Ghana

[Dogs Body]

This is my second trip to ghana and I have to say that personal security may be not as good as last year. (or perhaps I am less lucky)

In Ho last night, I was having a beer at the White House when a local fellow drew my attention. Standing behind me, I heard his movements and took a look at him. He acted like any number of people do, standing on the sidewalk, watching the traffic (and me) but I felt something and the alarm bell rang.

I was girl watching but I also note things going on around me. You better too!

I left the street bar and headed toward the center of town and sure enough my shadow followed, stopping when I did, starting again when I did. I palmed my leatherman and picked a well lighted spot to stop the first sharing taxi that passed. I gave the driver c 2.000 and told him "Let's go, that guy wants to make trouble for me".

In any case, what I want to say is take reasonable care, watch events and people around you because the ill intentioned can see you a mile off. That goes for any black american too. They can type you as a foreigner rapidly, or never later than the moment you open your mouth and ask for a Star.

The 419 guys, who also will mug you if the opportunity permits, have a heavy presence in Accra and I have had some experiences with them on this trip too. You might take the bullshit line they put out as a joke but they are dangerous, ditch them as rapidly as possible.

Enjoy!

[Dogs Body]

ho is one of the smaller cities i am visiting. it is the admin. center of the volta region and might be considered something like a small city or large sized farming town..

there were two hotels i stayed at. the first was chance's hotel. it is located beyond the city limits, in rural surroundings, about 2 miles from the center of town.

without a doubt this is one of the top hotels in ghana. (flat rate 48 usd)
a wonderful, nice hotel, very-very clean, guest friendly, pool, good clean food, very good services except.... those that pertain to direct mongering. in ho, it seems you are on your own.

(i have cut out here a long paragraph about the owner and what a wonder he and this hotel is)

this is not all bad by any means. if you like the girl in the street or shop method of meeting the non-professional, you will enjoy ho. i have sighted any number of nice looking ladies but both hotels here do not have any groups of ladies hanging about the bars. sales girls at cell phone shops seem to be picked for good looks. i always had a cell phone problem to talk with them about.

my taxi driver offered to set things up, so that method would work here too. personally, i don't have any confidence in the good taste of this particular driver. i did not take his offer.

the other hotel is the freedom. perhaps due to the example from chance's, it too seems a clean and orderly operation but it has the well worn look of most hotels in ghana. soviet construction and design is the theme here. freedom has a pool, two bars and the usual amenities at rates that are quite reasonable. (c 450.000 at most) i spent some time there on saturday night and saw very few customers, mostly guys staying at the hotel.

small bars are rep001tered about the town. the white house restaurant has a street bar that is nice for girl watching or meeting in the evening. archid's pleasure garden is a outdoor bar located in a big wooded lot about 4 blocks up from the center. it's very minimal but has a large cement patio used for dancing. it is the coolest place in town on a hot afternoon, very shaded. you should take a car and local or two with you if you go there late. the area is very badly lit.

i am back in accra for 2 nights and then off to kumasi.

i was quoted c 9.200.00 to the dollar today at an accra exchange.

[Dogs Body]

Takoradi - Monday- A fine cool ocean wind blowing

This town has been described in some travel forums as a vile disgusting dump. This is not really a fair evaluation
It certainly has some very poor sections but truthfully, the area around the Africa Beach Hotel is as nice as anyplace in Ghana. Nice trees, houses and schools are located here.

Historically, it is a malaria hot spot so take your meds!

Technology permitting, I will post a photo or two of this little hotel for the membership after my return.

I expect to look at the main town tomorrow, looking for any new venues and a hot spot to get my posts up. (as it turns out, only simple internet cafes are offered here, damm!) A cheap ( 50,000/ 6 usd ) and safe(er) STC Express A/C bus got me here in about 4 hours, departing from the main Accra STC station on the ring road. It makes one rest stop in Cape Coast. The bus left Accra about two hours late but hey, it got here quickly.

The Africa Beach has made some improvements since my last stay. A second summer hut is up. The additional beach-front chalet that was under construction during my last visit is completed. There are three of these units facing the beach and if you are bringing someone, it would be worth requesting one of them. You also get a good strong breeze off the ocean. The A/C units are powerful. The hotel has a nice pool. If you are not bringing someone, the hotel has it's best days on Friday or Saturday when bands play here. Many agreeable ladies come to the hotel then. You will note that Dogs Body is here at the wrong part of the week but hope springs eternal. i may luck out as I now see a slender lady wandering by. Things are looking up even as I write this. O the Joy! Several more ladies have wandered in along with a group of what look like Euro businessmen. That Euro bait should draw in a good mass of prospects tonight and over the next day or so.

