Ghana Part 1

At first Ol’ Ran had planned to present a rather thorough story about the trip to Ghana. This may not be the case. It’s difficult for me to totally understand this dynamic at the moment. But, I just can't seem to get my head and heart into it. Part of the reason is the incredible impact this trip has made on my spirit, my soul, and my body. Just the physical demands were grueling. Try spending 18 hours on an aircraft in one day. That’s pretty tough stuff for an old guy especially if he has already spent two weeks in a totally foreign and unfamiliar environment.

This trip accounted for a number of “firsts”. One such first was that this was my first time to fly on a Boeing 747. I’ve never had the pleasure of strapping 750,000 pounds of aluminum, plexiglass, and JP-4 jet fuel to my fanny and watching such a modern behemoth fly off the ground into the heavens. However, the four big Rolls Royce RB211 turbo fan engines had no problems hauling all of us into the sky and we were a full boat. Another first was the fact that I had never spent ten hours aloft all at one time. This was a non-stop flight from LAX to Amsterdam.

This was my first time overseas. I’ve been to Mexico (more than once) and Canada (more than once) but had not crossed the big pond. Of course it was my first time to go to Africa.

Being in Europe was another first. Because the flight was a Dutch KLM 747, the hub and transfer point was Amsterdam. Amsterdam seems to be a nice place with nice enough folks. I would have loved to have spent more time there and just eaten their plethora of cheeses for a few days. I understand that the Dutch are never more than arms length from a chunk of cheese. Right smart if you ask me. Maybe next time I can factor in some play time in Europe.

The flight (in fact, all of the flights going and coming) was smooth as glass. It was not unlike being in a huge Motel 6 with wings because you couldn’t tell that it was moving. It was as though it was parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Albuquerque. It was rather eerie, in fact. I welcomed an occasional wiggle of the tail to let me know that I was still aloft and not just bolted to a carnival aircraft simulator or such.  

They did feed us well, I must say. When I got to Amsterdam, I was full of food and coffee. That didn’t stop me from tracking down a nice hot cappuccino and a croissant, though. I was actually surprised at the good food that KLM offered.

After a 3 hour layover, I boarded an Airbus A330-200 to Accra. It’s a nice plane with LCD screens on the back of each seat.They stack you eight across instead of ten across like the 747. Though KLM has a nice selection of movies for entertainment, for some reason I wasn’t much interested in watching them. I did see a couple on the return flight but only watched them out of sheer boredom and to mentally escape the discomfort of having so much of me tucked into so little a seating area (about 20” x 26” – Economy Class, don’tcha know).  It was early evening time when I arrived after a 6 hour flight. Much of my body was aching from being boxed into the cramped quarters.

We landed at the Accra International Airport where I encountered the first of many surprises about Ghana. It was like landing at a 1960’s airport that had no terminals and where all boarding and deplaning was done on the tarmac with rolling stairs out under the stars (though I did see another set of stairs that had a cover on it). The airport building was old….really old. They were in the process of renovation but I would soon learn that such a process could easily be a decades-long endeavor.

 The second surprise was that there was no A/C. That, too, would be the standard in Ghana. Due to the construction, the A/C had been unavailable and we were all left to swelter in the heat of the night. On the return trip I did find a restaurant there at the airport that had its own generator so it had its own A/C. You can bet I parked in there to wait for my boat to leave. For the time being I just had to find Brother John who had called me to advise that he was waiting for me near the front of the place.

 We soon hooked up and were on our way to spend the night at a youth hostel of sorts. Apparently there are no motels as such in Accra. There are Hotels and there are lodges but no motels as we know them. How interesting.

After a good night’s rest, we were ready to depart for Kumasi which is about 140 miles away. I had thought that John was going to drive us there. Later I would understand how the road is not in the best of shape and that there are police check points that are really just shake down stops to fleece the people. So, John's brother, Eric who lives in Accra, hauled us back to the airport to catch a plane.

By car the trip, though only 130 miles or so, would have taken as long as 6 hours. By air carrier, the trip is only about 45 min. When we got to the aircraft, I was pleased to board an old friend, the BAE 146 four engine sweetheart that Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) used to fly back in the 1980’s. It’s one of the best and safest people haulers ever built. I hadn’t been on a 146 since about 1986. I loved it then and still do.

We landed and deplaned at what I thought must have been the wrong airport. To begin with, this is the second largest city in the country. Yet, we had to “back taxi” on the single runway because there were no taxi ways! The small terminal was no larger than the one at our local airport in Porterville! The huge sign over the door convinced me that we were in the right place.  

For reasons that I’m not sure of, the airport was crowded with people out front. There were about 50 people or on the airplane but three times that many waiting out front. Some were “hawkers” selling their wares but it appeared to me that the rest were waiting for relatives or sending someone off. But, the numbers still didn't seem to add up.  

John’s associate pastor, Cemo, picked us up and drove us to the place where I stayed for the entire time while in Kumasi. I affectionately refer to it as “the digs”. I am about to become acquainted with an entirely new planet. Welcome to Kumasi, Ran. Now, hang on.