Aba House -- Where's the Mint on my Pillow?

Aba is apparently Twi for mother.  Ellie, who owns Aba House, prefers to be called Aba.  The caretaker's name is Patrick, but he prefers to be called Talktrue.  This is a fiting metaphor for most of what is Ghana.

Aba House in Nungua is home to Tanya's residency and our home base for our stay in Ghana.  The accommodations appear pretty typical by Ghanaian standards which put them below what one would expect at any US hotel.  I say this not because of the subpar nature of the place, but because US building codes in most jurisdictions would not permit occupancy.  For example, the windows do not have glass and the bathrooms do not have sinks.  There are other issues such as lighted exits and dead-end corridors that also would be a problem in most jurisdictions.

Dinner at Aba House is served communally on the upstairs patio.  As is custom in Ghana, only breakfast and dinner are served.  At our first dinner, Tanya and I dined alone with Ellie, who brought us up to date on changes to our tour and nuances of life in Ghana.  Ellie is as older Jewish woman from Boston.  She has owned Aba House for a number of years and splits her time between Ghana and Boston.  Her husband is Ghanaian, but he did not accompany her on this trip.

First up was that our tour had been modified.  We were told that we would not be going to the Larabanga Mosque and Mole National Park because the roads had flooded.  Instead we would be going to a monkey sanctuary and a crater lake.  This was a bit of a disappointment as the mosque had been specifically added at our request.

Ellie then told us that one thing we needed to remember was that everything in Africa was make believe. This phrase would grow in significance throughout the trip.  It was the mantra, the motto, the excuse for much.  Ellie used it to segue into a discussion of why our plumbing only sort of worked.  Our suspicion was that it was also why we could not visit Larabanga.

Another commonality of Ghana was that maintenance was seldom a priority.  Ellie told us that Ghanaian seemed to take pride in their appearance, but not in the appearance of their homes.  Few Ghanaians bothered with ornament or decoration.  This seemed to spill over into maintenance and cleaning.  Cleaning is probably difficult in Ghana as most of the roads are dirt and dust is just a part of life in this arid climate.  Without windows it is difficult to keep at bay.  Maintenance is just simply not done.  In a previous post, the sign at Aba House is shown leaning against the fence and with pealing paint.  This is common.

Air conditioning is also a rarity in Ghana and does not exist at Aba House.  During our stay the climate was comfortable and sleeping was fine with a fan.  It should also be noted that Ghana does not have a public water supply as we do in the US or Europe.  Water is trucked in and stored in large black plastic tanks such as these shown in the photo.  There is also no hot water, so it is best to take showers in the afternoon to benefit from the solar gain.

I am not sure what happens to the sanitary sewer in Ghana, whether at Aba House or elsewhere.  In the foreground of the photo, is a concrete-lined trench. These are seen throughout Ghana, along all roads and at the perimeters of buildings.  These certainly act as storm sewers, but I am not certain that they are the sanitary sewer because they were typically dry and did not stink as much as I would expect them to if  they were being used as sanitary sewers.  My guess is that Ghana must have a system of cesspools in the more metropolitan areas, but I don't know for sure.

Returning to the issue of maintenance, the photos shown on the Aba House website appeared to be dated.  At a minimum, they were taken from the best possible angle and the lighting was perfect.  Here are a few more current photos.

Staying at Aba House is probably reflective of what life is like in the real Ghana.  The experiences here are can not be experienced at the Labadi Beach Hotel or Coco Beach.  The grounds at Aba House are actually slightly removed from the real Ghana.  To get to the real Ghana, you have to walk out of the gate and up the street to the main road -- but you can get there form here.

After our first night, we would leave Aba House for a one week tour of the country.  This would be our first prolonged interaction with Ghanaians.