July 8, Day 8 Accra to Kumasi

Trip Start Jul 01, 2009

Trip End Aug 08, 2009

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Flag of Ghana Kumasi, Ghana
Wednesday, July 8, 2009

We have decided to start on the way to Burkina Faso today but will not leave until 9ish as Sanga needs to get some parts for a friend's car. He left the hotel at 6:00 and hopes to be back by 9. It is raining this morning so breakfast is served in our rooms. Sanga does not return until around 10:30 so we do not get away on time. First off we look for gas, there seems to be a shortage of gas and we sit in a line for almost an hour waiting to get filled up. Moussa says that there is not really a shortage they just want the government to raise the prices. Finally we get on our way and Mousa shows us the way out of Accra. Most of the roads seem to be under construction and the trip leaving Accra seems to take a very long time.

We have a very eventful trip as we were stopped three times by road side police checks. Each time the police had a different idea of what they wanted and what would be sufficient so we could continue

Hotel in Kumasi

. At the first police check they asked Sanga for the car’s papers and then his international driver’s license. Sanga shows the police officer his Canadian driver’s license and that seems to be enough. At the next stop the police officer asks for the same thing but does not accept his Canadian license as the international one. He asks Sanga to come with him and wants Sanga to go back to the car and come back to him (he wants a bribe) Sanga says when he goes back to the car he will not come back as his embassy said the Canadian license would work. The police officer relents and we are on our way again. The third time is very routine as the officer just looks at the car’s papers. The last time we were stopped we were clocked at 65 km/hr with a handheld radar gun. Oddly enough, as we approached the checkstop, she was facing completely the other way. When we stopped she came up to the car and showed us the reading on the gun. How strange that was! Once again, Sanga talked us out of a unreal situation!!!

We got to Kumasi after dark and drove around quite a while before we found the hotel that Sanga had stayed at on his way down to pick us up. It was a very nice hotel, the best so far. We ate at the chicken shish-kabobs at the restaurant and crashed once again feeling quite exhausted.

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