I took another stroll through the market today hoping to find some avocados, or pictures, or both.  I struck out on avocados but here are a few pictures that worked for me.  Leah described the market in one of our previous posts, but I want to emphasize again that the pictures alone do not do this market justice.  I was there in the heat of the day and the smells were intense.  The best analogy I can think of is that walking through the market is to your sense of smell what watching a Stan Brackage film is to your vision.  Raw meat, raw fish, smoked fish, cheese, and body odor all contribute their perfume.  The market is definitely an impressive place – you can find just about anything you might need there.  Our guidebook describes Ghana as being economically vibrant which I think is accurate – it seems like everyone is busy either buying or selling something.  I’m not sure how anyone can stop to buy anything in the market though – I felt like I was always being pushed along by whoever was behind me.  I found that after about a half an hour I was completely overstimulated and had to get out.  I have a similar experience with Las Vegas, but I can last for about a day there.  A white man with a camera generates a lot of protest from the market vendors, especially the women who preside over the small fish (below left), although I did have quite a few people ask me to come photograph them, as the woman below-right did.

(Writeup by Leah)
On Saturday we stayed in Kumasi to explore the famous or infamous Kejetia Market, which is described in our guide book as the largest open market in Western Africa.  You truly have to be there to get the full experience which includes the smells, narrow stalls, countless number of people, heat, humidity, and puddles.  Photos cannot fully describe our experience in the market, nor can words, but I will try.  As you enter down the steps into the market you are swept up into a stream of people that includes women with large bags or baskets on their heads, children, and men pushing large carts.  You are unable to stop for very long as you must keep moving with the traffic, this becomes more of an obstacle when some men try to push a large cart down the narrowest of walkways.  The flow of people takes you deeper into a maze of stalls where people are selling anything you could ever need from flip flops to gas ranges to food.  As you walk by the food, including smoked fish and raw meat, you are overtaken with a smell that is indescribable.  Finally the crowd leads you out of the market and you are able to look down it from above.  All of your senses were overstimulated in the market and it is an experience you will not forget.

We never managed to find our way to the craft section of the market which I am sure would have been more appealing to me then a washer or overly cooked meat that looked and smelled a bit like roadkill.  The market was just too crowded for my tastes and I much preferred to view it from above.  Our only purchase was a coffee mug for Mike.  While I am not sure if I want to go back it was an experience that I would not have wanted to miss while here in Kumasi.  Mike is thinking about taking the plunge again as he loved the opportunities for photos within the market.  – Leah