A Sense of Savannah: Tales of a Friendly Walk through Northern Ghana

Caution: For fear of emitting loud, embarrassing laughs, do not read this book in public.

When Kofi Akpabli was posted to the northern border town of Paga to do his national service, he thought it was just going to be another ‘national suffering’. But when he encountered love at first sight with the landscape and the people, he was soon to realise that something close to destiny tied him to the place.

The author was welcomed to a world refreshingly different from the back streets of Accra and Cape Coast. He discovered the smell of dawadawa, the taste of pito and the mystery of border towns. Over a period of seven years, Kofi criss-crossed the Upper East, Upper West and the Northern Regions.

His real life adventures have been published in a cross-section of Ghanaian newspapers. By popular request, here comes A Sense of Savannah, a witty collection of travel tales that best express the character of Ghana’s savannah setting. While the entertaining narratives are guaranteed to interest a wide range of readers, what makes A Sense of Savannah worth reading is how the author generously dishes out well-researched facts and humour in equal measure.

As story after story shows, Kofi is always on the road:

– In Wa, he is ‘arrested’ and forced to drink beer without end on a Sunday morning

– In Bolgatanga, his well-shirted body gets sprayed with goat urine from the top of a bus

– In Tamale, during curfew hours and against the background of Wangara music, he spends the night on hard, cold asphalt

– And on a busy market day in Navrongo, he is told, ‘you have no conscience!’

Relax, grab a seat and let A Sense of Savannah drive you through the rather interesting northern half of Ghana.