On this Boxing Day, we traveled over Canada and the UK to Amsterdam. Thereafter, over the Mediterranean and the Sahara to Accra. Our flight was one hour late into Accra due to a delay out of Amsterdam.
In the Accra airport, a singer-keyboardist serenaded arriving passengers in a Ghanian smooth-jazz style by mixing Christmas carols, Bob Marley songs, and improvised lyrics about travel and missing bags. (The Marley classic Three Little Birds went from “Don’t worry about a thing. ’Cause every little thing’s gonna be alright” to “Don’t worry about your bags. ’Cause you’ve got a little time, and they will come.”) The music inspired three dancing Santas who gave out candy and prizes to kids! (Catherine said “these are the first Santas that are non-scary.”)
Both Mark and Catherine were tremendously helpful as we waited (quite a long time) for our luggage. Mark was the spotter. On his signal, I pulled our pieces off the belt. (Mark pulled a few, too.) Catherine brought them to Tracy. We passed customs quickly.
Richard, Tracy's contact at the Institute of African Studies, greeted us beyond customs in the warm, hazy, humid evening air, and we packed our stuff (very tightly, all laps occupied) into his Kia. A short 15-minute drive brought us to the Guest Centre at the University of Ghana where we’ll stay tonight. Mark has already fallen asleep as I type.
We left our house at 10 AM on Friday, and we arrived at the Guest Centre at 11:30 PM on Saturday. Accounting for the 5-hour time difference, that's 32.5 hours door-to-door. Everyone is tired and grumpy. But, we’re grateful for safe and nearly-on-time travel.
Looks like tomorrrow will be move-in day at our flat.
—Matt
