Everything you need to know before Ghana
Okay, so the title of this post sets the bar pretty high. Let me lower it a bit by saying that this isn’t everything you need to know before coming to Ghana, but it’s a good start on some useful things we had to learn the hard way.
We’re just crossing our one-month-in-country date, and so it seemed natural to reflect upon all of the things we’ve learned in this time. This post is a joint authorship of Adam and Miranda.
Money – The currency here is the Ghana Cedi (sounds like “CD” but with accent on the first syllable … SEEdee). They redenominated the currency a few years ago, 10,000 old Cedi to one new Ghana Cedi. People will generally refer to it as “Ghana Cedi” instead of simply Cedi, and this is why. Most prices now are in GHC and most people have come to think in terms of the new money. Occasionally someone will say “500 Pesewas” and what they really mean is 5 Pesewa. Pesewa (or sometimes Peshawa) is their equivalent of cents. 100 Pesewa to a Ghana Cedi. P coins come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 (this last one we’ve seen only once). Supposedly there are one P coins but we haven’t seen any.
People here do not make exact change except from the next largest note. So if the item is 50p and you have one Cedi, you will probably (but not necessarily) have change coming. If you need to buy something, whether it’s a package of biscuits from a street seller, or a ride from a taxi, do not assume that you will get change for a 5 Cedi note (unless it’s a 4 Cedi taxi ride, but even then, maybe not — we were in that exact situation the other day and had to dig out ones for our driver who wouldn’t or couldn’t make change). This makes sense to us, if you consider people may make 2 Cedi per day. Basically our advice is to never pay with more than you would be willing to say “keep the change.” If it’s 30 pesewa, a 1 Cedi note should be fine. If it’s 30 pesewa, a 10 cedi note is a bad idea (other than maybe at a Western style resort or store).
This means you’ll be carrying coins a lot. And smaller bills. This, for us, is very different from the US where we almost never have cash and surely not exact change. Credit cards are usable here only at resorts and ATMs, and even then you would need to notify your bank ahead of time.
When you change your money at a Forex, ask for small bills after your exchange, or failing this, then take the big bills to a bank and ask to trade here for smaller bills. They will be confused, but humor you. Trade a 50, for example, for 20 ones, ten 2s, and twenty 50p coins. To elaborate on the “small bills after exchange” deal, basically make two transactions. One is converting your $100USD bills to 140 worth of big bills in GHC. The second is converting your GHC 50s to 5s/2s/1s/etc. See a previous post of Adam’s about the Forex for why you don’t want to trade a $100USD bill directly for single Cedi bills.
Taxis and other transport – Never, ever, ever get in an empty taxi without agreeing on a price first. Ever. If the taxi driver wants you to hurry up and get in because he is blocking traffic, tell him (and gesture for him) to pull up and you will meet him wherever he pulls off. See a previous post for why we give this advice now. So that being said, there are two types of taxis here. Drop-in (or “dropping”) and shared. Drop-in taxis will take you from wherever they get you to your exact destination and “drop” you there. Shared taxis are more like a bus. They follow set routes, don’t deviate much, and the prices are standard. Unfortunately if you are not Ghanaian you’re going to overpay a bit in either case, but much less so for shared taxis (and if unsure on the fare other passengers will probably back you up if the driver tries to cheat you).
When you get into a shared taxi, make sure you confirm it is “shared and not for drop in.” But in order to get in, you must first hail the taxi. To do this you point at the ground at a 45 degree angle. If you’re white you can basically gesture however you want. Shared taxis have a series of complicated hand signals indicating where they are going (or where you want to go) and whether they can take anyone, and if so how many. These vary from city to city so they are too complicated to get into here. Just hail the taxi and ask.
