Immigration Speed Dating via Vaccination Cards

After months of planning and gathering donations, we were finally off first to JFK then to Accra. 2 lounges and 16+ hours of flying later, we were on the ground in Ghana. 

Upon arrival they immediately checked our yellow fever vaccinations. SP’s wasn’t to their liking so we were directed into a room, which I was quickly asked to leave. Of note the door was shut quickly behind me. And BOOM! Within minutes of our arrival SP almost had a Ghanian wife. Through the rest of immigration the whole crew went without any trouble. We then waited for our bags, bemoaning the fact that we had to check. That is two trips in a row I have had to check a bag. I keep saying never again, but alas I think it has to be amended to “never again except on medical mission trips.”

At that point it was fairly obvious who we were meeting up with, the other Westernized-looking people with many large bags. We introduced ourselves and said hello to the rest of the team and all went to change money. 

As we exited the airport, we were told we needed to take a cab to the domestic terminal, which seemed suspect to me, however that is what we did. One hundred yards and 10 bucks later they were dropping us off in about as long as it would have taken us to walk. 

I had some trouble with my booking from the States, we went to the reservations desk and were put on the 400 PM flight to Kumasi. After that we met up with the team and had beverages of the uncontaminated variety. 

Domestic security was easy as was getting to the plane. My carryon, however was too large, which was problematic because it held up our departure and as the only “oburoni” (Akan word usually meaning white person and sometimes foreigner), I was a bit mortified. I had been in Ghana for less than 2 hours, and I was messing with flight patterns and people’s trips. Finally they convinced me to abandon my bag on the runway and board the plane. I told myself is good to practice nonattachment (not a word, unless you are in yoga class, then it is definitely a word.) to material things (thanks California).  The flight was only 20 min long, and we were still served pineapple ginger juice and plantains. 

Upon landing we noticed that it was hazy just as it had been in Accra. I would later find out this is because of winds coming from the Sahara desert during this season. They are known to cause allergies. 

It was 445 PM, 90 degrees and 81% humidity. 

We arrived at the hotel with all of our bags and found that we had no reservations. Fortunately there was availability, so they checked us into small single rooms. We reconvened and decided to explore, which ended up in a walk to the hospital, a stop at the Shell convenience store for hydration, a pharmacy, and an attempt to go to a restaurant that smelled like sewage (Hard Pass), and ending at a Chinese restaurant. 

Kumasi is the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana. It is called the Garden City because of its many species of plants.  And it turns out the February is the warmest month of the year, which we would definitely feel. It has a population of over 2 million although, those who live their state this is an estimation at best because of the lack of an organized census.