It was August, 1974. I was standing on a bluff. Behind me was Accra, capital city of Ghana, one of sixteen countries forming Africa’s 4,000-mile western edge. Below and stretching outward to the horizon was the Atlantic Ocean.
Except the water wasn’t the expected blue. Instead, it was light brown. Not until about a mile out did the brown end and the blue begin.
Suddenly, logic was giving me mixed signals. As a tourist, my thinking was that surely the ugly, disgusting, and repulsive brown wasn’t what I thought it could be. As a traveler, I was hoping that wasn’t the case. But if it was, there had to be a reason and I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had found answers to both questions.
Two days later a city official explained that despite Accra’s population of more than a million people, it had no sewage system. For more than a hundred years, the city’s raw sewage had continued to be dumped or pumped into ditches that emptied directly into the ocean.
He said he well understood why that surprised and alarmed many visitors from Western nations but quickly added that many of his fellow Ghanians were also frustrated by the ugly situation. I sensed that it was almost as difficult for him to answer my question as it was for me to ask it.
Luckily, I didn’t need to press him for a reason. He volunteered the harsh reality that simply couldn’t be dodged or explained away: The cost of designing and building even a minimum sewage system for the city would equal about 80 percent of Ghana’s total gross national product. To provide that for Accra would mean little to no money left for Ghana to meet such vital national needs as education, transportation, and conservation of natural resources.
If there was a bright spot, it was that the problem wasn’t quite as bad as it appeared to be. Namely, by being constantly exposed to the waste, the body tended to build up an immunity to certain harmful organisms. As a result, the incidence of some diseases and infections in Accra was lower than what one might expect.
Unfortunately, whatever a person perceives most always becomes a reality. And in this case, had I been an unknowing tourist, I would have taken one look at the disgusting mess and once back home, made it a topic of conversation.
But as a traveler, I insisted on verifying what I thought it was. Even more important, I discovered the condition wasn’t caused by tradition, ignorance or indifference, but rather that the country simply didn’t have enough money to solve the problem.
The difference between those two reactions is important. Many tourists are so enamored by pictures and colorful descriptions in travel brochures that they tend to be attracted only by the “must see” sights — find themselves checking off cities, states, and countries as if they were on a shopping list.
Because their primary interest is in wanting to be able to say they have been there, they tend to emphasize the “what” instead of the much more meaningful “why.” That causes them to stress the sensational and innocently believe the whole world should be like what they think it ought to be.
Although travelers retain much of the tourist enthusiasm, they tend to combine or link what they learn with past and present happenings, realities, and accomplishments. They know that to compare what they see and hear in their travels with how it is back home often doesn’t do justice to the uniqueness found elsewhere in the world.
Recently deceased Albert Podell was a classic example of a traveler. Over a 50-year period ending in 2016 he completed the rare and exceptionally demanding feat of having traveled in every country of the world. To listen to him describe his experiences was to open a walking encyclopedia filled with detailed accounts ranging from utterly delightful to near death defying impossible. The same can be said of his book, “Around The World In 50 Years — My Adventure to Every Country on Earth.”,
Tourists greatly enjoy telling others about where they have been and confirming that they saw all the “must see” places. But by adopting the mindset of a traveler they will be opening themselves to even more rewarding wonders and revelations every time they hit the road, sail the oceans, or fly the skies.
*******
Update: Over the years, the sanitation situation has greatly improved not only in Accra but in all of Ghana. According to the U.N., of that nation’s population of nearly 36 million, only 5 million still have no toilets.
