10 things to do in every city you visit

by Jessica Festa on

While every city has its own unique landmarks, culture, and sights to see, there are certain general things you can do in any city you visit to make your experience more memorable. To enhance your next trip, take this checklist with you and try to do each of these things in every city you visit.

Sample the local cuisine

One way to really get to know a culture is through the food. It’s seriously incredible how much cuisine can differentiate from culture to culture, and how much the way food is prepared and eaten, as well as what the food is, can tell you about a community. When visiting Ghana, Africa, I was amazed at how most of the staple foods seemed to come from root vegetables and were eaten without swallowing and without using utensils. While I wouldn’t say fu-fu and banku are my favorite foods, I definitely am glad I tried them and got to see the intense preparation that went into making these dishes. Even if you travel to a western country or a place that isn’t too different from your own, try a local favorite or something that the area is known for (it will almost definitely taste better than what you’re used to anyway). If you’re in Maine make sure to have a lobster. Visiting Naples, Italy? Eat a slice of pizza from its birthplace. Traveling to Australia? Vegemite, Tim Tams, and barbequed meats are definite musts.Sip the country’s signature drink

While all regions have local dishes, there is usually a signature drink as well, whether it be a cocktail or locally produced wine or beer. Many times the local libation will not only give you a good buzz, but will also give you insight into the culture and region. Drink a Guinness in Ireland and you’ll also be tasting a bit of the local Wicklow Mountains. Sip on a Caipirnha in Brazil and you’ll not only be ingesting the locally produced cachaça; you’ll also be learning that the now sophisticated drink was originally a country bumpkin favorite, which is what the name literally translates to.

Visit a museum

What better way to get background information and get to know the roots of a place than through its artifacts, history, art, architecture, and old photographs. Maybe you’ll find something of particular interest to you and you’ll want to go out into the city and explore it further. Museums are great starting points for igniting a traveler’s curiosity about a culture and place, whether it be to go visit a historical site, visit a local art gallery, or read a book on an ancient civilization.

See a local craftsman at work

I try to do this as much as possible when traveling, as you’ll often meet people who are happy to share personal stories on their work and how it relates to their culture. In Ghana, I loved going to the shops of local painters and watching them work, asking them a million questions about what the symbols on their pieces meant and where they got their inspiration from. From this, I learned a lot about drum culture in Ghana as well as the importance of God and even some old legends. Moreover, in Morocco, I got to sit and watch a local tile maker create authentic Moorish tiles, something I didn’t know was even relevant to the culture. He even gave me a tile as a souvenir, and when the Moroccan Courtyard exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in my home state of New York, it felt really good to have a firsthand account of the craft and the culture.

Ride the local public transport system

Not only will opting for public transportation over taxis and car rentals save you money, it will also help you become a better navigator of the city. Moreover, you’ll get to experience how a normal person in the city lives and potentially even get to interact with a local. In Ghana, Africa, their form of public transportation was the tro-tro (shown right), which was basically a packed-out van, usually with the seats barely attached to the floor. Working up the nerve to actually figure out how to take the tro-tro was scary, but once I did it I definitely felt more culturally immersed. Plus, a lot of interesting impromptu events happen on the tro-tro, like sermons, choir singing, and unique product demonstrations.

Learn some basic phrases in the local language

I don’t think there’s any greater accomplishment when traveling then actually being able to have a conversation with a local in their language. It can be as simple as exchanging greetings, asking someone for their name, and telling them it was nice to meet them. People will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to try to get to know their language, and if you can barter in the local tongue, you’re also less likely to get ripped off in the markets and when taking a taxi.

Have an experience in nature

While it’s important to get to know the people and culture of a city, it’s also worthwhile to get to deeper understanding of the place itself. Explore the landscape; the wildlife, mountains, rivers, beaches, valleys, forests, rock, and plants. Go hiking, rafting, swimming, or climbing and just really get to know a place in its raw form. It’s also great if you can go with a local guide, as you’ll be able to learn more about legends and meanings of certain places, medicinal plants, and how to safely interact with wildlife. Not only is it a budget-friendly way to enjoy a region; it’s also healthy to spend time outdoors and you’ll get some great photo opportunities.