Taxi drivers do not know every landmark and such here, and street names basically don’t exist. The government is supposed to name every street by the end of 2010, but like the money redenominating, it will probably take a while to catch on (if ever). People basically navigate by landmarks. For instance, to get to our house we ask taxi drivers if they know Siwdu compound. That is right by us. If they don’t, I ask “IBB,” which is a technical school about 300yds from our house. If still not, we ask “Vec Hotel?” Which is a hotel one street away. They will always know Vec, sometimes know IBB, and maybe half the time know Siwdu. The more you travel somewhere, the more you’ll know landmarks to name. Look at the driver’s face to make sure he really does know and isn’t just saying “yes” with the intention of driving aimlessly hoping to get there and asking you for extra money when that happens. Ask people if they know how to get where you are going, they often will have a landmark to share. We have even had drivers stop to ask people (in Fante) when we don’t know the exact route. Ghanaians are very helpful about this (although one warning is that people here want to help so badly that sometimes they will try even when they ought not to … we have learned to be careful about asking Ghanaians to point things out on our map — very few know how to use maps, but all we have encountered will try, maybe sending us on a goose chase). Once you reach your landmark the driver will generally take a few “free” turns from this point in order to complete the “drop” part of drop-in service. If you’re in a shared taxi, be prepared to walk a little ways. If the driver asks where you are going, you can tell him but only if you also say in the same sentence “not dropping” to make it clear that you are only telling this so he can point out the best junction for you to alight, that you don’t want to ‘upgrade’ your trip to dropping status (and treble the price!).
After the driver knows where you want to go (we are assuming this is drop-in), ask “how much?” You are aiming for 75% or less of whatever number he says (it is always a he). Eventually you will get to know what a good price is. Basically I would never pay more than 1GHC per 1-2km (1GHC per 3km seems a decent rate). So if you hear “5 Cedi” or “10 Cedi” it better be a long ride. One in ten cab drivers will try some “Give me twenty Ghana Cedi!” stuff on you, so beware. The rest will be reasonably fair and helpful (how helpful depends on their English). See haggling under “Buying things.”
Also, there are trotro. These are old Vanagons (minivans) or similar vehicles, modified to hold as many passengers as possible. All taxis and trotros have a badge on the front fender saying max occupancy, as well as yellow license plates and are supposed to have yellow fenders (for taxis). Trotros are like big share taxis. They follow a set route, charge a set rate, and the further you go the lower (often comically so) this rate will go. Somewhere around town might be 30-60p. Riding to the next town, 30 minutes away, might be 90p.
Trotro usually sit three across and four rows deep. Their max occupancy is 15 or 23. Seriously. You can catch them at a trotro station (be prepared to wait while it fills), or on the road in the same way you would a share taxi (at a pullout, usually). Be prepared to get in and out several times if people deeper in the vehicle need to egress (“alight” is the term used here). The seats at the edge of the vehicle by the door fold up and down to allow in-out access. Also be prepared for break downs, flat tires, and other such hassles. As a rule of thumb we do not ride in trotro after dark, due to road traffic accidents and the risk associated with trotros (also in rural areas robbery is a possibility).
Riding by the door is the driver’s ‘mate’ who will handle all the money. He (always a he) will ask for your money when it’s time to pay. Or if you see other people handing money forward, go for it. We have never been ripped off by a trotro, they always charge us a fair rate. If unsure of the rate, ask someone next to you, or try handing one GHC or maybe 50p and see what happens.
Buying things – commerce here gets done very differently from the States. Almost without exception there are not “stores” like in the States. There are small shops, usually out of 20×8 shipping containers, and every morning the vendors will move many of their goods out front of the shop. There are also street stands of basically wooden tables and lawn-furniture-umbrellas and often glass cases containing wares or food. Below this on the chain of commerce there are ladies and kids selling things from their heads (they balance whatever on their heads … plantain chips, a bowl of water sachets, glass cases of meat, etc). In Accra there are also many people who sell things in traffic, walking down the rows of vehicles. In Cape this doesn’t happen, most because people here do not “commute” to work in the big city sense.
Here is a run down of just a few container shops near our house. There is 419 boutique, a barber and clothing shop, there are a dozen or so shops to buy cereals and wine and other sundries, there’s a cellphone unlocking shop called Kaleefoonia, and so on. Knowing where to get something is largely a matter of trial and error, or of asking your best contacts (if you live here, your family and friends … if you don’t, well, ask people on the street).
