So, I’m going to tell you about the weather. I’m from New England, so you pretty
much had to know it was coming.
I’ve been in Ghana now for both the rainy and dry seasons, and even
though they are both hot, they are remarkably quite different.
When we arrived late summer, it was the rainy season. The weather that time of year seemed
most variable. If there was a
thick cloud cover, it wasn’t really very hot, but when the clouds parted it was
unbearable. And just like home, it
could change in an instant. One
constant though was the humidity.
It’s hard to explain just how humid humid can be; but by way of example,
our laundry never dried, ever, even if it was out in the sun for several hours. After a couple of days it’d be as good
as it was going to get, so you’d just have to wear dampish clothes. It didn’t much matter though b/c once
the sun poked through, you’d be drenched within minutes. I sort of began to wonder what the
point of washing was and, to be honest, sometimes the answer was that there
really wasn’t any point to it at all.
So, yeah, it was uncomfortable. But then there was all that mighty
rain, which was very cool. It
would rain everyday –the kind of rain that wreaks havoc at home with flash
flooding, flooded basements –you know, the “100 year storms” we’ve been getting
every three or so years now.
Anyway, our house has a metal roof so you can imagine how even more
dramatic and impressive the downpours were. I really loved listening to them at
night.
We began to transition into the dry season in November and
it’s been in full swing December/January.
It’s dry, sunny, and hot; but, you don’t get sweaty and your clothes dry
in under an hour. I was in Vegas
once in August and it pretty much feels like that here. When you step outside you have a “whoa”
moment b/c of the shocking heat.
But it’s so dry that any perspiration is immediately evaporated. There are also the Harmattan winds,
which don’t exactly provide a cool breeze, but they keep the air moving which
is nice; the downside is that everything is constantly coated in a layer of
dust. Now, the evenings are another
matter altogether –it actually gets down into the 60s at night. It’s refreshing, but my Ghanaian
friends don’t find it very favorable (as they put it). It’s pretty funny b/c you’ll see people
walking around early morning with heavy sweaters and coats -at which point the
temperature is already back up to at least 70. Personally, I find the dry season quite favorable (but I do
miss the incredible rains).
I’m told we’ll be moving into the hottest time of year in
February/March. Even hotter??
