Fifth And Last Day In Accra

So yesterday was my last day in Accra. Well, actually, I'll fly back from from Douala, Cameroon and spend a couple days here. But it's my last day on this leg. I had nothing to accomplish--except smoke the other half of my Cohiba cigar.

In the morning I worked on the internet. Then I went to Champs sports bar. For some reason the Lonely Planet puts the icon in the wrong place on the map. It's right on the main road and not off on a parallel side street. There is a refundable cover of GH¢8. I went in. At 10:30 there are no customers. But at 11am, there was a crowd to watch Manchester United get tied by Everton. It was fun watching the match with all these true soccer fans. Champs claims to be a Mexican restaurant, so I ordered Chicken Chimighangas. When they came they were warm but not hot. The cheese was not melted. But I had already applied the guacamole which seemed to lack enough salt or something. The tortilla was not a tortilla but a sort of extra flat flat-bread. Oh why do I eat at every Mexican restaurant in Africa? They just don't do it right in West Africa.

Well, after that I decided to have pizza. There is a place called Mama Mia's that is supposed to have the best pizza in Accra. I took a tro-tro from my neighborhood to Osu and found it a ways down in the southern part of Osu. The pizza was good, but a bit pricey. I paid GH¢12 and it wasn't one of the more expensive ones. I had a pizza on the way home a few days ago at the Osu food court and it was only GH¢8.50 and about as good. So I'd say the food court pizza is better value. A group came in after a while. Two white people and about 15 Africans. The white woman said that they could order 1 pizza per two people so sit next to someone who wants your toppings. Then she was trying to figure out what everyone wanted to drink so she could tell the waiter. "Who wants Schweppes? Who wants Sprite? Who wants Fanta? Who wants Coca-Cola?" People were raising their hands at the mention of the drinks. Finally she asked the obvious questions "does anybody want beer?" in a manner that made me think the answer would be no. There were a couple brave souls. So, my guess was that they were missionaries. After a while I saw one guy had a little blue book. I couldn't read the title but it was a short word followed by a long word. So I'm sure it said "New Testament".

There was one women who placed a takeout order. She had a really sexy body and walked that walk that really sexy African women walk--slow and sexy with that "you can look but you can't touch (unless I let you)" attitude. She walked in, all male eyes tracking her movements, and placed her order. Then she walked out. A few minutes later, she came back in and attracted all the eyes once more as she checked on her order. Again a few minutes later, she came back in, got her box, and walked out. I'm sure all the men were disappointed because that was the last we'd see of her, but a few minutes later, she sauntered back in and did something and sauntered back out.

After that I went back to Monsoon--the upscale complex with a cocktail bar, restaurant, and sushi bar. I sat at the bar by the wall reading La route. I got a Bloody Mary. Then, an hour later a Jack Daniels to go with my cigar. Then an hour after that, a final beer. The place went from empty to crowded while I was there. It was Saturday, after all. Everyone in pairs or threes or fours. Then there's me with Cormac McCarthy.

It wasn't too late when I left. I went down and there was a guy standing by his cab. I asked how much to Adabraka and he said GH¢4. I said I'd do it for GH¢3 but not four. He acquiesced. We headed to Adabraka. We had to pass a police checkpoint but the policeman wasn't interested in us. I told the guy how to get to my hotel, but he wanted to stop and ask another taxi driver. The other driver told him what I had already told him. Then he took me there and asked for GH¢4. I told him we had agreed on GH¢3. "Please, I beg you", he said. He looked so sad and pathetic. And it worked. I totally felt sorry for him as I paid him GH¢3.

Sunday, October 26, 2008 7:19 Ghana local time