That was how the announcement
took me off guard; all I ever did was raising my eyebrows in disbelief! “gurl…
I didn’t see this coming”, my subconscious pinched me and wiggled. Excitement
drooled all over me like a puppy. It would be my first time to get on a plane to
Accra! I scratched my head and tried to remember all the clothes I had in my
box, I tried very hard to do all the
possible combination to appear really sweet on the D-day. I just couldn’t stop
thinking about the trip, all the beautiful things I had heard about Ghana and
even to confront my Ghanaian friends that I have been to their country. And now
all those stories would be for real- yes! I quickly updated my BBM status to
“Hello Accra!” my contacts should count their teeth with their tongues.
THE TRIP.
We have all been “jjc’s” at some point in our lives. Getting
to the airport was a “jjc” (jonny just come) situation, so I scurried along with
my family, we did all the necessary procedure before we boarded the Arik Air
plane. Fresh huh? Well yea…Arik is like one safest and coolest airplane and we
had the Economy class- not bad for a first timer like me.
In reality the plane looked way
bigger than what I see in the air, it was beautiful and looked like a shark-only
that it had no teeth of course! I finally got on the plane, the air hostess
welcomed everyone on board and we were given some instructions to follow.
Amateur like me, I had to struggle to find my own seat –in fact, I sat on
someone’s seat and trying to figure out how to fasten the seat belt but I was
soon confronted by the passenger who the seat belonged to. “But this isn’t a molue ehn! Omo yii.. or you don’t know your seat
number?” the seat owner questioned. I looked at him in defense and gave an
embarrassing smile. He must be either hit with Alzheimer or a personality
disorder to have questioned me like that! It dawned on me to check my boarding
pass and the seat numbers on the plane to really understand the arrangement of
the seat and that where I was, was actually the old man’s seat.. lol.. I guess I must have been hit with
Alzheimer! The whole situation got everyone laughing. “shebi they are laughing, it only takes a monkey to know a monkey” my
subconscious comforted me. They have been in my shoes too, I thought in
affirmation.
The air hostess, pretty, nice and neat soon
came with light refreshment and says “welcome”, In M.I’s voice “she dey form
Rita Ora”. The fact that she works on the plane doesn’t mean she has been
abroad and why is she forming accent?
You won’t blame me, these days people go to even Ghana and come back with
British accents …habaa! “You are just beefing
the poor air hostess”, my sub conscious giggles. To be honest, I wasn’t comfortable
in the airplane the noise was really piercing through my small ears but that
didn’t last because the flight from Lagos to Accra was 45mins excluding traffic…lol.
ARRIVAL
It is no mistake to say Ghana is
beautiful! From the airport down to Accra was neatness personified. They had a
warm welcome and the bill board had “Welcome” in Ghanaian language as
“Akuuaba”. Again the usual immigration procedure had to be undergone. One
amazing thing I didn’t see in the Nigerian Airport was the advanced health scanner
the intending passengers have to stay in front of- It was the Ebola health
scanner. All you have to do is stand in front of it and you look like zombies
from World War Z. We got our luggage and got ready to check in at one of
Ghana’s prestigious hotels but yea we got there pretty late.
MY EVERYDAY STAY
It is
no mistake to say that my first trip to Ghana was magical..yes magical!I lodged
with my family at the exquisite La Palm Beach Royal Hotel in Accra. The hotel is
extremely large and has different lodge for different purposes. The Ghanian
Village, Homowo Convention Centre, The Chinese Restaurant, The ever crowded
pool and The Beach!! Chaii!! There is God
oo!! etc and surprisingly there are no storey buildings in La Palm Beach
Royal Hotel.
I don’t need my medulla to order me to bounce on my damn bed!
Thump! Stump!..I somersault on the bed, roll from edge to edge, I switch on the
freaking television just to discover that television is booring! Deep down
inside me I remember Passenger’s lyrics “you
only hate the road when you are missing home” I miss the hell outta
Naija..It dawns on me the usual things I munch e.g night suya and Nigerian
dishes, gisting with friends, the no-light syndrome, the blasting generator
sounds in the night bla bla bla..anyways, I’m here for a holiday getaway from
the hustling and restless streets of Lagos. Most times, I spend it on social
media and listening to radio programs on Beat Fm. My saving grace was the wifi-
the forth need of the 21st century woman and the serene environment
Accra had to offer. I sure would see angels in my dream.
…..to be continued.