Befriend a local

I don’t mean ask a local for directions or where a great restaurant is, but instead ask them to go to a restaurant with you. It may seem odd at first, but hanging out with a local is a great way to find out the “personal” side of a cultural and can also give you access to experiences you may not have otherwise had. From befriending locals in Thailand I got the chance to eat meals at peoples’ homes, attend community events in remote villages, and learn to cook in local kitchens. I also got onto a few free-entry, free-drink guestlists at clubs that I never would have had access to by myself.

Browse a local market

Skip the high-end chain shops and the restaurants with signs that read “English menu available” and instead opt for the outdoor markets. These colorful, aesthetically-pleasing places are usually bursting with energy, delicious food, and quality merchandise. In terms of cuisine, markets offer fresh healthy, foods that are usually cheaper and more flavorful than anything you’ll get at a supermarket. And the handicrafts, housewares, and clothing that are offered are usually authentic and locally-made.

Watch a cultural tradition or ceremony

The traditions and ceremonies a culture partakes in tell a lot about their values and beliefs, and because they vary so much from region to region, make for a really memorable experience. I remember in Laos taking part in the Alms Giving tradition where the locals wake up at dawn to feed the monks as they line up in a procession down the street with their food baskets. It really sparked my interest to learn more about Buddhism and monk culture in South East Asia, and my inquisition led me to go with a local to attend a prayer service at one of the temples. The tradition and what I learned really left an impression on me even after I returned home.

How to Fly Cheap

by Grant Martin on

We’re in a different world of air travel in 2012. Airlines have upped the ante in the a la carte pricing and fee game, and the Department of Transportation has taken steps to reduce the volume of nefarious fare marketing. American Airlines is now bankrupt, while Malev Hungarian is almost completely out of business and Spirit Airlines is on the full offensive. To put it mildly, the airline industry is a mess.

Despite the chaos, airfare remains competitive, with sub-$300 fares still commonly available from coast to coast and a glut of competition to keep prices low. The sales are fewer and farther between through, and only the savviest of travelers are cashing in on the best tickets. So we’ve compiled the cutting edge in airfare search technology into one simple spot for readers to do their research. The product, we hope, will ultimately save you a few dollars.

1. Check out Kayak’s new search interface.

Make no mistake, Kayak was already the top choice for savvy airfare searchers prior to this year, but as of January 2012 they’ve also made some nice improvements. Most useful perhaps is the flexible searching. From the main flight page on Kayak you can now click on “My Dates are Flexible” and then “Flex month” to get an excellent snapshot of when the cheapest time to fly from point A to point B is. If, for example, you know you want to get away to San Francisco for a few days next month, you can select a starting departure date and your desired duration of travel. The tool will then search for an entire month of flights taking place over your selected duration and then identify the best window for your travel.

Another nice application that Kayak has is the Explore tool. All that you need to get started with Kayak Explore is your point of origin; the system will populate prices around the planet that meet your criteria thereafter, whether you want a beach, ski or international destination. The result is a clean little application for inspiring travel for those without a destination in mind — all while keeping a healthy budget.

2. Credit cards, points and loopholes.

2011 was the year of points and promotions, a trend well underscored by the explosive growth of The Points Guy and View from the Wing. It’s a culture of budget travel and reward points gaming that the blogs are basically selling, and each site expertly takes you through the variety of tools that the community uses. Primarily, you’ll see a lot of discussion about airline credit cards, many of which allow you to skirt various airline fees such as baggage or rebooking fees while piling on extra miles good for future travel. And though the reward can sometimes be barely worth the credit score and time invested, keeping track of your miles and gaming the system can be a fun and addictive activity.TPG and VFTW are frequently updated blogs and are meant to be digested daily, so they’re best approached with a bookmark and a lunchtime read. Keep an eye on each site and before you know it, you’ll find a promotion that suits you well.

