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 Kaneshie market outside by Alpha_Ghana
The people and shops are now so numerous that the places around are also invaded by merchants.
The area is also a big bus station for small busses and tro-tros.
Just climb the pathway on top of the main road and you will see those thousands of people going and sellin everywhere around you, these hundreds of tro-tros trying to park, embark and disembark people in the middle of the traffic. Leave a Comment Address: Takoradi road after Obetsebi Lamptey circle
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The National Museum is well worth a visit. It is on two floors, and all in the information is in English. There is a small charge for entry, and although photography is not allowed, I was told to take pictures surreptitiously if I wanted to. There were no other visitors when we were there, and although there is a shop on the site, which appears to sell all sorts of nice artifacts, there was no-one there to man it during our visit. That was a Saturday morning.
The exhibits include thrones, fishing implements, stools, wood carvings, masks, displays on dances, the slave trade, currency, pottery, youth of today and their future within the society, leather work, war, puberty rites, prehistory and contemporary art. Some of the paintings are for sale.
Allow a couple of hours for your visit in order to do the museum justice. Visiting hours are 09:00-18:00 every day except Monday. There is a small admission charge. Leave a Comment
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Ghana National Culture Centre is nothing more than an enormous craft market. It is, however, from a traveller’s point of view, a great place to pick up that last minute souvenir.
The sales people will approach you to try and entice you to buy from their stall, but personally I didn’t find them uncomfortably pushy. I knew exactly what I wanted, and went from stall to stall to find the right item.
I have a very good friend, a young girl whose father is from West Africa. She herself has never been, and is very unlikely to ever have the means to go, so I wanted to bring her back something typical from the region. I wanted a painting that represented the young girls of this region, something typical but not so ethnic that it didn’t fit in to a modern British home.
Eventually I found just the thing I was looking for, and managed to negotiate the price down to level that she stallholder was happy with and that was within my budget. We were both happy, and so was Simone when I gave her the gift upon my return to the UK. She showed it to her African aunt who confirmed it was indeed very typical of the region where her father was born. Leave a Comment
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 Ghanaweb by FizzieLeave a Comment Address: we border the atlantic ocean, pick a spot.Directions: Stadium=sit in a taxi and say "sports stadium" Food market = you can see them from the plane.Just follow the little tallow lamps.
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Accra is a lifely city, but easygoing at the same time. I stayed in Accra several times. The more I came back anf strolled around, the more I liked the city. Since my first three visits in the 80s a lot has changed. There are many more hotels, restaurants and shops and a lot of more traffic. You can find internet at several places in town. What a difference compared with my first visit. In 1980 I had to wait one week for an international call at the head postoffice.
What to see while walking around downtown:
* The big lifely Makola market and the shops around.
* The arts centre with a big craft market.
What to visit going a little away from the citycentre:
* Labadi beach,east of the centre.
* Legon University with a nice campus, bookstore and libraries, 5 KM north of Kotoka airport.
* Aburi gardens, 30 KM north from the city. Leave a Comment
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One of the most chaotic, colourful and exciting markets I've ever seen in my life is Makola Market in central Accra. This big area close to the Tema Tro-tro station and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial, is the biggest "supermarket" of the city.
Entering Makola Market is like being a being a movie star among its biggest fans: from all directions you are attacked by salesmen who want to shake hand, want to know your name and where you come from. Here the enthusiasm of the people is sincere: they are too excited to think about selling their ware.
At Makola Market you can buy anything you can think of. Not only food like big piles of rice, colourful selections of fruits and vegetables, and smelly meat like pigheads and cowfeet. There also are completely other things that you can get here. You can buy things like televisions and fridges on the market, all types and sizes of pans and of course all types of clothes and fabrics.
The market is like a huge maze: you know where you get in, but you don't know where you will get out. It is not that big that you can get lost though. Inside the market you hardly have to be afraid for pickpockets: Ghanaian people normally are very honest. Leave a Comment Address: City Centre, AccraDirections: North from Tema Station, South from Kinbu Road
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 Nkrumah Memorial by sachara
The park and memorial are first established in the nineties in honour of Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of independent Ghana. In the park is his resting place. So when I came back to Accra in 2003 it was new for me.
You have to pay a small entrance fee and extra for the use of a camera. Leave a Comment Directions: In the south of the citycentre, south of the Highstreet, just west of the Arts Centre.
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The Independence Arch with the black star in top, direct north of the Independence Square - also called Black Star Square - is an important landmark in the south part of the citycentre.
The Arch is a replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It has an eternal flame, lit by Nkrumah himself. The Independence Square is a big parade ground at the seaside with space for 30.000 people. There is also a huge stadium. All this is built by Nkrumah in the sixties.
When I visited Accra in December 2003, I was surprised by the traffic at this square, so much more than the first times I visited Accra. At the parade and stadion grounds was a large meeting of the Presbyterian Church. This wasn't difficult to find out because most women were wearing African dresses, showing the purpose of the meeting that day. Leave a Comment Address: 28th February RoadDirections: Downtown between 28th February Road and Labadi Road, just near the coast.
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Ussher Fort, at the eastern end of James Town, is one of three European forts that were built in Accra. Officially all three are closed to public, but Ussher Fort is the only one where you can get a -illegal- tour for a small fee.
Ussher Fort was built as Fort Crêvecoeur by the Dutch in 1649, and started its existence as a trade fort. In the 18th century, it started to play an important role in the slave trade. Where the fort in Elmina was the Dutch Headquarters in the whole of West Africa, the one in Accra was the base for the eastern part of the region. The Dutch here took most of their slaves from the Ashanti region around Kumasi.
In 1782, during a Dutch-British war, the British took over the fort and destroyed it with the canons they took out of the fort, that were brought to the nearby James Fort. In 1786 however, the remains were returned to the Dutch who rebuilt it stronger then ever before. In this period the Dutch remained strong bonds with the local people of so called "Dutch Town", now called Ussher Town. A lot of people still have Dutch familynames and there even is a streetname Van Hien Street, named after a Dutch official Carel Hendrik Van Hien.
In 1862 Fort Crêvecoeur was heavily damaged by an earthquake, and partly reconstructed in the next years. In 1868 it was handed over to the British, because of the end of the slavetrade. They gave it its current name Ussher Fort. Soon they turned the Fort into a prison and they enlargened it to its current size.
After the independency the Fort stayed a prison, until it was closed in 1993. It was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and slowly they are restoring the building. During this work it is possible to ask some of the workers to show you around and tell about its history. You should bargain about the price. I paid 20.000 cedis for my 30 minutes tour: about $ 2,-. During this tour you can have a look in the old slave cells as well as the prison cells where Dr. Nkrumah also was kept for some years, and walk around at the inner square. Leave a Comment Address: High Street, Ussher TownDirections: Between James Town and Central Accra
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Another former slave fort in Accra is James Fort in James Town; the oldest part of the city with nice old houses. This fort however, is still used as a prison and it is not possible to visit it. Just like a lot of other things in Accra, it is even forbidden to take pictures of the building. Again, I didn't really care...
When the British captured Gold Coast in 1665, they first built their base in Cape Coast. Cape Coast Castle was their centre of administration for a long time. When they moved further to the east, they built James Fort in 1673. First it was used as a trade centre for the region, and later it was turned into a slave fort, just like the nearby Ussher Fort.
When the base of British was moved to Accra in the 19th century, James Fort became the first centre of administration and it was no longer used to deport slaves. Later the fort was turned into a prison, and today it still has that function. Leave a Comment Address: High Street, James Town
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