Asking for directions in a foreign land can be intimidating, but in Ghana even if the person can’t direct you, he or she will instantly lead you to someone else who can. The hospitality, concern and consideration for others in Ghana is like no other.
One of the most important aspects of Ghanaian culture is etiquette. In Ghana it is considered insulting to use your left hand to pass or receive something or when shaking hands or eating something. Greeting procedures are also more formalized in Ghana, especially in small towns and villages and when dealing with elders. Another aspect of Ghanaian culture is the frankness in social interactions. In the Western world it is considered rude to tell a person that he or she is fat. But, in Ghana a comment like that is not considered rude at all. It is just considered to be someone’s observation of what they see when they look at a person.
One of the biggest culture differences is bargaining daily for food, goods, and transport. In Ghana bargaining is an everyday practice. At nearly every corner there is an outdoor marketplace where goods are sold or there are individuals selling products on the roadside. A common sight is a young woman carrying a basket of bread or a basket full of bags of water on her head or a person bargaining with a taxi driver. In the marketplaces it is custom to bargain with the sellers, although there are some stores where there are fixed prices.
Another part of living in Ghana is the lack of everyday conveniences from home. If the hostel has indoor plumbing, there are for sure several days when the water would be cut off. So you have to fill up a bucket with water from a pump outside to wash your body. And because of the energy crisis in Africa, there are often power outages, too. Therefore, candles and flashlights are very useful.
And in public places, especially in villages and small towns outside cities, finding restrooms is hard and sometimes nonexistent. So carrying toilet paper and hand sanitizer with you wherever you go is second nature. J
Ghana is a beautiful country, so exploring all of the beautiful sights it offers is the best thing you can experience here. You can visit Kumasi, home of the Asante people (one of the most powerful nations in West Africa at the end of the 19th century) or very interesting are the illustrious towns of Cape Coast and Elmina, which despite their beauty have a devastating past in that it is home to several castles and forts that held slaves during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
If you travel to the Eastern Region and the Volta Region, where the mountainous and savannah-like landscapes and beautiful waterfalls are mesmerizing, you will be welcomed into small villages where the people (especially the children) are friendly and full of life. They will teach you traditional African dance moves as well as how to cook Ghanaian dishes and even how to basketweave. In the hikes around Ghana you can also see the wildlife – you can feed baboons and monkeys and even ventured into a bat cave.
In Ghana, you would be introduced to new foods – for example kenkey (sour tasting maize-flour balls steamed and wrapped in maize leaves), fufu (boiled cassava or yam that is pounded and served with soup) or banku (cassava and cornmeal). Other Ghanaian staples that won´t take long for you to love are jollof rice* (a spicy rice), waakye** (rice and red beans) and kelewele*** (spicy fried ripe plantain with stew). If you go to an outdoor market you will find it composed of several rows of vendors selling everything from chicken, fresh fish, soups, plantain, and rice to traditional Ghanaian delicious foods.
Traveling throughout Ghana will give you the opportunity to see sights you will never see somewhere else and meet people you will never forget. Once you will go to Ghana, you will treasure the memories forever because there’s so much more to Africa then what we can see on TV.
* Also called 'Benachin' meaning one pot in the Jollof language, is a popular dish all over West Africa. Its base consists of rice, tomatoes and tomato paste, onion, salt, and chili pepper, to which optional ingredients can be added such as vegetables, meats, and other spices.
**It is boiling rice and beans together. Some may include tomatoes, chilli pepper, other spicy ingredients and fish, prawn or meat.
Amicable = přátelský, vlídný
Baboon = pavián
Bargaining = vyjednávání, smlouvání
Basketweave = plést košíky
Bat cave = netopýří jeskyně
Bucket = kbelík, vědro
Cassava = kasava
Concern = zájem
Consideration = uznání
Cornmeal = kukuřice
Custom = zvyk
Cut off = přerušit
Elder = starší osoba
Firm = pevný
Flashlight = baterka, svítilna
Fort = pevnost, tvrz
Frankness = upřímnost, otevřenost
Hike = výlet, putování, trampování
Instantly = okamžitě, ihned
Insult = urazit, urážka
Intimidating = zastrašující
Lack of = nedostatek
Landscape = krajina
Lead = vést, dovést
Maize-flour = kukuřičná mouka
Mesmerizing = fascinující
Outage = vypnutí, výpadek proudu
Plantain = banán
Plumbing= kanalizace, vedení
Pound = tlouci
Ripe = zralý
Slave = otrok
Sour = kyselý, trpký
Staple = hlavní plodina
Steam = vyřený v páře
Stew = dušené maso
Therefore = proto, tedy
Treasure = vážit si, cenit si
Venture = zkusit vkročit
Wrap = zabalit
Yam = sladká brambora
