We checked into the Presbyterian Guest House not far from the main Kejetia market. There were lots of young volunteer workers in the guest house from all parts of Europe. The rooms were clean and basic and we were able to upgrade to one with our own en suite and air con after the first night.
Kumasi is Ghana's second city, with 1.5 million people, and once the rich and powerful capital of the Ashanti kingdom. We were able to visit the Manhyia Palace Museum, which was built in 1952 to receive Prempeh 1 when he returned from 25 years in exile in the Seychelles to reside in Kumasi. We were not able to photograph anything in the museum and were shown around by a guide who explained all the exhibits. The king had the first television in Ghana. There was a school group in front of us and they were fascinated with the old radiogram and its vinyl record. The present king's symbol is a porcupine.
There were dozens of chairs and stools in the palace as it was the custom to give a chair when visiting the king. Now, I think, a bottle or two of schnapps is the preferred gift for the royals, a tradition started by the Dutch, and I am not sure if a chair or stool still accompanies it. Ashanti stools are elaborately carved with a curved top and a solid base. Depending on the status of the person there maybe an image of an elephant or leopard carved into the supporting base. A stool is the first gift a father gives his son. It is also the first gift a man bestows his bride-to-be. At official ceremonies, the stool acts as a symbol of authority. When the owner dies he or she is ritually washed on a stool, and these consecrated stools are worshipped as homes to ancestral spirits. Womens' stools are lower than mens' ones. In most households stools are for everyday use.
The shirts that I brought with me from NZ are beginning to fade and tear so we went to the huge Kejetia Market to look for some new ones. On a street corner a man had shirts from Europe all in a heap. I managed to find one man's shirt and a lady's one. Most of the women's fashion shops have tight-fitting synthetic shirts that are too hot and clammy for comfortable travel.
We had to cross the market several times for various things and it was like being in a human tumble drier. It was hot and sweaty and the people pushed you round and round as you navigated the busy crowded lanes. The market has spread to every available street leading to the huge roundabout that houses the main part of the market under rusting corrugated stalls.
Our guide book says it is the largest market in West Africa.
The stall holders spread out through the tro tro (minivan) park.
These guys sell mobile phones from their parked cars along the main street.
Mother and baby spend all day on the street peddling food from these aluminium cabinets.
The evenings have been getting grey with thunder and lightning and the rain has come a couple of times in short but heavy bursts. At the end of the day the stall holders and traders on the streets sweep their rubbish into the open drains and the rains wash it away until the drains block up. Some unfortunate person then shovels the rubbish into piles on the side of the road and when it gets too big some one burns it after the poor, the goats,the chickens, and the sheep have picked it over. We have seen some rubbish trucks but a lot of rubbish just doesn't make it to the trucks.
We were able to book a seat on a coach from Kumasi to Tamale our next destination.