If you buy from street vendors, here is a list of things you might want to buy and the prices of each. Pricing for these sort of things is nearly standardized, although someone might try to get 5p or 10p more out of you if you’re white.
Water: sachet “500ml” – 5p, 300 mL bottle – 1GHC, 1.5L bottle – 2 GHC
Produce: Oranges/mandarins – 10p-20p, apples – 70p, large chunk of pineapple – 20-50p, small bag of tomatoes/onions – 50p-1GHC, small bananas – 3 for 50p
Perishables (or their equivalents): one egg – 25-30p, one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese (the only cheese you can find in Cape) – 30-35p, one sachet of milk powder – 30p
Dry goods: white bread – 1GHC, brown bread – 2GHC, 500g of oatmeal – 2GHC, 500g of pasta – 1-3GHC, rock pie (think cornbread muffin), 20p – 50p.
Junk food: single serving of small candy – 1-10p, pack of 4-8 biscuits – 20-50p, large pack of biscuits – 1-2GHC, Fan yogo/ice/choco – 50/40/50p respectively.
Things with set prices, like apples and bread, well you won’t be haggling for those. Just pay the asked price unless it seems crazy. It if seems way out of wack, just walk to the nearest place also selling those items (usually 50 feet) and buy there instead. For items not on the above list, haggling may be necessary. If you find a shirt, dvd, dishtowel, whatever at a market or stand that you want to buy, you can either ask how much, or just make an offer. We often try to ask people (third parties) how much things are ahead of time, so we have some rough idea.
Generally with haggling you want to get to between 50 and 75% of the asked price, depending of course on the item and the price and so forth, but that is a good rough rule. If I ask for a taxi ride to a place I don’t know and they say three Cedi, I’m probably going to be okay paying two. Our friend Dom could probably also get the ride for 80p, hah, so it’s all relative. Sometimes we also get tired of haggling and just pay the asked price. It is important to not feel taken advantage of, but also important to not quibble over a handful of cents — if someone asks 2 Cedi for a ride that I think should be $1.50Cedi, I will probably just pay the full rate… that guy can use the thirty-five cents more than me.
From what we have seen tipping also doesn’t really exist here, although we have on occasion tipped someone who has gone extraordinarily far out of their way to help us. We had an amazing taxi driver who spent half a day ferrying us around Accra, teaching us Twi, and giving us insight into how things worked (everything from the bus station to urinals). Miranda tipped him about 10-15% of his asked price. We later regretted not asking for his number.
Lodging – Apartments generally rent here with a year paid in advance, so it is difficult to find short term lodging other than hotels. Below hotels are “guesthouses” and hostels, which are basically the same thing. In Accra hotels might be $100 or $200 or even $500 per night. Guesthouses will run more like 8-10GHC to 50GHC ($6-35) depending on location and amenities. The guesthouses we stayed at charged 20, 12, 26, 31 respectively. This was for an enclosed double room, usually with a private toilet/shower. The GHC is currently 1.42 to $1USD.
Things to ensure your room has (if you can): a toilet that works (or wherever the toilet is, it would be nice if it works), a strong fan over the bed, running water (get accustomed to this being a luxury), electrical outlets, a light (that works), netting on the windows or some other way to minimize mozzie encursions into the room. We were lucky enough to have a mini fridge in our first guesthouse … you will come to appreciate the luxury of this sort of thing once you don’t have it anymore.
Personal interaction – Ghanaians are very friendly. Don’t be afraid to ask people questions if you are lost or need to know something. People here will want to please you though, so be wary that you might get a “yes” when the true answer is “i have no clue.” Holding up a map and saying “can you show me where the Accra mall is?” is not a good idea. Even asking “do you know where the Accra mall is?” with your map put away still is not a good idea. We did this, pulled the map out after she said yes, and ended up at the wrong mall (we ended up at a tiny market of mostly hair extensions and fake gold jewelry). Be prepared to read peoples’ reactions. Especially taxi drivers, they will often SAY they know where something is, just to not lose the fare. See our taxi section about having a few landmarks prepared.
