Liz's job log: 8

The story so far... Liz recently graduated from the University of Glamorgan with a degree in journalism. Aged 21 she lives most of the time in Barry, but for three months she has relocated from South Wales to West Africa, where she's getting experience of how Ghanaians do radio and print journalism.

Travel time...

I’ve been M.I.A. for the last few weeks as I took a week off my placement (holiday entitlement!) to do some travelling further afield.  I am currently living in the capital of Ghana, Accra, and I can honestly say I think I got the short straw in terms of where I was placed - the rest of Ghana is much nicer!

If we defined Accra by energetic church services, western-style shops and what they call spot bars, (which is basically, tables and chairs set up randomly - from an empty patch of grass, to a fenced off section of the road) along with a ridiculous amount of traffic, then as you travel towards the North, the differences between this area and the South of Ghana become very obvious.  More so, on the approach to a town called Tamale there were the apparent signs that I was definitely not in the south anymore; round little mud-huts grouped together in clusters dotted sparsely along the roadside, the sudden dominance of mosques and women wearing headscarves, and not quite as expected, was the sudden appearance of bicycles, weaving in and out of the much quieter traffic.

It surprised me to see such a divide between the southern regions and the northern regions, in terms of the religious differences and even to some extent, the day-to-day way of life.  The north, as well as being a lot hotter, generally seems quieter and more relaxed, with, of course, the exception of the huge Kumasi market… which would take some getting used to - although I did confidently manage to find and purchase some much needed soap for our travels!

North South divide

Tamale appears to be a big town but - perhaps to their advantage - they have only the population of say, a village. It goes without saying that this town, despite being an important transport link to the further North of Ghana, is a lot quieter and to some extent, friendlier than Ghana’s capital. I personally liked the decrease of cars on the road (I felt much safer!) and it was a welcoming change to see people getting around by bicycle or on foot.  I often feel that you can’t really walk anywhere in Accra; either there are no allocated footpaths so you find yourself walking alongside the traffic (and, of course, ‘keep of the grass’ signs prevent you from taking refuge from the heavy traffic on the raised pavements), or the constant beeps of the taxi drivers and the cries of the mates on the Trotros (makeshift buses) eventually irritate you enough to just jump in a car. As we found ourselves travelling from Kumasi, however, it seemed to be us chasing down the cars!

The road to Mole

After living in Accra for the duration of my stay here, I really enjoy exploring outside of the capital - among my favourite places I have visited seem to be the villages; I think that is what you come to expect of life in Africa. When I arrived in Accra, however, it certainly opened my eyes and I experienced a bigger culture shock than expected due to the overwhelming western influences apparent here, that in preparation for this trip I had not anticipated.

Our travel through Kumasi and Tamale was with one aim - to get to Mole National Park. Quite a long and tiring journey, so a nice little stop on the way was a village called Larabanga, which is home to the oldest Mosque in Ghana. No one can give an exact date as to when it was built so I’m afraid I can’t tell you how old the oldest mosque is, but the appearance alone gives off vibes of history and age. A family, known locally (and in my Ghana guide book) as the Salia brothers - do a very good job of taking you around the village and telling you stories and the ‘history’ of Larabanga, which, if not entirely accurate, are interesting and enjoyable enough to pass the time while you wander around the home of a mere 500 people.

Mole National Park should be a much bigger tourist attraction than it is - it’s not terribly expensive to travel there or to even go on the safaris with the qualified rangers - the only real expense comes when you choose to stay at the Mole hotel, although there are cheaper options. On two separate safaris we saw elephants, crocodiles, warthogs (which we quickly re-named ‘Pumbas’ in reference to Disney’s, ‘The Lion King’) antelope, monkeys, and baboons, and all these in startling closeness considering these animals are wild and not tamed by human interaction - the ranger accompanying you for example, has to be armed. We stopped at a small viewing platform, a few metres from a watering hole and to our extreme luck and fortune, two elephants came to the water to drink and we watched them for almost an hour in the very early hours of the morning, just as dawn was lifting and the sun had risen properly in the sky.

There is a lot more that the tourism projects in the area could do - there is a vast area of Mole, for example, that is unexplored and is left defenceless against poachers that are still active in the areas where the rangers and the tourists don’t reach. Tourism in a country like Ghana needs to be supported and pushed for; its benefits can go a long way in helping the villages and towns surrounding areas such as Mole that offer travellers, and Ghanaians themselves, a wonderful experience.

Back to the city

I looked forward to getting back to Accra, if only due to tiredness of travelling for over forty hours (thankfully with breaks), but if I could choose a place to live should I return to Ghana, it would not be the capital. I have been quite lucky since returning from my travels, however - a journalist I met through my previous placement at the radio station, Vibe FM, has offered me work with them on two newspapers run by himself and a few others. The print style of these papers is a lot more to my taste. There is Jive, which is quite light-hearted, the stories deal with ‘softer news’, and it is even complete with entertainment news. The second one is called the dailyEXPRESS which deals with the harder issues, but yet remains out of the political gauntlet that seems to plague every other media publication out here in Ghana. After two months living here, I cannot understand how the Ghanaian public can digest so much political news day in day out with literally no escape in the form of other news. I still really admire their interest into how the country is run, but seriously - there is more to news than what goes on at parliament! 

I have been working with these guys at their office for four days now and have had four articles published! One came out yesterday and the other three are being published tomorrow. I must admit, although I didn’t originally set out to do print, I’m really glad this opportunity came about, and I’ve realised how easy it is to make good contacts (even in Ghana)! It’s also given me confidence I came here looking for, that actually, I can write - and I’m pretty good at it! 

Read my previous job logs

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