My First Vacation: The Africa Cup of Nations

My first chance to escape the borders since arriving in Togo 7 months ago, I traveled to Ghana. This year was Ghana's turn to host the Africa Cup of Nations, a 3-week-long football (soccer) tournament between the top teams from across the continent. Games were played in 4 cities across Ghana, but my friends and I decided to catch a couple of matches in Tamale, a large city in the northern Ghana.

Tamale was a wonderful city to choose for my first vacation from being a volunteer in Togo. The city itself was very peaceful and the people were very friendly. When in search of an egg sandwich for breakfast the first morning, I made fast friends with a young, bright-faced Ghanaian woman named Abou. In between pouring coffee and flipping omelettes, Abou would circle back over to flirt with my friend and teach us some of her local language. “Despa”, that means “Good Morning.” And then you respond “Naa.”

Though Ghana continues to struggle, it is evident that its level of development is a cut above Togo. The streets are clean and there are public trash cans. The busy intersections have cross-walks and signals for pedestrians. There are more cars than motorcycles. These aren't scientific measurements for development, but it makes a different impression. Driving through the bush and the surrounding villages, however, you can see that there work is not done. The Ghanaians are still threatened by poverty and hunger: “

Nevertheless—I still felt like I was on vacation. Tender and juicy fried chicken and fried rice were a nice treat from the chewy cuts of 'meat' more frequently found on the streets in Togo. And compared to the oft skunky beer one finds in Togo, Ghanaian vendors presented a very impressive selection of brews—from the dark and creamy Castle Milk Stout to the refreshing Stone Lager. (And no—I have received no money for this endorsement).


My good friend and fellow volunteer, Amy, hooked us up with free V.V.I.P. tickets to watch Senegal vs. Tunisia and Angola vs. South Africa. I rooted for Senegal, but all the scores ended up tied. Angola played sharp and had some good-looking players—I really enjoyed watching them play.

It was disappointing, however, to see the brand new stadium half empty. We sat in the press section with our V.V.I.P. tickets, which would have otherwise cost 75 Cedis (more or less $75 U.S.). Seats behind the goals cost 4 Cedis—which is about a day's earnings for many Ghanaians. Other seats were 15 Cedis.

Overall, it was nice to get away from work for a couple of days, visit another country and see the diversity of the African continent.