3. The airline fee hopscotch.

There is a fee for almost everything in today’s airline industry, but a few fees hit the broadest swath of travelers so we’ll address them right here in one quick blast. Baggage fee? Pack everything into an onboard carry on. Hungry on the flight? Pack a lunch. Can’t select a seat online? Wait until you reach the airport for a free seat assignment. Want to get boozy on the flight? Bring tiny bottles of alcohol through security. (Update: Our savvy readers have informed us that it’s against FAA regulations to bring 3oz bottles onto a plane. Be careful!)

4. Find the right Tweeters and sit on their feeds.

Have you tried Twitter yet? It’s a great big waste of time for 95% of users out there, but it’s also a great tool for sharing and learning about flash airfare deals. There’s no doubt that leaving the window open and monitoring the feeds take work, but if you can follow the right people and check in at the right times then there are amazing deals to be found. It just takes a bit of patience and commitment. To get started, follow @airfarewatchdog, @johnnyjet, @NYCAviation, @gadling, @hharteveldt, @globetrotscott and our very own @grantkmartin.

5. There’s always a sale at Vayama.

The site that purports to “solve” international travel can’t do much to impact the bottom line pricing set by the airline industry — but they can toss some marketing money into the bucket. At writing, the Romance Europe special offers $40 off flights between the US and European destinations, and though it’s only limited to certain carriers, there are still a few deals on the ticker. Once February 29th and this promotion comes to a close, a new round of sales will invariably pop up at the site, so keep Vayama on your radar for international travel.

6. Defer to the Nerds.

Check out the forums at Flyertalk and Milepoint and you’ll quickly find out that managing the airfare industry is a complicated task. Between fare classes, upgrades, fuel surcharges and booking windows the process of finding the right fare can take hours of research, which is far more time than the average consumer can handle. A new tool called flightfox, however, may help change that. Using a pool of talented flight searchers, flightfox allows travelers to plug in their planned itinerary and ideal budget for travel. Freelance searchers then try to meet or beat that price, and if they can pull off the task then they earn a small reward. In the end, everyone leaves happy.

7. Return your unused tickets.

If you’d like to save a few dollars on an unused portion of your itinerary, it might be worth looking into Changeyourflight.com. The service will apparently negotiate with certain airlines to recapture some of the cost in an unused portion of your trip, resulting in a voucher that can be used for later travel. For example, if you’ve booked a round trip flight between Chicago and Detroit but want to take Amtrak home from the Motor City, you can ask Changeyourflight to try to negotiate for a portion of your ticket to be refunded in a voucher. The service is free (though it may take a cut from the voucher that the airline provides) and only limited to certain “partner” carriers, but if you have nothing to lose it’s worth checking out.

[flickr image via flyforfun]

10 free things to do in Barcelona, Spain

by Jessica Festa on

Barcelona, Spain, is full of fun things to do and interesting sites to explore. Luckily, the city features many experiences for the budget traveler with free museums, walking tours, beaches, parks, museums, dance shows, and more. Use this list to help you save money while still experiencing the best the city has to offer.

Walk down Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is the most famous street in Barcelona, and often the first stop on many tourists’ to-do list. Not only is the street lined with restaurants, bars, cafes, theaters, and shops; it’s also home to various street entertainers, performance art, and colorful markets, making the street both fun and aesthetically pleasing. I love seeing all of the people dressed in ostentatious costumes trying to act like still sculptures (Note: Some of them look really real. I actually leaned on one not realizing it was a person!). Las Ramblas is also a bit historical, as the famous native painter Joan Miró, who died in 1983, helped to create part of the street. You can see one of his mosaic creations on the ground of the main center walkway. Get creative at an art museum

There are many art museums in Barcelona that offer free entry all of the time. One really great venue to check out is the Fundacion Fran Daurel, which features various forms of contemporary art, like paintings, tapestries, sculptures, photography, ceramics, and more. My personal favorite art museum is the Metronom, which showcases really radical and sometimes erotic pieces that can be a bit shocking at times. Photography lovers should stop by the Fundacion Foto Colectania which houses about 2,500 works as well as features exhibitions, events, and workshops all having to do with taking pictures. Other great art museums that offer free admission at certain times include the Museo Picasso (first Sunday of each month and every Sunday after 3PM), the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (first Wednesday of each month) and the Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (first Sunday of each month).

