To be honest, going to a market is not something you will see me doing if I can avoid it. Usually, instead I can be found if not in bed, still fast

asleep, then at least sipping morning coffee in a nearby caffe while my “better half” does the shopping. I know number of people loving the whole market-going routine, and everything that goes with it. Me? If you don’t mind, I’d rather steer clear of the whole thing.

Skip to some other country and everything changes. One of the “must” places I always try to see everywhere I go are indeed markets. Museums can wait, squares and alleys I will run into anyway at some point, but real, local market is something to be seen to get a feel for the place.

It’s all here, local food with colors and scents that go with it, local customs and above all, local people.

So, I grabbed a taxi and went towards some mall downtown for no other reason but because it seemed like a good starting point for wandering. Rarely do I have some specific sightseeing plan (especially in somewhat chaotic place like Accra). I much more prefer putting my legs to a good use and explore the place in a more or less random fashion.

While in a taxi, I asked the driver which market would he recommend to see. His answer sounded like a lazy brush-off since he mentioned Makola market and, what a coincidence, first thing I did getting into a taxi was asking him to take me to Makola Mall.

Although I’ve been to that part of town previous Sunday, that couldn’t prepare me for the scene I stepped into once I left the car.

C-H-A-O-S.

Obviously, apparently the Saturday is the main market day.

Tons of people all over the place, road, pavement (where there is one), cars, trucks, people with trolleys dragging their goods along the street. Madness. The heat plus humidity are normal things here but here both seemed even more enhanced somehow, while smell…hmmm, smells are a problem in almost of Accra and here is no exception.

Previously mentioned “mall” turned out to be nothing much. Just a bunch of small shops with not particularly interesting goods, all cramped in a very tight place.

I got out of there back onto the street and followed the river of people to see what’s going on.

So there I am, a guy being normally annoyed by crowds, right smack in the middle of human whirlwind where any kind of space, being that selling, driving or walking, is a precious and rare commodity. On one side there’s a building lined with stores which are probably used more for storage than anything else because it looks like all the goods are on offer in front of the store, where there is also a storekeeper, his assistants, family members, friends etc. thus reducing further available space. On the other side of the pavement, along the roadside, there is a fence and in between, in what seems like a meter of width, infinite number of people. And not just people but also all those ladies (and occasional man) with huge loads balanced on their heads.

You know how in crowded streets you have to dodge people trying to make use of any crack between people. That’s just one dimension. Here, on top of that, you have to pay even more attention to a traffic above the waist so to speak, not unlike making sure you don’t get your eye poked out by umbrella on a rainy day. In this case however, if not  careful you may lose your head (along with the eye) if some lady drops load of say, 20-ish bottles of oil or some package of any content you can imagine which can probably be up to 1,5 meters in all 3 dimensions.

In order to keep your head on your shoulder for another day, you find yourself in some weird case of belly dance, where feet are zigging and zagging to avoid people in front of you, while at the same time your upper body and the head might be going in a different direction to avoid being slapped by something heavy and sharp bobbing in a delicate balance on  the head of the lady who decided to take her store for a walk.

It’s worth mentioning that this is just a small segment of the whole place since it covers at least 4-5 blocks in width and length. A small town really.

Interestingly though, in all that hustle and bustle, no one is getting angry or upset, but instead everything kind of works. Even myself, notoriously short-fused in situations like this, found the whole situation quite impressive and entertaining. Additional plus is the fact that, even though I’ve seen just one white face on the street  (which turned out to be my own reflection in the window), no one pulled my shirt, grabbed my hand and generally tried to become my newest best friend or if anyhow possible, member of the family, just to be able to sell me some trinket (there’s quite a lot of that but in specific places, but more on that some other time). I’d say that’s because this really is not a place for tourists but for locals doing their regular shopping, so there are none of those “professional stranglers” usually found in more touristy places.

As fascinating and interesting as this whole little trip was, after more than two hours, I had to leave because it was really a bit too much  of everything.

Rest of the day I spent walking around much quieter and less crowded places of the town, along the way run into James Bond’s Hummer and had unpleasant/pleasant encounter, but that too perhaps I’ll write about a bit more later.