While we were in Tamale we had several torrential thunderstorms, once with rainfall so loud it sounded like it was hailing. It then rained while we were in Wa and during our bus ride to Accra. Although we were lucky enough to see the sun on Friday and Saturday, it began to pour again on Sunday and has been gray or raining ever since. Sunday was our first time being caught out in the rain. We had just eaten a fantastic lunch at Frankies in Osu and were halfway back when the sky opened up. The storm started slow with a gloomy gray sky during lunch, proceeded to drizzle for a few minutes, and then poured. Everything outside of our cab windows was white wi
th rain; our driver could barely see and had to stop several times on the side of the road before he was able to carry on. As we continued into the storm, no end in sight, I could see the drains overflowing, some of them so full the water was gushing out of it like a fountain. It was crazy- the most intense storm I think I’ve ever been in. And while I love a good thunderstorm, it was definitely more than a little frightening.
As our taxi turned off the main road onto the dirt road we are staying on, I was nervous about what we would find. Luckily, the road had not become too flooded or muddy to drive on and our taxi was able to make it all the way up to our gate. We ran inside, completely drenched from less than 10 seconds outside, and listened to the rain fall for what seemed like the rest of the night.