Driving in Ghana

What is it really like living here in Accra, Ghana? Well, everyday when I'm out and about I say to myself, "I'm really here...I'm in Ghana!" My eyes try to take it all in, so as not to forget anything.

At first I said to my sisters back home I'd never drive here at least not for awhile. The driving is so scary here...that only lasted a very short while as we got our Ghanaian driver's licensce almost immediately after moving here! Now, I enjoy my drives around the area where we live. It still is scary many times but I had an excellent driving instructor growing up...my father! I started learning to drive when I was a pint-sized kid. My dad would be pop me on his lap and he'd help me to drive into the driveway. We were all taught at a very young age to drive confidently like a "New Yorker". My dad LOVES to drive and so do I. Especially now that we have the jeep it's even more adventurous bouncing around the hard dirt roads with pot-holes the size of Texas! They are more like deep craters. But after awhile the "bouncing" around gets OLD fast. You get tired of your head getting knocked into the door or your hips getting jabbed by the seatbelt connectors.

Driving here is like actually being IN a video game like "Frogger", do you remember that one, from the 80's? My favorite driving moments have been when I've picked up my daughters from school and we are on one of the dirt road paths to our home and a whole herd of cattle are sharing the way with us...right in front of the jeep! We see the herdsman often as he brings his cattle through the neighborhood several times a week selling fresh milk.

You break ALL the driving rules here, ALL OF THEM! Your main goal is to not hit anyone or any other cars and to not BE hit. So if you can accomplish that, you've done well! Your second goal is to keep only a few inches of space between you and the car in front of you so that the other cars don't bully their way in! I drove like that a couple of weekends ago with Suleima and a couple other ladies on our way to a missionary women's retreat about 1 1/2 hours away from here. THAT was crazy! Over here...you must be aggressive, it's just the way it is, you snooze you loose. We have seen two victims lying in the middle of the road, dead, from fast driving cars on chaotic motorways. It's a sobering and trajic truth here. Driving on the motorway at night is something you try to avoid at all costs. You stay in a hotel if you have to but don't drive at night, too many pedestrians, either minimal or no lighting and fast undisciplined drivers.

Sometimes it looks like the car coming toward you is going to hit you head on and then suddenly swerves..."what to do?" No worries...because you know they are just swerving around a mass of potholes and they aren't going to hit you. BUT, you can not day dream and drive, no way. You can not relax completely when driving, absolutely not, that's when you can find yourself in trouble. So, driving here keeps me on my toes for sure.

One thing's for sure, I hope I have the chance to drive my own dad around the area! So if any police officers in VA are reading this like Wayne...I hope I can remember all the rules when I get back to the states! :) Ha, just kidding...