HOW TO GET WHERE YOU WANT TO GO IN GHANA

Being able to go where one wants to go to without stress in one subject that matters very much in our daily lives. There are several options one can have when it comes to moving from one place to another.

In Ghana, people can either travel by air, land (road), rail and water. There are certain places you can decide to go to with a means of your choice whiles there are certain places you would have to make do with what is available. I can decide to pick a bus to Kumasi from Accra whiles another person can decide to travel by air depending on how good your finances are. Certain places don’t leave you with an option at all. Take the Village of Nzulezu which is in the Western Region for instance you can’t move around there in a car but rather a boat or canoe. With your range Rover you would have to make do with the canoe which carries people of every status. By travelling by land, you can have options like taxi, trotro, Uber, keke, motor Bicycle.

Travelling by land in Ghana, gives you a couple of options like taxis, trotro, Uber, bus like OA, VIP, STC and Metro Mass. Other people use motor bikes, bicycles and tricycles depending on where you are and the distance you want to travel. By air, you can make you journey by either domestic airlines or international airlines depending also on your destination. Some places require that you make it with boats, canoes, ships, or ferry.

Taxis in Ghana have a combination of red, blue, yellow and sometimes black. They usually have tags on them indicating that they are taxis. Some taxis do only dropping. This means that they pick people who are ready to pick any amount they mention so they take them to their destinations. These kind of taxis pick either just one person or a person and his or her friends going to a particular place. Usually tourists pick this kind of means of transportation. When a taxi drivers realizes that someone is a visitor in the country, he might make the charge a bit higher than the usual. Usually taxi drivers in Ghana are mostly men but some women also work as taxi drivers though very few. The fare is dependent on the distance. Then you can pick a “if you need some private time and want to feel like you are in your own car then you should try dropping. The other kinds of taxis known as “loading” taxis. These kinds are at their various stations and wait on four passengers to enter the car before they take off. Sometimes when you are in a hurry you can decide to pay for the empty seats so the car can take off early. Its way cheaper than dropping and has a pre-specified destination. If you come to Ghana and you want to go somewhere but you are not so much in a hurry, you can decide to take the loading taxi. It will give you at least an experience. Sometimes you can sit in the car for so many minutes without anyone coming which is quite stressful.

Another popular means of transportation which is very common is the commercial bus known as “trotro”. It’s mostly a Nissan bus or a minivan and comes between 9-24 people. The name trotro is derived from the old Ga word meaning three pense, the unit of currency in the Early Ghana. This form of transportation is very common. This kind of car takes between 12 and 24 people. Apart from the driver there is one person we refer to as ‘Mate” who does the collection of money from the passengers. He’s also responsible for signaling the driver when someone wants to get down. The fare here is quite cheap compared to the taxi. Its highly patronized too. Apart from certain places you might not be able to go with this means of transportation, it’s easy to locate a trotro anywhere. I even know of some people who have private cars but choose to pic trotro because there are some places they wouldn’t like to drive to where because it’s too busy. I would warn that don’t forget to take your balance from Bro mate o…because he would be glad if you forget and leave it with him.

Most of the bigger buses like OA, VIP, STC, Ford, Metro Mass move from one region to another. They are usually for long journeys. Some people prefer this to driving very long distances. You can pick a bus from the terminal after you have paid for your ticket. The prices of these tickets depend on where you are going. Some of these buses have differences in prices depending on the particular one you are picking. Some are very comfortable and others are a little not comfortable.

Trains were also used in the 19th century but have been out of use. The current government has put various measures in place to revive the train transportation.
Transportation in Ghana is dominated by road. Lot of the times it is unusual for one to get stranded, unless one doesn’t want the means available to him or her at a particular time. See, make sure you don’t sit by people who are bigger in size than you. They will squeeze the life out of you if you don’t take care. All these means are quiet interesting to pick as sometimes there are funny instances which occur in it as well as petty fights and quarrels. The next article would give you details of some of the means of transportation by land, sea and air.