First Impressions Landing in Accra, Ghana

I’m an experienced traveler, but I had never been to West Africa. These are my first impressions and some travel tips.

I took this selfie a couple of days after we arrived, at the Kwame Nkruma Library and Museum.

This summer from June 29 to July 9, I traveled to Ghana. My institution, California State University Fullerton, sponsored a trip for faculty to attend an international education conference. I went because I felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to the African continent and connect with other educators and scholars from around the world. I wanted to document my experiences succinctly, so I did some timestamp journaling.

After a day or so, I stopped journalling because I was tired from all the sightseeing, but also because I wanted to experience this time rather than forcing a writing assignment into the natural flow of it all. I would be in Ghana on my birthday as well, so that added an additional special quality to the entire experience. What follows is part of my travel journal capturing the first few hours and days I was in this beautiful country. Here are my first impressions of the country and my experiences.

On our way to Accra, flying over the Sahara.

Landing in Accra

Once my colleagues and I landed, we got in the queue to get our passports and travel visas checked by the authorities. A man came up to a male colleague of our group of three, and then walked us over to the VIP line to get our visas and passports approved for entry into Ghana. It felt rather odd that this person only spoke to him and did not address us at all. He assumed that I and my female colleague were “with him”.

Accra as seen from the plane, as we were arriving.

Patriarchy is very real in Ghana. It is something I had already learned from a travel guide on Ghana, but I didn’t expect it to be so obvious right away. My male colleague politely gave the man some money for the assistance, and then he went away. We finally made it to baggage claim and quickly found our bags. The airport was very hot and muggy, and the outside temperature was about 80 degrees, even at 9:30pm when we arrived.

I found the currency exchange counter and exchanged $250 cash for Ghanaian Cedi. The exchange rate is about 14 Cedi to the dollar. It was suggested we bring large bills - $100s and $50s – to get the best exchange rate, because lower bills are less desirable. At the exchange, I received a whole stack of Cedi bills, so I quickly put them into an envelope and stuffed them into my purse.

My two colleagues needed to find an ATM to pull money out. We eventually found one and they also pulled out enough money for the next few days. Outside there were surprisingly many women dressed in tan Muslim clothes singing as their family and friends came through the doors to the street. You could hear their songs through the glass doors and the harmony was beautiful. This was the first time it became clear to me that I was in a very different place.

A photo I took at baggage claim at the airport.

We then made our way outside to decide on either a taxi or Uber. Once outside, we were approached by an “airport employee” claiming he would drive us. We asked for his rates, and he encouraged us to walk to his car. We insisted on him telling us the rates first. We went back and forth, but he eventually gave up. Simultaneously my colleague was already arranging for an Uber to get us to the hotel.

This was another experience I wasn’t familiar with: people insisting they want to help in the hope that you will give them a little bit of money. Even when we were already in the Uber car, they kept asking to take us instead. I heard things like “My family will not eat if you do not help me,” and similar pleas. It was quite a surprise.

All this happened before we had even left the airport. This country is vibrant and beautiful but shows signs of real financial disparity and a need for more infrastructure. The roads on the way to the hotel were very bad, and we saw a lot of poverty. Fortunately, the Uber driver knew his way around town.

Finally in my hotel room, after a very long flight!

When we finally arrived at our hotel, I was exhausted. I slept well into the next day and my jet lag from home really set me back a bit. Of course, my iPhone had adjusted to the local time, but I was wearing a simple analog watch to keep tabs on the time back home. While I can certainly use my phone to do this too, it was a handy way to quickly stay aware of the time difference. Which brings me to…

Some useful travel tips

If you go to Ghana, be sure you give yourself some extra time to get things in order before you leave. It’s a bit different from a vacation to Europe. You will need to make some additional preparations for a trip to West Africa.

For example, you will need a Yellow Fever vaccine and updated COVID-19 vaccines to travel to the country. Also make sure all your prescriptions are up to date. As an asthmatic, these things were very important. It’s not that you can’t find these meds in Ghana – actually, the capital Accra has just about anything you need – but just traveling to a pharmacist is going to be a little more involved and you may need to depend on the goodwill of others. Fortunately, the people are very friendly, kind, and helpful.

You will also need a travel visa, something that isn’t always necessary when you go to Europe. This is a separate official document from your Passport – btw, make sure that’s up to date well before you go too. I mention the travel visa, because our flights were altered just before we left the US. Unfortunately, the electronic travel visa had not been transferred to the new airline, so we were stuck at our lay-over in London trying to sort that out.

Before I left, I also ordered and brought with me a UK-compatible travel transformer (they are on 220v over here) – make sure it’s a complete transformer, and not just a plug, too. Speaking of electronics, remember to bring USB cables that will actually charge your laptop. I mention this, because I brought generic USB cables, and they didn’t work. Finding one that did wasn’t so easy in a strange city. So, test your electronic gear before you go.

As I mentioned, I brought a simple watch to wear. It came in very handy to keep time from back home. After a few days, I realized how many hours ahead we were, so I actually used my watch all the time to keep time in both time zones, rather than my iPhone. It just seemed a bit clunky to be pulling the phone out all the time, and also a bit privileged, so the watch was very convenient. Oh, and make sure it’s water proof – it rains a lot in Ghana.

A photo I took from an Uber in the city on the day we were headed to the Du Bois Center.

I also recommend getting a dedicated travel credit card with adequate insurance and a reasonable limit – this keeps you safe and makes tracking your expenses simpler. Finally, notify the bank that you are traveling so that the card will work. That was something else I ran into. Sitting on hold with a snooty bank teller back home, while you’re in a hotel lobby on the other side of the world can test your patience.

Speaking of notifications, let the US Embassy in Accra know that you will be in the country and for how long. Also notify them if you travel into rural Ghana. It may sound a bit excessive, but one thing I noticed as we traveled around the country was that there were police stops along the way. They wanted money, of course, but if you can’t pay, it will probably help if the embassy knows where you are.

Ghana is no different from many other countries in West Africa. Many of these things are common recommendations you read about in travel guides. I was just surprised how many of them I would need while I was there. It always helps to be prepared. These safeguards will help you have a positive travel experience.

A selfie with my colleagues at the airport.