17 things we wish we had known before moving to Ghana!!!

In March 2021, Britain and the world were firmly in COVID's talons. The kids were still off school; parents up and down the breadth and width of the U.K. were considering their sanity and selling them (Caus children are overrated anyway). The Royale family were accused of racism by Harry and Meghan (what! No way!). Amazon opened its first cashier-less store (I had to reassure my daughter we weren't shoplifting when we left), and having thought we had crossed all the Is and dotted all the Ts (see what I did there), with a respectable war chest in the bank, and what we believed was a feasible plan in place, the Falconers were packing up their lives to move to Ghana for good (having never been there, what could go wrong, ay?). Anyhoo. Read with me as I delve into the craziest six months of my life. I will list 17 things people should consider before moving to the big G.H! 

1, Airbnb/hotels etc  
Just know that what you see online is not what you'll necessarily get. And at times, no amount of reasonable money (the optimum word here is "reasonable") you throw at it can help! No sir-ee, Bob! 

​We booked an Airbnb for our arrival to Ghana while still in the U.K. The place looked stunning online - white walls, marble floors, mahogany furniture with Kente cushions, and delightfully colour-clashed throws slung over the sofas. After a six-hour flight and battling to get through the gauntlet that is the Kotoka airport - culminating in the airport personnel repeatedly sending you from check-in desk to check-in desk - to check already checked luggage, until you A - take one of their many hints and cough up cedis, or B - take option R.P. and go full-blown (stress-induced) ballistic till they act right!

Anyhoo. Tired and extraordinarily sweaty - we were picked up (over an hour late) and taken to our Airbnb. "Boy! Oh-f@*king boy, was it bad!". The living room was as pictured, but the rest of the property was 'bonkers!' The kitchen cabinets had bubbling, peeling paint raised and hanging off the doors (apparently due to the heat).
The wooden worktops were swollen and warped in places. The cooker. What cooker? 
The back door couldn't shut properly; luckily, we had a security gate in front of it. The bedroom decor was okay, but the showers worked for a minute, then dribbled water when they felt like it. The A/C didn't work at all (It was bladdy hot in there, I tell ya), and the biggest thing for me was the massive hole (broken attic hatch) in the ceiling in the hallway that went off into a black abyss of Narnia and Never Never Land. "Errr, surely we aren't staying here with that, Re" - The utterings of my wife, staring up into it, wondering what delightful little creatures or people may visit us whilst we slept. We had no choice but to stay; it was either that or rough it on the streets of Oyarifia. In fact, we had to stay for an additional three days (how bout that) as everything else that looked marginally decent in the area was booked. After numerous calls and googling, we eventually secured another Airbnb in Tema, a neighbouring city to Accra. We were sure we had just been unlucky with the first place; we were even optimistic that the next spot would be it. Surely we couldn't be unlucky twice? Right? Right! 

Anyhoo, off we go - kids in tow, with a hired driver and minibus - May I remind you we had nine suitcases, with everything from my electrical tools to clothes and our Vitamix - hence hiring a bus.

Alas! More despair! The place in Tema was worse than the spot in Oyarifa. Now check this for stress! Picture me and my better half standing on the roadside - in a foreign country in the middle of nowhere (Literally a dirt road with nothing around you), feverishly refreshing Booking and Airbnb.com - trying to find an alternative place to stay at eighteen hundred hours (18:00), with a minibus and driver that you are paying for by the hour, two tired, hungry kids moaning and a pissed-off wife who refuses to stay and or pay for another mis-sold Airbnb property - needless to say I was not at best pleased. The level of pressure was monumental, to say the least! (Those darn happy-go-lucky, GhanaTubers didn't mention this part of the game). 

So I cancelled the booking there and eventually found somewhere also in Tema (Community 25), and guess what, folks? When we got to the new place, the host took us to an apartment ( proper shabby) that was completely different from the one advertised. Give me strength, a Colt 45, an alibi and a bottle of bourbon! By now, my blood is boiling! And my driver is more upset with the Airbnb host than I am! He was cursing and blinding in Twi at the man (I highly recommend my driver's transport company, honest, professional brother). Details are below. Tell him Paul sent you. 

The Airbnb host (under an avalanche of pressure and serious threats of harm to his person) eventually agreed to cancel our booking. As it was both his fault and getting late, he did the right thing and went out into his gated community, trying to secure us another place owned by his 'friend' (who turned out not to know him from a tin of paint). 

Anyhoo. He went to the estate management, asking for properties available for hire on the grounds. Management informed him that one woman was trying to get her place LET (Thank God!). When we arrived at her gate, we discovered her home was in between being refurbished but was a million times better than anything we had seen thus far.

After Tema, we moved three more times before finding a permanent spot to lay roots. (I will elaborate on those moves later) 

Here's my advice when booking into/buying a hotel, house, food, car or cat in Ghana. Get someone who knows your standards to check it out first, or go yourself before parting with any cash. Check the place is secure (doors, windows, etc.) Check the A/C works. Check the electricity works and whether it has a generator in place, in case you suffer the inevitable dumsor (power cuts). Check it has working cooking facilities. Check the water flow from all taps on the property and the means of backup if water goes out. Check the route to get there; just because it looks nice doesn't mean it isn't in a location that's a headache to get to. Check the surrounding amenities or routes to them. Once we learnt and developed a system of aggressively prechecking, we eventually found great locations to stay.

Helpful hint - if in doubt, "although very pricey", book a mainstream hotel while searching for reasonably priced accommodation, or consider my recommendation, 'The Highbridge Guest Lodge' in East Legon. The rooms are well-priced. It has excellent staff, WIFI, Breakfast thrown in, good food and beautiful, clean rooms.     

I have sixteen more stories/tips about our adventures in Ghana - but I need at least ten likes on this post before I post them - A simple exchange for honest advice for anyone planning on moving there. 


The transportation company I trusted and used whilst in Ghana was Frimprince Transport Services: frimprince.com

I only need ten likes for me to upload the next tip! 

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