What do you mean when you say nationalism? That's just a word that conjures up so many negative implications for me, even though I'm sure it's healthy to some degree. I guess can you describe what you mean in more detail.
They're going places, and when an outsider can validate that belief, the swelling of pride is really nice to see.
I was left with the impression that they have made sacrifices and gambles in their country, and they are relieved to be going places and seeing payoffs. They're still far from, say, South Africa -- but they're definitely the jewel of West Africa at the moment.
Sorry that my word choice colored my opinion negatively for you. It's a wonderful place, they are a wonderful people, and it is well worth a visit.
$0.02
- Mike
I think he's doing Asia also, and we chose to "first world" Asia instead of trekking through. We sent our car back to Portland from Cape Town and did Asia/Aus/NZ like proper tourists with rented cars. :)
I enjoyed nearly complete cell and data at 4G speed throughout Ghana, both on T-Mobile and Project Fi, who I assume use the same carrier.
Phone top-up cards are sold everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. The guy who sells airtime in a small village will also have a bank of power strips and will charge the villager's phones for them. I assume there is a small fee for this service. Many of the ones I saw had clever battery systems. There was a system to use your phone to pay with cell credits for merchandise, so it acts as a second currency.
This was pretty common all over West Africa. They're not as far behind as you think, and they enjoy skipping over landline POTS infrastructure costs and just get to hoist a few towers all over their countries.
Ghana's a great place. The optimism and nationalism make a great combo -- everyone's excited to see where they're headed next. It was one of our favorite stops on our road trip.
$0.02 (or 0.09 Cedi :) )
- Mike