Sheila, Betsy and a unnamed friend join my table near the bar. These ladies are Fanti speakers (along with Ghana's unique English) and I indulge one of my major failings as a monger in Ghana. I like to feed the ladies. As it turns out, feeding 3 girls, many drinks and whatnot, will run me about 270,000 cedis. Betsy's services for the night are somewhat less expensive. We spend several hours talking, telling lies to each other as the girls enjoy themselves and trade insults and BS with the other girls that show up as the night progresses. There were about ten or twelve ladies to pick from on this rather unexceptional Monday night. That was more than I thought possible in a hotel with about 6 guests. (as it turns out, this was the slowest night, It got even better the next two nights) On the basis of statements by the girls, many of them are willing and able to head off to the beach resorts further west, if asked.

There are several furnished condo-like units next to the ABH. They are very new and very good quality. Like you would expect to see in the states. I sighted big split A/C units. The sign outside offers short term rental. PM if you would like the telephone number for further investigation.

Tuesday I stopped at the Harbor View Bar but I still cannot recommend it to anyone as it's so damm dark on the open terrace. Perhaps because of the bright flood lights from the port below, it is impossible to get any idea what a lady looks like. You will be approached at the Harbor View, but by what? Talking to Betsy, I gather that the other hotels in the area, like the Takoradi Beach Hotel, have there own contingents of semi-regular girls. If your hotel or guest house has a lack of services you can always drop in at the ABH for a drink and to make a connection with amazing rapidity. You can pay to use the pool if you stay elsewhere. Since the ABH in on the very end of a dead end road, get the cell numbers of any good taxi drivers. They will come pick you up if you need to go to the bank or wherever.

The Ocean Bar on Axim street is said to have live bands on the weekend but this info is from a taxi driver and not reliable. I can see gaming machines near the entrance so the place looks worth investigating. As I have run out of time here, some other member will have to take up that duty.
I am nursing a number of mosquito bites but with luck, these are from non-malarial bugs.

Back to Accra for one night, will post this, then off to Ho.

[Ciccio]

"what is the meaning of the thin string or chain nearly all West/Central African women seem to wear"

As far as I know, they have many functions:

1) a cosmetic one: they are an ornament

2) they make the woman more sexy (I too believe this is true)

3) sometimes they are used to keep evil things, like illness and evil eye, far from your body. In this case a witch doctor or an old lady makes them more powerful.
Sometimes they are worn only during some period of the woman's life.
Not all the ethnic groups wear them.

My Ivorian wife has worn them only for a short period after her mother death, and took them off just before the marriage. She never explained me the reason.
I think that this is one of those little thing that makes Africa so fascinating...

Regards,

Ciccio

[Erdnis]

Thanks for sharing Dogs Body. I really enjoy reading your reports!

[Dogs Body]

Busy Internet - Central Ring Road - A fast connection to this board.

54 percent charge. Sunday in Ghana and I hang around at Busy Internet as long as a charge remains in my Mac, drinking a bit of Schweppes at the Wi-Fi cafe. The Wi-Fi is not currently working so I have to go to the VIP area where I can use a ethernet cable to get up on the net. Back and forth I go writing this posting and transmitting when I finish. I hope to run into some of the cute ladies running internet scams on foolish foreigners. Perhaps when faced with the real thing I might convince one of them that a bird the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

So far I have seen no ladies here pursuing hot romance (or worth my time) but a large number of fellows, some looking like their business here is to expand a 419 empire. In fairness, I do see a few lookers but the M/F ratio of about 10 to 1 This suggests to me that I should try some other venue. I have a sinking feeling that the hot ones are at the big revival meetings down the road from here. The Schweppes is good.

I am at 24 percent and the end of my stay here is in sight. Hey! Here come the backpacker ladies in the inevitable wrap around dress and flip flops. I have never tried these girls, intently studying drumming or ancient Ashanti midwifery techniques here in Ghana for months at a time. A few I talked to are perhaps jaded by the daily (or hourly) offers of marriage and not a few seem to be more than a little crazy. A German fellow, working in one of the smaller towns,told me he too gets marriage offers almost daily so we can be sure that in Ghana, people treat all foreigners fairly.

2 percent power remaining, the end has come. I hear Gerry's Club is open on Sundays but I do have to pack tonight to make an early bus. Here's hoping I find some compassionate staff at my hotel.

[Dogs Body]

Ok, so I got desperate. It was 24 hours and I had not met any woman yet.

Less than a dollar taxi ride from my hotel in the Adabraka district sits the Waikiki disco. This well known night spot is tucked away off the street near the Nukruma circle. It's maybe a bit smaller than the Macumba but the loud sound system and aggressive ladies seemed very familiar. Like most pick up spots in Ghana, the "ladies drink" system is not in use. The girls seem to be semi-independent business women.

Sometimes you can get in a fix with such aggressive sales people and that happened to me. I should have gone at once to the most heavily populated part of the club but I made the error of stopping to get a drink at the first of two bars as you enter. Fellows, don't do that!

First one and then another lady approached. The girls ganged up on me to the extent that my desire to survey the bar for this report turned into a fight to keep their hands off my slender member, drink some of my G&T and try to keep my cool. I never did finish that drink.