Discover the unique architecture of Antonio Gaudí

Runner Bean Tours offers a free Gaudí walking tour where you will be taken all over the city to see many of his unique, sometimes eery, sometimes Dr.Seuss-like creations. While I’m not particularly interested in architecture, I absolutely loved this tour. The buildings are so out of the ordinary that it’s easy for everyone to get excited about the tour, and the history of this passionate man is hard to believe at some points. My favorite part of the experience was finding the hidden meanings in the architecture, like the religious symbolism in the facade of the Sagrada Familia, the sexual undertones of Casa Mila, or the face of Casa Batlló that appears to resemble skulls and bones.

Get spiritual at the Catedral de Barcelona (Barcelona Cathedral)

There are many religious and sacred sites in Barcelona that are free to visit. My personal favorite is the Barcelona Cathedral, made in the 14th century with a very detailed facade, Gothic design, high bell towers, and gargoyle statues. Make sure to stroll through the garden, which is full of live geese and beatiful flora. The inside is immaculate as well, with magnificent stained glass windows, statues, and 16 chapels dedicated to various saints. I especially loved visiting the crypt, which holds a statue of Saint Eulalia, who was burned alive by the Romans for her radical beliefs. It’s free to enter the church itself, and to visit the church’s museum it’s only 1 euro. Moreover, a guided tour of the museum, rooftop, choir, and terraces is only 4 euros.

Spend a whimsical day at Parc Güell

Once you take the walking tour, you’ll know immediately upon arrival that this park was designed by Gaudí. Built in the very early 1900’s, it’s literally like walking through a fairytale, and you can easily spend hours getting lost in the various colorful quadrants filled with mosaic tiled benches, dragon statues, fountains, vibrant flora, artfully placed rock walls, and unique buildings like The Gaudí House Museum and The Pavilion. When I visited, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was walking through some kind of surreal Candyland game come to life. There are also locals with blankets set up around the park selling jewelry, souvenirs, and accessories.

Hit the beach

The beaches in Barcelona are beautiful, and also free. Most can be accessed by taking the Yellow Line on the metro. The most popular and crowded beach is Barceloneta Beach, which is closest to the city center. Here you’ll be able to lay out and relax, go swimming, or even partake in some adventure sports like surfing, kitesurfing, and windsurfing.There is also unique architecture in the area (Gaudí wasn’t the only architect in Barcelona that was a bit eccentric), and you can enjoy it while laying out on your towel. Nova Icária Beach is also a popular beach with a very young, trendy feel. On the other hand, Mar Bella Beach is well-known for being the nudist area, although technically in Spain you can layout in the nude anywhere as long as you don’t cause a disturbance.

Enjoy free tapas

While it’s not always easy to get free tapas in the bigger cities, there are some places that offer them with a drink if you look around. First there’s Ambiente del Sur, located in the L’Eixample neighborhood, a small Andalusan bar which serves free tapas like cold meats and cheeses, omelettes, and small salads with a drink. In the same area you can also visit is Bar Atrapatapa, which offers a wide variety of tapas and costs less than 2 euros with your drink. Other great options are Bar Mingus in the Gothic District and Gata Mala in the Gracia area, which both offer a free tapa with an ice cold beer.

