Harmattan season.

The Harmattan refers to a particular season running from Oct/Nov – Jan/Feb when the rains stop, the winds increase and come from an north easterly direction off the Sahara. The day time temperature is hot (35-39 degrees) and the night time temperature gets decidedly cool (20-25 degrees), cool enough for another layer, at least for me, no fan at night and sometimes even a blanket for the bed.  I'm cold.  Yeap! Cold in Ghana is possible without sticking your head in the freezer (it’s been known!). It means showers in the morning are not possible, far better to wait for the heat of the day to warm up the water in the polytank and enjoy an early evening shower before the night temperature drop sucks the heat from the tank faster than it went in.  If this is not possible, a bucket bath is necessary which involves a kettle full of boiled water for comfort.  The sunsets are pretty cool; hazy, red with a slightly north African Egyptian or Moroccan feel to them - I've never been to either, maybe it’s the images I’ve picked up from the movies or maybe it’s just the sound of the Muslims and their early evening prayers as the sunsets that conger’s up that image… who knows.

Everything dries out dies (including your skin and lips and nails), the countryside and local vicinity goes from a lush green to straw yellow. People generally farm every available bit of land, including areas in between compounds in more built up areas such as where I live, so at this time of year when the crops are harvested, the land looks bare and the rubbish is visible… particularly the black rubbers. It was on our road trip to Zebilla where we could see where the thatch came for the traditional mud houses; stacked on the side of the road where bundles of long dried yellow grass, neatly tied and stacked. I could have been in 18^th century Britain, or 21^st century rural Norfolk….

It’s this lack of green and harvested crops that enables the Ghanaians to let their livestock ‘roam’.  Previous images I may have given you might have suggested this already happens, and it does, locally for small domesticated animals.  I’m now referring to the big ones.  Cows, African Cows with the hump (ugly looking things and always ‘humping each other’), donkeys, goats and such like.  Normally while the crops are growing, particularly in rural areas these animals are tethered so not to eat the crops.  It’s an unwritten Ghanaian law which everyone abides by as it would be no good to anyone if your cows ruined your neighbour’s livelihood.  When the crops have been harvested and food is less plentiful the livestock are untethered and allowed to roam to find food… or get run over.  It’s this time of year when accidents due to livestock increase.  All you have to do is remember; donkeys cannot see in the dark and will simply head for the lights (your headlights), cows walk across the road as a herd one by one (unless they are young, then take a much more skittish and less predictable route across the road).  Pigs, go to cross, then turn around, then turn around again, and again…. Best to just stop for a pig… and goats, bless their skippy jumps, like to jump, right out in front of you and give you no warning…. Don’t get me started on the bird varieties…

The dust, oh the dust.  It’s so… there….; You can feel it in the air, taste it, it accumulates in your nostrils and just 1 hour outside produces enough black snot to make you feel like you have spent the day in London… you can see it in the flash when you take a photo or ‘snap’ (as the Ghanaians would say) at night and it shows up like water spots on the lens but doesn’t convey the amount that is actually there…

Cleaning becomes frustrating and pointless.  As soon as you have swept and mopped the floors, you blink and it’s back. 

It is at this time of the year when the burning starts - visible long black streamers of ash float through the air (and get everywhere, including in the house), the smoke bellows, and the smell is thick.  Burning happens in two ways at this time of year; small local fires made by your neighbours to burn the rubbish which seems to accumulate far more due to the harmattan winds from the Sahara that displace it from wherever it was dropped.  There are also used to keep warm in the early mornings and evening (these are different to the fires produced year round for cooking and are much more contained in oil drums and such like, used to smoke fish and so on. Secondly; they avidly practice the slash and burn method of farming (no regard/understanding for carbon emissions, biodiversity etc, etc) which means huge patches of black wasteland develop. I prefer Ghana when it's hot!