What are a few essentials you packed?
I love bringing light, flowy clothing when summer is in full swing. But I have one of my best friends here, and she’s a designer. So most of the time I come with ideas, and then she makes clothes for me while I’m here. Her brand is Simisa. It allows me to pack lighter—but I do always pack skin care. I cannot come to Ghana without bringing Hanahana for my family and friends, so I have an abundance of that. I love bringing a whole bottle of rose water, and serums like Undefined’s hyalauronic acid. I use The Ordinary‘s too. And then for sunscreen, I’ve been using Dune, it’s really nice. For makeup, I have been using Ami Colé and Euphoria, and Tower 28’s SOS Spray. When you’re in Ghana I feel like you’re sunkissed and your skin elevates, so you don’t need a lot of things.
And what was your homebase?
It’s a mix of an Airbnb for a long stay, and they staying with cousins or friends’ families. I love to feel at home, and unpack everything—I don’t want to feel like I’m living out of my suitcase the whole time.
What’s on your itinerary?
I have about 30 days in Ghana. Throughout my time I’ll be traveling to different cities. On the weekends, I love going to beach towns, like Korkorbite which has a lot of nice little beaches. I’m also traveling to family, so I can go visit my uncle for the weekend, or go to Tema where I have my little niece. But within Accra, I’m staying in Julu and then East Airport. Because I’ve lived here, I know the neighborhoods I like to stay in.
I may take a trip to Kumasi, as there’s been some more research about shea growing in new areas because the Sahara is expanding. I’m looking at the possibility of land—I have a big interest in agriculture and farming so I’m thinking, from top to bottom, what would it look like for us to preserve and grow shea trees? There have been issues around the burning and cutting down of shea trees, but there’s a lot of opportunity with this cash crop and how it can sustain different levels of the economy. That’s something I want to look at on a deeper level.
Have you met any interesting new people on this trip?
I love meeting different Uber drivers and talking to them. The trick in Ghana, if you’re going to do Uber, is to find a driver you really like and then hire him for the rest of your trip. I had a great guy, Gilbert, and he was always fun to talk to.
Perhaps most importantly, what has been the best thing you’ve eaten?
I’ve been on red red. It’s a bean stew with palm oil in it, and it’s spicy, sweet, so good. Right now, everywhere I go, I’ve been trying to taste red red. I also love a good spinach soup and you eat it with fufu, so anytime I go to a local space I ask about their green soup—if they have it, I’m eating it. Some of the best places for good soup and fufu are Living Room in East Legon and Aduanipa, which translates to “really good food.” I’ve also been excited about how people are creating local dishes with a spin. My friend has a restaurant called Palm Moments, and they’ve been doing a pizza where they use tatale [made of plantain] instead of dough. They also have good jollof and red red. Baa & Bean, from another friend, is really good for coconut rice.