See the Magic Fountain

In the evening, take a walk over to Montjuïc and see the Magic Fountain. It’s a beautiful showcase of water illuminated by different colors dancing to a mix of 70’s, 80’s, and classical music, depending which showing you catch. There are about 3,600 water jets, so you can imagine this isn’t your everyday fountain. Sit on the steps of the beautiful Palau Nacional Museum, the perfect viewpoint to catch the show. From October through April, you can catch shows every half hour on Friday and Saturday nights from 7PM-9PM. During the summer months of May through September, showtimes become more frequent, with viewings every half hour from Thursday-Sunday, 8PM-11PM.

Peruse ourdoor markets

Barcelona is home to many open-air markets that are fun to browse. If you’re looking for fresh, colorful foods, head over to Mercat de Sant Josep (Monday through Saturday), which is right off La Rambla. They have everything from seafood to fruit to meats to wine to already prepared lunches. For art, Mercadillo de la Plaça de Sant Josep is open on the weekends in Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol. You can peruse local art from various mediums and chat with friendly artists. My absolute favorite market in Barcelona, however, is the enormous Mercat Del Encants flea market in Plaça de les Glories Catalanes. It’s open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8AM-2PM, and is literally filled with the most random items you have ever seen, both of old and new varieties. Browse through books, electronics, fetish porn, cosmetics, old CD’s, accessories, vintage clothing, dolls, toys, housewares, collectibles, and more.

Enjoy a free dance show

Cafe de Los Angelitos in the Barceloneta Distrcit has a really artsy interior with sculptures and paintings and also offers free tango and jazz shows on Wednesdays and Sundays. While not completely free, Los Tarantos offers the best flamenco show in the city for only 8 euros.

Budget travel tips from the girls of Sixpenny Globe

by Jessica Marati on

Last year, recent college graduates Kelsey Ogden and Kristen Refermat set off on the adventure of their lives — a four-month, 12-country backpacking trip — armed with two packs, four cameras, and a desire to document the ups and downs of traveling on $30 per day.

The result is Sixpenny Globe, a Kickstarter-crowdfunded travel documentary series following Kelsey and Kristen on their budget round-the-world trip. Episode 1 premieres on February 12 on their website and Blip.TV, with a prologue providing the girls’ backstory launching the week before. I caught up with the girls to see what inspired them to create Sixpenny Globe, how they made it happen, and what their tips are for traveling on a tight budget.

What inspired Sixpenny Globe?

We both had always wanted to do a huge trip. We’d both traveled quite a bit and lived abroad, but we’d never traveled for a truly extended period of time. So six months after we graduated from college, the time felt ripe for the Big Trip, but we were both pretty broke. Voila, the $30-a-day budget was born. As far as the web series aspect goes, there just seemed to be this gaping hole in travel documentation. There’s that romantic, idealized open road you read about in Kerouac, where all you need is 2 bucks in your pocket. Then there are the travel shows you see on TV where the perfectly manicured host is cracking canned one-liners about bratwurst from the comfort of her chic boutique hotel room. You can either read about bohemian broke people having adventures or you can watch Hollywood’s fake versions of adventures. But there seemed to be very little video documentation of real people traveling cheaply. Tons of people do it, but very few have endeavored to tell the story for the screen. So we figured we’d give it a go!

Once you decided to take the plunge, what were your first steps?
Our first step was buying the ticket! We had just casually emailed a round-the-word ticket broker to get a quote. It wasn’t as expensive as we’d expected, so we spent a couple days tweaking the itinerary and then just impulsively bought the ticket on credit, bandaid-removal style. Then once we decided to do the web series, we raised some money on Kickstarter for the cameras and equipment, got our visas sorted out for the countries that necessitated them, and got our shots and vaccines! That’s pretty much it. We really had absolutely no plan, aside from the set dates of our flights.

Where did your travels take you?
We left Los Angeles on February 28, 2011. We landed in Paris and spent almost a month going overland through France, Austria, Germany, and Denmark. We left out of Frankfurt but ended up with a detour through Cairo on our way to Amman, Jordan. Next came India, then Thailand. We went overland from Bangkok, through Cambodia, and into Vietnam. Left out of Ho Chi Minh City, landed in Sydney. Flew out of Melbourne back to LA after four months away. Compared to everyone else we met traveling, we went extremely quickly!

