Wednesday, July 3 Accra

I left my hostel in the suburbs Monday morning and seemingly left the only reliable wifi access in all of Accra. At least I haven't been able to find a hotel with such, hence my uncommunicativeness of late. I did find a large internet cafe which is my present location. I'll try to update my activities here as I'm not sure when I'll have internet again.
I motored from Darkuman, the northern suburb, to downtown Accra via a tro-tro. No problems there. They forgave me for my bulky backpack. I offered to pay for two places but was refused. The van deposited us in a huge tro-tro park in central Accra. Since it is used by poor people it was, of course, in the bottoms, the lowest piece of land in that part of the city. There were hundreds of vans there. I couldn't figure out how they exited the place once they got the requisite 14+ passengers. I didn't stick around for a demonstration. I saw one woman from our van quickly moving away from the tro-tro so I figured she knew where the exit was in this vast maze. I was right, though I almost lost sight of her a couple times. With some polite shoving and pushing I kept track of her and she led me to a major street.
Since Accra has very few street signs I was now lost. I followed the road to another main street. Left or right? My sense told me right, so that's where I headed with my cumbersome backpack weighing me down. I saw some big buildings in the distance and decided to use them as a landmark. Then, Voila, I came to a juncture with two street signs. I dug in for my Lonely Planet map and to my great glee realized I now knew where I was. I also had, from the LP listings, an area with several budget hotels (but no hostels, alas). Off I went in search of that neighborhood.
The weather was humid, of course, but overcast, the temperatures not overly enervating. It took me about 25 minutes to navigate to my target area by stopping periodically to refer to my LP map. When I got near I stopped for a Sprite from a little girl manning a streetside stall. I was well satisfied with myself and my navigational skills.
I then spent 45 minutes wandering fruitlessly in search of the two hotels that seemed, from the guide, to best suit my needs (i.e. wifi). I asked passers-by for directions but, strangely, no one seemed to know the names. (Korkdam Hotel; Lemon Drop). My legs were aching. I longed for a chance to rest.
Then someone recognized the names and pointed me in the proper direction (two blocks ahead, then bear left, ignore two side streets keeping straight). Happy was I when I saw the Burkina Faso embassy ahead, which I knew to be contiguous with the two hotels.
But they weren't there. A cab driver was washing his car right in front of where the hotels should have been. I inquired of him. He never heard of the places. A cab driver! There were two guys standing in front of the embassy. I decided to take the chance that they wouldn't shoot me (don't guys in front of embassies always have guns?); I asked them about the missing lodging.
"Korkdam...no here anymore."
"Lemon Drop? no more."
"Ampax Hotel for you," one said.
That hurt. I'd passed the Ampax (and almost stopped--but they didn't list wifi) 40 minutes before. They gave me directions and I found the hotel quickly. $27.50/night, almost three times what I paid in Darkuman. But I paid for two nights.

The "welcome" mat at the embassy of Cote D'Ivoire is backwards, almost saying "you are welcome to leave". Fitting. The paperwork needed to get into Ivory Coast took me hours to prepare. Among other things I needed to find an internet cafe to pay the hundred dollars required for entry. I also needed a confirmed hotel reservation.(it took me two hours to find this place) Turns out there are no hotels in Abidjan under $100/night. What to do? Should I give up the trip and stay in Ghana for my entire journey?
Then, just as I was about to give up I found a place a half hour south of the city for $44/night. I booked it and raced back to the embassy. I didn't realize when I walked in that visas were only processed before noon (it was now 2pm). My ignorance paid off because the lady in the tiny window must have liked me (I can be charming at times). In 45 minutes they'd taken my photo and fingerprinted me and generally treated me like a former revolutionary revisiting my homeland.
"Come back on Thursday for your visa," she told me.

Today I moved to a new hotel, not really better than the Ampax but half the price. With internet access I managed to make a reservation for July10 at someplace up the coast that sounds great. That gives me a week to travel 100 km or so. After I pick up my visa tomorrow I'll sleep in Accra then head off for the north coast.