Harmattan

Although the air was gradually loosing the humidity from the rains and the leaves were drying and dropping, the Harmattan - the winds from the north carrying the sand from the Sahara - seemed to arrive overnight.

One day the skies were blue and alive with the kind of big dynamic clouds that I’ve only seen in the part of the world. The next day it looked as though the whole town was shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke.

Every morning and evening, the sun appears as a warm orange disk veiled by the dust. The days are hot but dry, and the air smells of smoke from the small grass fires that burn all around town (deliberately set as a control against big fires later in the year when things become really dry). The dry air sucks all the moisture from your skin and the dust and smoke sting your eyes. Fine dust settles on everything, and if you take a bus or motorbike anywhere on a road that isn’t paved (most roads), you arrive covered in red dust.

But with these conditions comes the sweet relief of cool air arriving late in the evening and lingering until morning. I sleep better at night and can even start my workday free from sweat. The Ghanaians cover up and go home early because they are too cold, but I feel right at home since the temperature is similar to the evening / morning temperatures that we would experience during our Calgary summer.

I’ve been told that as the months go on, it will become drier, dustier, hotter in the day, and cooler at night. The rainy season will start again in April / May. I think I prefer snow to living in the desert.