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About half the size of Abijan, Accra (ah-Krah) sprawls along Ghana's central coast. It's a city with several characters. True to our style, we stay in the seedy area of town. We wondered if our hotel rented beds by the hour; it feels like a saloon. To walk down the street is to be accosted by every tout that wants to say hello, exchange names or short pleasantries, and sell junk. We walked to the central district, a place of crowded streets, bustling markets, a charming old-town feel. Then we rode a cab (cabs are cheap in Ghana - a dollar gets you everywhere) to Osu, Accra's modern district of air conditioned Internet cafes and restaurants. We ate lunch in Frankies, an American style diner where it's said that if you sit there all day you'll see every white person in Accra walk by. Ghana is a country run by the indigenous African population - no colonial hangovers here.
We see AIDS awareness campaigns all over Africa. The disease is epidemic here. In some areas over 50% of the population has AIDS.
Who needs to cook with gas when you have ovens like these?
The hotels are as mosquito infested as the bush. We use our mosquito net wherever we sleep; if only we could easily shower with it.