Rob’s first visit to Ghana as seen through the lens of his camera – April 14 through April 27, 2013
CASA KUMASI ON DR. J. G. WOOD LANE
Bob, Camille, Jeremy and Justin’s home where Rob stayed in one of the three upstairs bedrooms. And Jeremy’s pet goats, Go-At and Aponche. Camille leans against the wall to Bob and Camille’s octagonal office with the covered patio above.
MORNING WALKS
Rob likes to walk. This is a mimosa plant with some of its leaves folded. Their leaves are so sensitive that they will fold if you blow on them. And a picture of Mary’s shop on Dr. J. G. Wood Lane
ABANDONED BUILDINGS
Kumasi is full of mammoth abandoned buildings which Eric asserts are being managed by their property owners. It really is astounding to see so much unused real estate.
KIDS AND DOGS
Kids and dogs are the mainstay of any culture. Children are at once shy and forward. Dogs can be part of the cuisine.
APOCALYPTIC
Every day enormous old-growth trees are harvested and carted through the city on flat bed trucks. And every day many, many fires burn all over the city. This fire, by the looks of it may have been a pile of tires at the abattoir used to singe hair from cow hides after slaughter.
TRO TROS AND HEAD PAN VENDORS
Tro tros are the cheapest mode of travel in Ghana. Fourteen or so seater vans which often carry more than fourteen passengers. Pretty much anything you can imagine is sold off people’s heads in traffic, including the antidote for crowded, hot weather travel – watah.
NEED A PHONE? HOW ABOUT A PUPPY?
If you can’t find what you are looking to buy in a head pan, you’ll find it alongside the street or in the middle of the roundabout.
HAND CARTS AND STREET VENDORS
There is method to the chaotic distribution system. Trucks unload onto handcarts which unload at various shops. Unsold thrift shop clothes arrive in huge bundles and are sorted by apparel type and parsed out to various vendors.
KEJETIA MARKET
The Kumasi Central Market is the largest open air market in West Africa with 10,000 vendors packed into 25 acres. Basically anything you can imagine wanting can be had here if you are willing to brave the smell, crowds, cacophony, uneven pavement, puddles and risk of getting slammed by a head pan or hand cart.
EVERYONE HAS TO SET UP SHOP SOMEWHERE
Ellen, the seamstress who supplies Bob, Camille and Amy with new clothing is fortunate to have a shop at the Cultural Center and works hard to keep herself in business. Other vendors set up anywhere they can, including along the abandoned railroad tracks that run through downtown Kumasi.
WESTERN INFLUENCE
Higher education and the Hotel De Texas are evidence of the Westernization of West Africa.
BANTAMA
Another downtown market, equally chaotic with a focus on ethnic food such as plantain, dried fish, chili peppers and pears (avocados.)
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[Latest] * [Troutsfarm] * [At Home] * [Food Abundance] * [FS2BD April] * [Stumble Inn] * [Elmina and Cape Coast] * [Kakum Canopy Walk] * [Rob’s Ghana Photos] * [Party at Konongo]
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