The second girl was breaking the "rules", such as they are, by trespassing on the other ladies right of first conversation. As this went on, I began to fear a cat fight. I began to regret that I travel alone. A drinking buddy would have given me an escape route.

For guys that get off on starting cat fights, Ghana has something for you. Personally, I don't like the disturbance and can't imagine a useful result.

Being an unabashed coward, I gave #2 some small talking money, like you might in China, and told #1 we were going. Number two did not give up and a bit of unpleasantness and fighting words in several local languages followed at the exit, but the bouncers prevented actual fighting.

Number one spent the night, had reasonable technique but in the end, was too mercenary for the long term. She was eyeing my second cell phone the first night!
I gave her a recharge card over and above the usual 20/25 dollars but she flashed me twice like a cheapskate the next afternoon and so, I move on.

Even a humble guy has to believe he is worth 25 phone credits.
I am off to Takoradi shortly.

[Dogs Body]

Set down like an alien star-ship directly under the landing pattern of the Kotoka International Airport is the new A & C Mall. All my Ghanian driver could say was "What is this? Why is this here?

The mall is small as these things go in the west but it is a real little jewel of a building set in what seemed at first sight to be a wasteland. I plan to go out there in the daytime later in the trip and see if anyone lives nearby. If they do, they must be moneyed or this mall is in trouble.

From a monger standpoint, this mall has a few good points. Lovely staff in every store for those who like to meet the sales girls. A Max Mart with the usual necessities. A ice cream shop on the second level with tables and seats and some good looking customers. Also on the second level is a nice store with exotic ladies underwear and nighties, hmmmm it's good!

The down sides are location rather far out of town. The mall opened about 2 or 3 weeks ago and not developed a lot of traffic yet. Limited public hang-out space may
make it difficult to find unattached girls. The high priced stores may draw a clientele of seriously married ladies. Guys with a good "line" or smooth social skills are welcome to check it out and comment here. I am ruefully deficient in these skills.

[Dogs Body]

Accra..
After I left last year, Accra underwent a major series of campaigns to clean up the town and relocate the teeming groups of hawkers lining (and blocking) all major routes. People will be pleased to know that all these efforts have failed to change a damm thing and Accra has returned to a natural state of friendly squalor combined with world class traffic jams.

On my first night here ( Wednesday) I was jaded from the long flight and really not in the mood for much beyond a bit of sleep. I did find the energy to investigate Oops. This place has been described as a night club or disco for oldsters.

As an oldster myself, I thought I might fit in there. The place is so small that 10 customers give it a busy feel. I repeat, it is really- really small, It has the usual muscular sound system. It is not a bad place to take someone but is is certainly not the place for a monger expecting value for money.

All the customers seemed to be good burgers of the town, out for a bit of Star beer and dancing with the wife, second wife or girlfriend. There were only a few unaccompanied ladies but I am sure a socially gifted person could find way to make a friend or two. Simple money transactions are not the thing at Oops. Go direct to the bar seats if you can.

On another matter, I posted some pages back that CityLink, a local commuter airline, offered flights to Takoradi from Accra twice a week. I find this to be in error. Only charter flights to Tako are offered. Regular daily service to Kumasi is offered at an affordable price.

i have yet to find a working hotspot to post my reports so a bunch will be posted in the order I wrote them.

[Global Citizen]

They are referred to as Beads and all female wear them and never remove them except to replace them with new ones as they grow older/fatter. It's worn inside her clothes and not normally shown.

It is said by some locals that the beads are what makes their ass so round. When local men see the beads on a girl, they get horny so it is also used to entice men. So, once way to flirt with a girl is by asking to see her beads - if she shows you, good chance she'll fuck you.

GC

[Seraphim7]

"what is the meaning of the thin string or chain nearly all West/Central African women seem to wear in the nude or near-nude photos? I've seen it on many websites, worn by women of many countries around the West and Central African region."

For most West Africans this ornament is a contraceptive charm, but also may function as a general or specific barrier to evil and witchcraft directed at the wearer

[Rock Dog]

Oldrustler,

As far as I know, it's just a decoration. Kind of like jewelry, they wear it because it looks nice.

Rock

[Oldrustler]

I'm an inexperienced pooner in terms of going international, so this may be a dumb question for you old Africa hands- what is the meaning of the thin string or chain nearly all West/Central African women seem to wear in the nude or near-nude photos? I've seen it on many websites, worn by women of many countries around the West and Central African region.

[Dogs Body]

Are you going there to join the "festivities" now that they are at longest last, going to bury the Ya Na?

Lot's of drumming and the possibility of automatic weapons fire.

Seriously, I would wonder if the funeral and the mourning period would result in a negative effect beyond the usual moslem difficulties.
Enjoy!

[Member #4379]

Just wondering if there is a mongering scene in Tamale given it is mostly Moslem/Dagbani. Send me a private message if you know if it is hopefully like the rest of Ghana in that there are girls to meet and it is not impossible due to strict Moslem rules.