The town that eventually would turn into Accra started growing around the harbor called James Port back in the 17th century, and was therefore called Jamestown. Today, Jamestown is one of the poorer neighborhoods of Accra, but it also has plenty of its old houses left. It’s worth a visit, if poverty doesn’t scare you.
The buildings there are definitely old, but also incredibly run down, some barely standing anymore. It’s sad, really.
The one conventional tourist attraction in Jamestown is the lighthouse. As lighthouses go, I’ve seen both higher and more beautiful, but the view from the top is quite stunning.
You can see most of downtown Accra from here, from the makeshift fishing village on the beach to the high-rises in Osu.
We met a young German guy and a French girl up there too. They were both volunteering in separate parts of Ghana, and were visiting Accra on a weekend break. They were not at all interested in what I had to say, but they were completely taken by mom. And I guess I can see why. Here they were, recently graduated from high school and obviously curious about the world, and they meet a woman who seems to have worked in half of the countries in Africa and Latin America, and a couple in Asia too. An enormous amount of experience and a willingness to talk too. I guess she is quite cool, my mom. For me, though, she’ll always mostly be just that, mother.
Down on the street by the lighthouse, someone had painted this amazing piece on the wall.
As for the newer parts of downtown Accra, I wouldn’t say it’s particularly inspiring, architecturally speaking. The National Theatre is a pretty interesting building, even if I wouldn’t go as far as calling it beautiful, but otherwise. Nah.
Accra is messy and quite unclear, and my first impression of its inhabitants was that it’s full of rude and ignorant taxi drivers, and the odd, very friendly and helpful person passing you on the street.
Katja Malmborg 