Winter Coats in Ghana

Photo by Ivy Prosper. Shot on Samsung Galaxy. 

I was walking down a major road, where there were street vendors selling various clothing items.  I kept coming across things that I think are so out of place in a tropical climate.  Winter coats, scarves, hats and boots.  Having lived most of my life in Canada, seeing these items being sold in warm weather is like an oxymoron. I don't get it. 

It's rainy season in Ghana right now and with that means temperatures are lower than the normal above 30+ degree sweltering heat.  With temperatures hovering between 24 - 28, people are saying it's cold. 

Although I was born in Ghana, having spent 90% of my life in Canada, has meant I've experienced some real extremes in weather.  From humid 35 degree Celsius days in the summer to the frozen minus 30 degree arctic winds in the winter, I have felt it all.  Because of the environment and weather changes I've experienced in my life, the idea that it's cold in Ghana is quite laughable to me.  At the same time, I do recognize that it's all relative to what you know and have felt in your life.

A few days ago I was buying a few things at a local provision shop (corner store), when the woman working scolded her children.  "Put some shoes on. It's cold outside. Don't you know you'll get sick with this weather?"  Inside my mind I thought, "But it's sunny and 25 degres outside. This is far from cold.|" Oh she only knew what real cold feels like.  Those sub-zero winds biting your skin during the month of January in many parts of Canada and the United States would just brutally kill these people.  This past December when I was in Canada it was so cold when I breathed I felt the hairs inside my nostrils freeze.  It was awful.

I quite enjoy these lower temperatures in Ghana.  I'm not sweating profusely from doing something as simple as walking.  It's great to arrive at my destination without being soaked in sweat.  I like the rainy season for that reason. 


**All temperatures in this post are in degrees Celsius.***