Diseases + Medicine – You should not use this blog as your primary source for medical knowledge or direction, so we are going to just touch on a few little points. Malaria is a horrible disease, so be prepared. That said, after one month Adam hasn’t had a single mosquito bite. Partly this is because we are good about putting on bug spray, and partly this is because Adam just isn’t tasty to mozzies. If at any point in Ghana you run a fever, feel extremely tired, have joint or headache, or experience chills, go to a pharmacy, and get an artemether (artimyicinin) based malarial treatment. It will cost about 9GHC, and takes 3 days. You take the pills every 12 hrs.
Other things to watch out for. If you get malaria and it doesn’t “go away” after treatment, you should suspect typhoid, go to pharmacy, get Cipro. Even if you don’t have tyhpoid, a 10 day course of Cipro will flush you out of whatever you have (assuming it’s bacterial). This will cost 10 to 20 GHC.
Do not go into still freshwater unless the locals say it is safe (for fear of shistosomiasis). Do not drink sachet water straight, unless you are in Cape and it is from Hansel Pharmacy. Otherwise purify your water — sachet water may contain fecal matter (and thus typhoid, polio, hepatitis b, etc). Here is a recent study showing that 80% of randomly sampled sachets contained parasites (and 50% contained 4 or more!).
We are also planning to deworm with mebendezole just before or after we leave Ghana for good. This is a single pill for most worms, with virtually no risk, so no reason not to do it. The cost is a few GHC. Lookup hookworm or roundworm on wikipedia if you doubt the value of this measure.
Tylenol will be 1 Cedi for 5-7 paper packets of one tablet each. Paracetamol may be fake here. Tylenol and name brand stuff ought to be more likely to be real.
It’s cheaper to buy malarial prophylaxis here. If you are not freaked out about malaria, and are on a budget, just come to Ghana and then buy your doxy (or whatever). I say “not freaked out” because you are supposed to start most prophylaxis (like doxycyclene) a few days before leaving. That said, plenty of people don’t take prophylaxis at all (the first few weeks of the trip I didn’t, but then tried doxy and found I tolerate it well) due to cost, side effects, and the fact that it is not fool proof anyway (so whether on prophylaxis or not, if you get the symptoms above, treat for malaria).
Phone + Internet – you can buy a GSM SIM card virtually anywhere for 1 Cedi. You will need to register the card (showing your passport) before it can be used. Buying at a company store will mean you can do both at the same time. Look for a container shop with the carrier’s logo and merchandising stuff on it, or better yet an actual “Western style store” for your preferred carrier. *Note that a building with MTN or Vodaphone painted all over it is probably just a random building, so you will need to take some time to get used to the difference between background advertising and active advertising. The carriers here are MTN, Vodaphone, Tigo, Zain, and a new one that I don’t think has launched yet, called Glo. Calling to the states varies in price depending on what time you call, but generally a 10-20 minute call will run 2-4 Cedi. Text messages and local calls are exceedingly cheap. To add credit to the SIM just ask anywhere that seems to have an MTN/vodaphone/whatever umbrella or sandwich board for “top up.” Top up comes in 2 and 5 cedi denominations, maybe in others.
You can also get a 3G USB stick from MTN that works pretty well (considering) but will run 60GHC with somewhere between 500MB and 2500MB bandwidth (depending on how lucky you get), with 10GHC cost per 333MB top up. If you plan to travel a lot this might be a good option. No one here will know the terms “bandwidth” or “gigabyte” or “megabytes,” so be prepared to show the USB stick and ask for “top up cards” for it. The card itself won’t tell you how many MB you get either, you’ll need to enter the top up code into your MTN F@STLINK and then “check balance” to see.
If you are cheaper and don’t mind walking for your access there are cyber cafes usually every km or so in larger cities. The speed at these will be, um, not good. Get used to water and Internet being very unreliable when you’re in Africa. Most cafes are 1 cedi or less per hour. We did see a hotel here the other day for 3 cedi an hour (ouch).
That about covers it for now. We’ll add to this list as we think of more things.
