road trip to kumasi
the people here are extremely polite. 'good morning sir ... can i take your order please ... enjoy!’ for breakfast there is a very tasty so-called spanish omelet, which consists of egg, chopped peppers and onions, with slices of toast.
as a side program malarone, perenterol forte, and mucofalk for dessert - hoping my digestion will stay nice and regular and the malaria mosquitoes won't harm me.
according to the package insert, the malarone tablets have the potential for serious side effects. after taking it for the first time on the day of arrival, i had a headache and a queasy feeling in my stomach. but that can also be due to the general excitement associated with the first trip to africa. or the noisy environment on the plane, at the airport, and the air conditioning in the room, which runs full speed until i find the main switch. i'd rather sweat than sleep badly. however, my room was completely mosquito-free.
today we head towards kumasi, more precisely to jachie in the southeastern belt around kumasi, the second city in ghana after accra. the clinic driver arrives 10 a.m. sharp to pick me up. at first he is very silent, only briefly informs the clinic that he has found me and picked me up and that we are now on the way. i watch the road and pedestrian traffic around me.
as we drive past i catch curious glances again and again - there are not many whites here. along the streets again the shacks for the sale of drinks, sliced and dried fruit, such as plantains, small banana-like fruits and mango, or traditional ghanaian dishes such as waakye or jollof (rice and bean dishes), fufu - made from various root vegetables into a slightly fermented staple food with a dough-like consistency, which is eaten with various other dishes such as ground nut soup or the like. and red-red, a bean and tomato dish that is refined with fish or chicken, served with yam roots and fried plantains. tastes great!
in front of the stands on the side of the road, young women with sometimes considerable loads in the so-called 'headpans' meander and try to sell their goods to the car occupants during the stop phase of the 'stop-and-go' traffic. my driver buys an energy drink called 'push-up!' - he must have been traveling very early. within a day from Jachie to Accra and back again, that means about 9 hours by car.
