AUG-2026 (2)
Chicken seller (left); Trotro packed with plantains (right)
Caution: Wide Load
FedEx has some lessons to learn
Alex Hoffman
The Ghanaian people possess an incredible ability to get themselves and their things from point a to point b.
Head carrying is the most common method for hauling cargo. Everywhere you go, big metal bowls and glass boxes sit perfectly balanced atop heads. This is how people carry water, goods, and food they are selling by the roadside. They can walk, bend down, and run without losing the precariously perched cases of barbecued oysters, fried plantains, tissues, or whatever else they are selling that day. It comes as no surprise that everyone has great posture — I’m sure due to both the noggin-based transport and the lack of time spent slouched in front of a computer or tv.
Some loads are just too big to take on the head (sorry for the questionable phrasing) so people get inventive. Motorbikes are the next step up. Bikes across the county are weighed down by live chickens staying unbelievably calm, huge barrels, bushels of crops so big you can’t even see the rider from behind, and literal cement blocks. The bike and its cartoonish cargo bounce up and down across the potholed road, yet nothing falls off. Many tie down their loads while others use a mix of prayer and a savant’s understanding of weight distribution.
Trucks and buses are the final frontier in the hauling universe. The country runs on their ability to stuff ungodly amounts in and on their vehicle. Their buses, called trotros are already full of people packed four across with no aisle. The final row of people sits inside of what was supposed to be a trunk, so they squeeze people’s belongings under seats, on the roof, and in whatever amount of space allows for the trunk to close at least 50% of the way. Sometimes their belongings are suitcases, but more often it is thousands of plantains in sacks the size of a Smart Car, and occasionally live goats. Automatically the goats go on top with a loose string tying them to the vehicle. For the entire ride they stand and enjoy the view with the instinctive knowledge that staying put is in their best interest.
There is a whole system of cross country shipments that go through these buses. We got to test it out with a cooler of samples. You go to a trotro station, which is a parking lot the drivers communally decided would be theirs, and find the next one going towards your destination. Payment is exchanged, the equivalent of about $5, and you give them the recipients phone number. When they are close, they will call the person and tell them where to meet the bus. The country uses this to send cash, food, and more to loved ones across Ghana.
The trucks operate on a level of their own. Giant open-top semis that are visibly double the weight limit lurch down rural roads carrying enough yams to feed all of west Africa for a month. The only repercussion for being overweight is a few bills in the hand of every cop who sees you at a checkpoint. Others pile mattresses well above the wall of the truck, using a small amount of critically placed ropes to prevent the driver to their rear from getting a Tempur-Pedic through the windshield. It is not uncommon to see a man or two riding atop this gargantuan load (again, unfortunate phrasing) 20+ feet off the ground. Much like the goats, they are remarkably calm. Some even lay down for a quick nap to enjoy the sun and breeze.
The entire system is resourceful. Getting around is not easy even as an individual, and carrying a few pounds or a few tons of cargo makes it much harder. They leveraged every mode of transportation and maximized each one to haul as much as possible. Ghanaians will get it done, no matter what it takes.
Gordon’s handiwork. Well stiched with details that pop.
Who are you Wearing? Gordon Clothing.
Designer brands you can’t even pronounce
Alex Hoffman
In my mind I was already walking a fine line getting handmade clothes in Ghana. Unbeknownst to him, the tailor was trying to edge me over that line. Ghanaian clothes are a flurry of color and pattern with deep cultural meaning. Men wear beautiful designs and colors as shirts and, more traditionally, as kaftans. It is encouraged to honor and appreciate that while inside the country; however, as the tailor was insisting on a kaftan or a vibrant pattern I was struggling for the words to tell him that back home I would look like 2020 Nancy Pelosi on one knee with the kente cloth. I never got the full message across, but could see him start to view me as an inconvenience to be done with as soon as possible, which achieved the same result in the end.
He had good reason to be frustrated by that point. After agreeing to meet us at 6:30, he set off on a motorbike, got lost, and surrendered to home. He tried again with an uber and found success, but that entire process somehow took two hours and we were at dinner downstairs by the time he arrived. I was unceremoniously measured on the sidewalk and we moved inside to discuss fabric and pricing.
Once at the table, he asked specific questions about what I wanted, but he spoke only to Sena, my Ghanaian-American coworker, who obviously had no idea what I was looking for. By no choice of her own, she served as the interpreter, despite all three of us speaking English. Priscilla, my other coworker, educated me that I was experiencing what women go through every day when men speak past them. Allyship is exhausting!
After showing few of the busiest fabrics I have ever seen, he dismissed himself in mild annoyance and said he would send more options later. Those were also no good, so I pivoted to a plain shirt with no pattern and two pairs of pants. Final quoted price totaled $60.
A week later he was back with the completed garments. While drastically different from each other, the pants felt great and did not require any adjustments significant enough to warrant another interaction with the tailor. The shirt was something special. It was a lovely olive green with a nice fit, but the tailor’s desire to make something flashier was clear. He scratched this itch by adding big silver buttons and a shiny silver logo on the pocket that simply says “FASHION”. He proudly claimed it as his own with a big tag identifying it as a creation of Gordon Clothing. The artist’s original work will be on display for one month for all to see before adjustments are made to make it wearable.