How did you survive on just $30 a day?
It wasn’t always sunshine and daisies, especially in Europe and Australia, where everything is so expensive. We Couchsurfed, hitchhiked, tap danced in the street with a hat out, slept in hallways of hotels we weren’t staying at, accepted a lot of hospitality from friends and strangers, and probably broke a few laws. We couldn’t do a lot of the museums or the other attractions with hefty price tags, but I think that actually made the whole trip better. We spent a lot of time walking the streets and a lot of time bonding over cheap wine. Since we couldn’t afford to have a rigid schedule of activities to stick to every day, we ended up actually enjoying time instead of worrying there wouldn’t be enough of it.

What budget tips can you give other wannabe globetrotters?
1. STAY AWAY FROM PACKAGE TOURS. No matter how much they tell you they’ll give you a good price, you can always arrange the same thing on your own for a fraction of the cost.
2. Stay at hostels with free breakfasts and LOAD UP. If you stuff yourself properly, you might not be hungry until dinner.
3. Don’t take taxis. There’s always a bus.
4. Learn to trust people, but follow your gut. If someone offers you help, take it, but if you start to feel like something’s fishy, bail out of that car and roll.
5. Just roll with the punches. When you’re on a budget, something will always go wrong and you won’t necessarily have the cash to fix it. It’s a lot more fun to laugh at it than cry about it.

Traveler’s guide to local and western food in Ghana, Africa

by Jessica Festa on

When visiting Ghana, Africa, unless you are at the mall in the capital city of Accra or staying at a resort or hotel, you will most likely find yourself eating food that is far from Western comfort cuisine. Here is a guide to some of the typical foods you will find in Ghana, as well as some surprising favorites from home you’ll be able to find in the small shops.

Local meals

Banku with tilapia

Banku is a thick dough ball made from fermented maize. The thick matter is stirred rigorously in a pot and has a similar, gum-like texture to the other main starch staple in Ghana, Fufu (see below), and is usually served with a stew and/or tilapia. The proper way to eat it is to grab a piece of the dough ball, create an indentation with your finger, and scoop up some palm oil or stew, swallowing it without chewing. The dish is very similar to Kenkey, another Ghanian staple, although the preparation and cooking time vary slightly. Many westerners may be a little hesitant to try the tilapia (I know I was), as it still has the head, tail, and scales in tact. Simply use your hands to peel back the scales and pull out chunks of meat with your fingers, being careful not to grab any bones.Boiled yams with palaver sauce

Boiled yams are kind of similar to baked potatoes but a little sweeter, and the palaver sauce is actually a kind of stew with vegetables, meat, and chunks of fish. Often times in Ghana I would feel weak due to lack of protein, and would eat the palaver sauce by itself, which is definitely one of the best options for a meat-filled dish.

Fufu with ground nut soup

Usually served in a spicy peanut-broth base, fufu is cooked using cassava, a starchy root plant that is pounded down with a mortar and pestle to create a gum-textured ball. To eat it like a local, rip off a piece with yours hands, create an indentation with your finger and use it to scoop up some soup, then swallow without chewing. It is often served with pieces of fried chicken or fish.

Rice water and jollof rice

Now these two forms of rice are completely different; while rice water is a staple breakfast meal that is very salty and is basically cooked rice with extra water added, jollof rice is stir-fried in tomato paste, making it more flavorful than usual cooking rice, and is usually served with meat for lunch or dinner.

Red red with plantains

This was hands down my favorite food in Ghana, and is probably the most “Western” of the local dishes. It is a mixture of black eyed peas, bonnet peppers, onions, palm oil, and crushed tomatoes. The reason it’s called “red red” is because the palm oil mixed with the tomatoes creates a thick, red base that stains the entire plate. It is usually served with deep fried plantains that are very soft and sweet.

