Madina
Back in 1985 Accra, Ghana was my main once-a-month staple supplies supply shopping center. One of the ways to get back to Akropong, Akuapim, was to take a taxi out to Madina. From Madina it was a straight shot up to Aburi, Mampong, Mamfe, and Akropong. Tro-tros headed for the ridge were fairly easy to grab, and any traffic headed for Akropong from Accra had to pass that stretch of road. One might get lucky and snag a ride with someone headed back up to Okuapemman Secondary School directly.
Madina was a dusty collection of road food stands, a last chance to grab a snack before heading out across the then more sparsely settled coastal plain and up into the cool air of the Akuapim ridge. A scan of the web suggests that Madina has grown along with the metropolitan fringe of Accra. The dust is still red, but Madina is more heavily developed.
Pohnpei has too much rain for anywhere to be as dusty as memory recalls Madina being. Here my Madina is a small donut shop, a last stop on the road east where one can still grab a cold CapriSun juice pack, or even a cinnamon twist.
My evening run often takes me out past this donut shack, and each time I am reminded distantly of Madina, a lifetime ago.
Akropong, Akuapem, Eastern Region, Ghana, circa 1985
Madina was a dusty collection of road food stands, a last chance to grab a snack before heading out across the then more sparsely settled coastal plain and up into the cool air of the Akuapim ridge. A scan of the web suggests that Madina has grown along with the metropolitan fringe of Accra. The dust is still red, but Madina is more heavily developed.
Pohnpei has too much rain for anywhere to be as dusty as memory recalls Madina being. Here my Madina is a small donut shop, a last stop on the road east where one can still grab a cold CapriSun juice pack, or even a cinnamon twist.
My evening run often takes me out past this donut shack, and each time I am reminded distantly of Madina, a lifetime ago.
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