Africa

[Visited: July 2010]

When I got off the taxi near the railway station of Accra, the hustle and bustle of the streets felt familiar to me. With enormous Makola market nearby and spilling into the streets, walking in this area means being careful, almost slaloming between one street vendor, people on a shopping spree, and the next stall. Today, I did not want to stay in this area, because I was heading for Timber market. I had to ask for directions to get there. Even when I was close, the entrance was much less obvious than that of other markets; fortunately, a few guys pointed me the right way through a narrow alley.
When I got out on the other side, I found myself in an alley with the typical rickety market stalls of an African market. At the same time, I also realized that the items for sale were not the straightforward vegetables/fruits/meat you would see in most other markets. Not even the woodwork I had expected. Instead, each and every stall had a wide variety of items, all neatly piled up on wooden tables. I started walking the alley, and was able to recognize some of the items. like small sea shells, musical instruments, wooden dolls, animal hides, but also dried frogs, chameleons, and other animals. At the same time, there were plenty of items I could not at all recognize. Several women started to make comments which did not sound too friendly, and this only got worse when I took out my camera to take some pictures.
I continued moving through the market, until one of the women talked to me in a more friendly manner. We entered a conversation, and I ended up spending several hours at this market stall of a sympathetic mother and her charming daughters. They patiently explained the working of the traditional medicines and other items for sale here. Small lightning stones that consisted of a male and female part and would give the owner additional energy, herbs and roots, all kinds of powders, myrrh, delicious honey, dried crocodile heads: even though the stalls were small, they contained a bewildering array of goods. But apart from the exotic products, it was the good-humoured and welcoming attitude of the women that made the visit memorable.

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Timber market (Ghana)

Timber market > Ghana > Africa

[Visited: July 2010]

Around the World in 80 Clicks