Hangin’ with Chiefs

Last weekend’s activity was to travel to Ada Foah, a small town at the mouth of the Volta River. As we were researching our destination (on Wikipedia, duh), we discovered that it just so happens that the first weekend in August there is a huge festival in nearby Big Ada called Asafotufiami.  Good timing huh?

So I set off early Saturday with a large group of mostly Germans (Germans speak crazy good English by the way. It really isn’t fair). Our trip got off to a kind of slow start though, because first, our tro-tro driver pulled over on the side of the highway about 15 minutes outside Accra and started poking around the hood of the car. He then came around to us, with a piece of the engine in hand, and told us we would have to wait for a replacement tro-tro to arrive. This was quite ironic because this was actually by far the nicest tro-tro I had been in while in Ghana. It was actually a real van, unlike the collection of rusted metal parts that usually clank down the street. But none of the clankers I’ve ridden in have died yet, so maybe there is something to be said for them after all.

Then we were delayed again right outside Ada, when our tro-tro was stopped and everyone was asked to pay a 1 cedi “Tourism Development Levy.” Now, I have no idea how legitimate this is. I do know, though, that only the white people in the van were required to pay this levy. The man explained that was because we were the “visitors.” After a bit of discussion, we all handed over our 1 cedi (about 70 cents) just to get them off our backs. But the group of Asian teenagers in our tro tro flat-out refused. Which meant the government officials wouldn’t let the tro-tro pass. Which meant our driver became increasingly irate, as did the other passengers in the van who really wanted to get to their destination. After a bit of yelling, the teenagers finally paid and we were on our way. 

Now the festival itself was a bit crazy. Big Ada is not a very big town -  about two large streets and that’s it. But it was PACKED with people, as the whole point of Asafotufiami is that it is a homecoming for the Ada people, the one time a year when everyone who traces their roots to this tribe returns to Ada from all over Ghana. Add in the interested “visitors” and the town is swelled WAY too big for its size. So it was incredibly crowded with people and even making your way down the street was an experience. I was nearly pickpocked twice, the second time when I was reaching into my purse to take out my camera. Luckily, a nice lady standing next to me yelled at the man and he ran away. She told me afterwards that normally Ada is a very safe, calm town, but all kinds of people come to prey on the festival goers. Needless to say, I stopped taking pictures after that. I didn’t miss many great photo ops though, because we were SO far away from the ceremony itself (Where the “paramount chief” asks for loyalty from all of his sub chiefs, who come forward with their people and give an offering and promise to return next year and then there’s a gun salute). It was also all in their native language, so there was that barrier too. But still pretty neat to experience.

Women getting ready for the festival

One of the few pictures I took of the chiefs procession before deciding my camera should stay in my bag

There was a strange dichotomy to the whole festival. On the one hand its super traditional and formal, with everyone in these traditional outfits and the main focus on chiefs and commemorating old war victories. But it’s also basically one huge party. All the stands in the street which normally sell fruits and beans and stuff like that were selling alcohol. The young people were dancing like there were in a club and obviously intoxicated in the middle of the afternoon – it kind of felt like Lawnparties, actually. And there was also all these promotional booths for cell phone companies and alcohol brands (there was even a company offering samples of “alcoholic spring water.” Unfortunately we only saw this out the window as we were leaving so no one in our group could find out exactly how this is possible). So on the one hand it was all old and formal and traditional and on the other hand very modern. All the political parties were also out in full force giving out materials and playing very loud music and dancing to attract attention.

After we had our fill of the festival we went to Ada Foah itself, about 5 km to the south – specifically to the beach there. The town and beach were absolutely deserted.  We eventually guessed that everyone was probably at the festival, but it gave the whole place a very eerie but also very peaceful feel. It felt like we were the only people for miles, which on the one hand was kind of exhilarating and on the other made you feel like you were in a horror movie walking through a town right after something terrible happened and you were going to discover a pile of bodies any second. Or maybe that was just me. Anyway, the beach was really nice – I didn’t go swimming but it was great to just feel the sand between my toes. It was pretty strange to see beach that was SO undeveloped – prime beachfront property was taken up by deserted, crumbling buildings. Long Beach Island, this was not (although it does share its beach erosion problems. There used to be a big fort that has been washed into the sea). We also saw this big old church that was built right by the beach by missionaries at the turn of the century – one of the first churches in Ghana. There is a cemetery out back where you can see graves of many of these missionaries who seemed to all die pretty young – from local tropical diseases presumably. And on that cheery note, I end this entry.

 

 

 

PS This is a sign outside a tent at the festival for people to get HIV tested. On the one hand it's obviously problematic that HIV is depicted as a "sin sickness" that religion will cure. On the other hand, I had no idea I was so powerful!