rather interesting foto exhibition about him. Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana and effectively the one who gained independence of the British, making Ghana the first African country to be freed from colonialism.

As you might have noticed, often my blips won't necessarily be the best fotos, but rather those with a story to tell or those showing Ghana.