Snacks and street food

Snail kebabs

Snail in general is a food favorite in Ghana, whether you boil it, fry it, or put it on a kebab. In fact, when I was doing orphanage work there the children loved to go snail hunting at night and would boil them and put them on a toothpick to snack on. When you’re in the markets or you see hawkers selling kebabs that look like they have succulent mushrooms on them, be aware that they are actually snails. I tried one, and will say that they are extremely salty and very tough and chewy.

Brown nut paste

Brown nut paste is basically the Ghanian take on peanut butter, however, it is a lot thicker and creamier. It doesn’t have any additives so it has a very natural taste to it, basically like eating “creamed” peanuts. If you walk around the outdoor markets, you will often be able to ask for a small sample before purchasing some for yourself. It tastes really good on biscuits or cookies with a bit of Nutella added.

Evo

There are many fruits you’ll be able to get from the markets in Ghana, depending what city you’re in; bananas, grapes, apples, mangoes, avocados, tomatoes. However, the evo was my favorite, and also the most interesting in flavor and appearance. The outside is green and prickly and you break it open with your hands to reveal a cotton-candy like inside (see right). The taste is sweet and fizzy, kind of like a fruit-flavored soda pop.

Fan Ice

Almost everywhere you go, you will see locals riding around on bicycles with coolers attached advertising Fan Ice. It’s the Ghanaian version of the ice cream truck, and for 40-60 pesewas (about 25-35 cents), you can get a chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry yogurt Fan Ice pop. These are extremely refreshing after a long day in the African sun.

Fried chicken with fried yam

This is probably the closest you’ll get to a meal in terms of street food. It’s exactly what it sounds like, pieces of fried chicken served with fried yam, basically the Ghanian version of chicken nuggets and fries. There are usually women walking around carrying a small take-out station on their heads, and you can literally just smile and ask “Wa ye sen?” (How much is it?).

Abru ne nkatea

This was one of my favorite snacks to make with the children at the orphanage, and both locals and Westerners love it. It’s basically un-popped popcorn kernals with nuts simmered in sugar and is really sweet and crunchy.

Meat pies

These are really easy to find in the markets and just walking down the street in most cities in Ghana. Locals walk around with small display cases on their heads filled with meat pies. It’s basically a pie type crust filled with beef and vegetables. Warning: Sometimes the meat pies are severely lacking in meat, although you will not know this until you purchase one. If you’re really craving protein, opt for the fried chicken and fried yams.

Roasted maize

Roasted maize in Ghana looks similar to roasted corn on the cob, although it tastes a lot sweeter, like kettle corn. It’s a really cheap, quick snack if you’re hungry.

Western finds

Again, you’ll be able to find Western foods at resorts, hotels, and the Accra Mall, usually for an expensive price. However, it’s not uncommon to find yourself in an area that only features small wooden stalls, hawkers, and “restaurants” that are actually the homes of locals. Every once in awhile you’ll be able to find a convenience store, and will possibly be able to find some of these comforts from home:

  • Cans of beans- This became my favorite food in Ghana as their diet is high in starch, carbs, and fried foods. When you just want wholesome protein, beans are really satisfying.
  • Chocolate soy milk- Okay, so it’s not real milk; it’s still refreshing. And, it has (soy) protein.
  • Snickers- They don’t taste exactly like a normal snickers but they have the same package and when you’re desperate, will taste just like heaven.
  • Corn flakes- Cereal is a little expensive in Ghana, but tastes just like the stuff from home.
  • Nutella- Brand-name Nutella is extremely expensive in Ghana, but luckily they sell a knock-off brand that is almost as good and half the price.
  • Laughing Cow cheese- Little access to refrigeration means you’ll be seeing very little cheese. Since Laughing Cow doesn’t need to be refrigerated, it’s the perfect purchase.
  • Cookies/biscuits/bread- Lots of varieties of these carb and snack staples, so you’ll be able to find something similar to the kind you enjoy at home.

[all photos via jessieonajourney aside for the Nutella photo, which is from Like_the_Grand_Canyon on flickr]