Home » Ghana » African Adventure to Ghana - Summer 2003 (part III)

My summer of 2003 was a very exciting one. I went to Jonquière, Quebec to learn French for 5 weeks, and with only a few days to prepare (including a party at my friend Paul's cottage in between) I was off to Accra, Ghana landing July 1 (Canada Day, and also Ghanaian Independance Day). After that, within 3 days I was back at Ottawa to complete my Economics degree, so it was a very action-packed summer.

African Adventure to Ghana - Summer 2003 (part III)

Andrew Wozniuk
2006-04-02 10:47:42

Displayed times (last time: )

We decided we weren't going to pay more than 15,000 and traffic was pretty busy so that would make things a little trickier for us. Rudolph (the Ghanaian with us) tried to bargain with about 5 cab drivers and all of them wouldn't go below 20,000 or 25,000. I decided to give it a shot, and I managed to get the first cab I tried with some quick bargaining for 15,000. Now this picture normally seems a bit funny (the foreigner having to bargain because he can get a better price), but here is my reasoning behind it. Usually the Ghanaian of the group will bargain because they know the prices, can speak the native language (Twi), and have mastered the art of bargaining. In our case, 3 of us well dressed (including the Ghanaian), and two of us foreigners, it would look as though we were tourists and were new to the place (so we would be willing to pay prices closer to western standards), and our friend was just bargaining for us. However, when I was bargaining, I knew the price that it should be, and I had decent bargaining skills, so the driver would probably think that I've been here for a while, and am probably working here. He would of course still try to get a higher price from me, but when I convince him that I know the areas and that I know the price that I can get the ride for, then he has to make the choice of accepting a fair price, or missing the fare. I feel that since I can now bargain pretty well, and can present myself as someone who lives here, then I have integrated myself into the Ghanaian way of life.

Once I return back to Canada, I will have to re-adjust myself back to the Canadian way of life when I get home (otherwise known as "Return Culture-Shock"). This can sometimes prove to be more difficult than people realize. Having the luxury of exotic fruits whenever you want for very cheap prices, being able to do your shopping while you drive in a taxi down the street, and being able to bargain down prices that you think are too high ...