Day 20 - Our ECG Drivers



Achampong

 We had a 9:00 meeting in Accra this morning which meant a 7:00 AM pickup.  Breakfast at the hotel was frustratingly slow this morning so we unintentionally made out drivers wait for us.

Our ECG team does not look forward to these early  morning trips into Accra, especially because the 30 KM ride takes almost 2 hours.  However when we finally do arrive in the hotel parking lot, finally ready to depart on our journey to Accra our ECG drivers are always there greeting us with a smile.  In preparation for our 7 AM pickup this morning in Tema they have already been on the road for at least an hour.  They have had to pick up their company vehicles and make the trip from Accra to our hotel in Tema.  When we question how early they have had to start their day,  they just smile and shrug - we are used to it they say - that is our job.

Our drivers have become our transportation, our tour guides, our cultural interpreters and even our personal shopper when I needed a taste of Ghanaian chocolate.  We have learned about traffic patterns in Accra and been shown all the local sites.  The landmarks to and from Accra have now become familiar to us and we have had history lessons on buildings  such as Accras Flagstaff house.

One of the drivers has an orange plantation in Ghana so we have heard all about his experiences growing orange plants. The other driver works as a choir master every evening when he finishes driving for ECG.  Both drivers have families.

Yao

On our way to Accra

One of the things we talked about this morning on our ride to Accra was "new" versus "old".  As we stopped at a traffic light the contrast between the 2 sides of the road was remarkable.  On the right is a gas service station with automatic pumps and a convenience store - it is a familiar site to us from North America.  Directly across the street is a Ghanaian vending stand - similar to what you see lined up along most streets you drive through in Accra.  The contrast was remarkable.

One side of the road

Across the Street

We are now finishing our third week in Ghana, only one more week to go,  and this will likely be one of our last drives into Accra.  I wont miss the 7AM starts or the long drive - but I am going to miss our ECG drivers terribly.