This weekend I took a little voyage to Ghana's second largest city and the city of the great Ashanti kings, Kumasi. The main draw to the city is its large open air market, supposedly the largest in all of West Africa. Over the course of my travels I have certainly fallen in love with the chaotic, fragrant, and thrilling open air markets. The Kumasi market (called Kenjetia), without a doubt, is the most superb market I have witnessed yet. This place has its own pulse. I would compare the encounter to the deep end of the swimming pool when you are a little kid. It is something that entices you but at first you are a bit intimidated. You stand on the edge looking in, wondering if it is safe to jump in. You finally get the nerve and jump in. You quickly paddle back the edge and crawl out. You are thrilled that you just did that and have the urge to do it again. This time you jump in and swim around a little bit before going back to the edge. It is so great. You finally decide it is time to swim across the pool. You jump in again and swim across the pool and as you crawl back out you are so pleased of what you just accomplished. That is the Kenjetia market. Of course, the water is the market, crawling with people, and the edge is the street that offers a little bit of refuge from the chaos of the market. The market was intimidating at first, but once I got into it, it was a feast for the eyes. There are people from all over West Africa, selling all sorts of stuff, from clothes, to spices, to meat, fish, shoes, to juju and medicinal tribal goods. There is a lot of stuff for sale, and a lot of it I had no idea what it is used for. It is certainly not a tourist market, there were no carved elephants or decorative drums. It was quite the experience.
Besides going to the market, I headed to a nearby lake that was supposedly created by a meteor impact. The main draw to the lake for me was to take a hike along the banks and stroll through semi-remote villages. It was wonderful walking and the villages were pleasant. The people hardly took notice of me, which is how I prefer it. Of course the kids wanted their photos taken or a pen, but for the most part the villagers continued about their business. Another great experience, in totally an opposite way than the market.
Standing on the edge looking in
Juju and medicine
Will work for crayons
Fishing for something
5 comments:
Grant,
What kind of fish and produce is sold at these markets? Is there any refridgeration for the meat or is it "fresh"?
Kynan
Hi Kynan
I really have no idea what kind of fish are in the market. There are some normal looking fish, to eels, to some kind of rays. The other meat I don't know either. I am guessing goat, pig, grasscutter (a large rodent), bush meat (random wild critters, maybe road kill), maybe some cow. Produce is the norm, peppers, onions, garlic, ginger, tomatos, eggplant, plantains, bananas, oranges...oh yeah, and lots of yams. There is no refridgeration, the meat market can smell kind of rancid. A lot of the fish are smoked and preserved. I think the meat is fresh to a point. Possibly a lot fresher than what we eat at home. They have been selling like this long enough that they know the demand and when the proper time comes to butcher their animal. But if it isn't selling you get rotting meat of course, which I have a feeling doesn't bother them too much here. I certainly wouldn't say that Ghana is a culinary delight.
Good morning in Ghana! Did you see Obama when he was there? Thought of you anyway when I heard he would be there. Good to see you are getting out and enjoying Africa. Seems like you have to work too much! :) When do you get back?
The verification words on here are so silly, tonight mine is "spelly". Wonder what that means! :) HAHA
These words crack me up!!! The next one is "tatste". Bare with me, I am laughing my head off.... :)
Hi Krista,
I didn't see Obama. I did watch he speech on a little TV in the Kumasi market with a bunch of locals. It was a pretty neat experience. It is looking like I will be back towards the end of August. I guess that is one month away, boy how times fly! I am sure that one month is going go by super quick. Hope all is well!
OK, so I don't have a verification word this time. Thats no fun!
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